STILL FROM MY BREAKTHROUGH CAMPMEETING NOTES

Pastor Sam Adeyemi, Senior Pastor, Daystar Christian Centre, Oregun, Lagos, spoke on Day Three of Campmeeting 2011 on what he titled Anointing for Breakthrough. His texts were from I Samuel with which he very powerfully illustrated the character- and destiny-altering effect of the anointing upon the anointed; and through the anointed upon his/her environment.

There was the example of the young Saul. He was on a kind of search and rescue mission for his father’s lost asses. As far as we can see from the Bible, all that could be said of Saul, apart from being apparently an obedient son who hearkened to his father’s command to “go after the asses”, he was a handsome young man, so tall it could be correctly said of him that he stood head and shoulder above all else (see Samuel 9:2).

But the Bible records that when Prophet Samuel anointed him (10:1), he alerted him that, “…the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.”  And it happened exactly as he had prophesied: “And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day. And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them” (10:9-10).

Samuel, the pastor, continued his exposition from the Bible book of Samuel by also dwelling on the great work that the anointing did in the life of a certain shepherd boy who was to become the King of Israel. Anointed in chapter 16, and had his character and destiny instantly altered: “Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward…” (verse 13). As a result, he not only got an invitation to spy the land (the palace), as it were (see verses 18-23); he went on to solve a national problem by taking out Goliath, the giant Philistine war general, with anointed words and a stone in a sling (see chapter 17).

As Samuel, the pastor, put it, the anointing is for problem solving and problem solving is the quickest way to leadership. The oil poured on David by Samuel, the prophet, did just that – solved a problem and began to propel David inexorably to national prominence and leadership.

Of course, the man of God wasn’t just rehashing a beautiful, inspirational Bible story; he was delivering a message. He pronounced under the unction of the Holy Spirit that a fresh anointing was coming upon the people of God, particularly those in the Gymnasium Hall of the Nigeria Institute for Sports (NIS), that Wednesday night. That will make them problem solvers. What is happening here (the campmeeting) will have national and international repercussions, he prophesied.

Then, he raised a very important question, the identity question, he called it. And for me, that was the highlight of his ministration and possibly, the single most important issue in Christendom. It is a theme that I have found myself returning to again and again in the last several years, as I personally struggle with the awesome reality of who I am in God through Jesus’ completed work of salvation and redemption. And the man of God’s revelation on the subject hit me like a tonne of bricks!

Going right back to Genesis and the fall of man (chapter 3), he pointed out that what satan did to Adam and Eve, when he cajoled Eve and they both ate the forbidden fruit, was simple: create an identity crisis, which the Lord Jesus had to come to resolve.  In verse 5, the serpent, as satan was characterised, said to Eve: “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”

The key phrase there was “be as gods” How disingenuous! Why would God want to prevent them from being “as gods”, when he had already created them in His image and after his likeness, and granted them dominion over everything else! As Pastor Sam put it, the result of eating the fruit was that they, and subsequently their offspring, became as the serpent. Put another way, he translated them from the kingdom of God, which is a kingdom of sons, to his own kingdom, which is one of slaves! Adam and Eve were already “gods”, but they didn’t know it! They were already in His image and His likeness, but the enemy told them they needed the fruit to attain God-likeness. Who are you?

The man of God then revealed the major difference between the first Adam and the second, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ; the mediator of our new covenant, the covenant that restored us to our original status and stature. Unlike Adam in the Garden, Jesus knew enough about who he was to resist the enemy, when he came calling to warp up his identity.

The Lord’s encounter with satan right after his 40-day fast served the enemy notice that this was not an encore of the Garden of Eden encounter with the first Adam. The Bible records the opening shot of the enemy in Mathew 4, this way: “And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread” (verse 3). Jesus famously replied: “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (4).

As Pastor Sam Adeyemi expounded, when it is recalled that God had earlier publicly announced Jesus as His son, at his baptismal at River Jordan, Jesus’ response may well have been rendered in these word: I don’t have to prove anything to you or anybody else and certainly not in order to meet my current need for bread.  God Has already proclaimed me His son and that settles it!

Who are you, dear reader?

MY BREAKTHROUGH CAMPMEETING NOTES

Campmeeting 2011 winds down today with a Gospel Music Jamz, after a one-day break occasioned by the local government election in Lagos state. The programme will feature apart from CCIC Levites, Raph Femi Daniels, Tim Godfrey of the Xtreme Crew, Vineyard Christian Centre Crew and stand-up comedian, Edo Charles. Patmos Playhouse, gospel drama group of the church and the CCIC Youth Drama team.

Since opening at the Gymnasium Hall of the National Institute for Sports at the National Stadium in Lagos had features three daily sessions with an average of three ministrations per session. Indeed, it has been a four-day word-feast and I thank God for giving me and all of mine the opportunity to be part of the feast. Not even my children away in the United Kingdom were left out, thanks to the live-streaming on the World Wide Web.

Leafing through my notes, a number of nuggets leap at me, some of which I just cannot wait to share with you, my dear faithful readers.

Let’s begin with this.  From ministrations at the convention, one fundamental thing is clear; the season of breakthrough that has come upon us is not a personal thing. It is a season already foretold by the Lord in the Bible for the Church. Or more directly it is a season for citizens of the Kingdom of God on earth. Everybody who is anybody in the church is fully persuaded that these are the endtimes. These are the “those days” of the Bible; when your old men will dream dreams and the young ones will see visions.

 

Now, as Bishop David Oyedepo set it out clearly in his brief but epochal ministration on Tuesday night, the last days are the days of breakthrough when an army of giants will rise from the church to dominate and subsequently take over several sectors of life in the world, Nigeria in particular. In fact, according to the bishop, many such giants will emerge from Christ Chapel International Churches, with this convention as a trigger.

But, it must begin with vision, divinely inspired vision.  It is therefore a vision-driven season.  Vision is central to this season because it is only divine plans that has a guarantee of divine backing.  And, according to the man of God there five ways God guarantee breakthroughs for the plans he inspires.

First he goes ahead of us.  He does for us exactly as he promised in Isaiah 45: “I myself will prepare your way, leveling mountains and hills. I will break down bronze gates and smash their iron bars (GNB, verse 2).

Second, He goes with you. As it was with Jesus in whom He ensured His presence through the Holy Sprit. The Bible puts it this way: “You know about Jesus of Nazareth and how God poured out on him the Holy Spirit and power. He went everywhere, doing good and healing all who were under the power of the Devil, for God was with him (Act 10:38). The same Holy Spirit is with us if we are pursuing a divinely inspired assignment.

Next, he works with us. In Acts 10:38, the Bible records that: “The disciples went and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and proved that their preaching was true by the miracles that were performed. ”It’s absolutely so even now, in these breakthrough season.  Bishop Oyedepo puts it this way:  God with you makes an unbeatable team.

Fourth, in your season of breakthrough, God works in you.  Philippians 2: 13 is very clear about that when it says: “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”  This is a truth we need to internalise to enable us break through. It is also important lest we make the mistake of claiming credit for our successes.

Lastly, God works for you! Incredible as this is, it is true, very true. Jesus declared it very clearly in John 14:10: “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works”.  And in 1Thessalonians 5:24 he reiterated it in these words: “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.”

The man of god emphasise that we must never confuse ambition with vision because vision, being of god is vastly more superior to ambition, which is often simply carnal desires. Flowing from this therefore, carnality is the greatest single opponent of vision. In order words those who know that they know that they have entered their season of breakthrough must eschew carnality.

Pointing out that most of the visions that have defined his life and ministry did not come to him in the church or during prayer, he declared that to enjoy our breakthrough season, we must be spiritual  24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Pastor Mike Olorogun’s prophetic word earlier in the day has also remained in my heart:  the man of God from CCIC’s London church declared: Your enemies will see your God’s work in your life” Also lingering in my spirit strongly are the declarations of Rev Elekima Ekine, who heads the Western Nigeria region of CCIC. His words, which became something of a slogan, went like this: “My breakthrough; what about it? It’s here and it is now!”  I say a resounding amen to that – on all your behalf.

CCIC CAMPMEETING – CONSISTENTLY LIFE-CHANGING

There is only one way to describe a ministry that has sustained the vision of an annual Camp Meeting for 23 years through thick and thin, missing out only once since it started in 1987.  The only way to describe this focused and unmatched obligation to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and development of humanity is consistent!

Rev Dr Tunde & Rev Mrs Ebun Joda..
.Chief Hosts

And that is exactly what the founding Pastors of Christ Chapel International Churches, CCIC; Reve (Dr.) Chris Tunde and Rev (Mrs) Ebun Joda have demonstrated in more than two decades. And this year, the CCIC Camp Meeting is marking its 24^th edition with the theme: My Season of Breakthrough.

Historically, this annual programme has emerged as one of the most important events on the Pentecostal/Charismatic Christian calendar in Nigeria as the Senior Pastors/Founders of CCIC, Reverend (Dr) Joda and his wife, Reverend (Mrs) Ebun Joda, both anointed expositors of the word of faith, direct affairs under the unction of the Holy Ghost.

As is usual, the conference will hold simultaneously in major cities of Nigeria to cater for the word needs of not just their immediate locations, but also for their regions. These cities are Abuja Federal Capital Territory, where the National Christian Centre is venue, Calabar, in Cross River state, Ibadan, Oyo state  and Port Harcourt in Rivers state.

With three sessions everyday, Camp Meeting 2011, opens at 9am each day with a second session at noon, both being workshops, powerfully designed and thus crucial for children of God desiring to grow in their knowledge of their Father, and find and or confirm their place in His kingdom.  Miracle and Impartation services beginning at 5pm.

Scheduled to begin in Lagos from Tuesday October 18, the event will last till Sunday October 23, 2011 with a break in the Lagos programme on Saturday October 22 due to the scheduled local council polls holding in the state.

The calendar for the other stations shows that the event is a two-day affair in Abuja Federal Capital Territory and will hold on Wednesday 19 and Thursday 20 October. Expected to minister in the Abuja programme is Bishop G.I Eromobor, founding pastor, New Generation Bible Church International who will lead other guest ministers slated to speak at the meeting.

For Calabar and Port Harcourt, the programme will open on Wednesday and run four days climaxing on Sunday October 23. Calabar will play host to Rev Bob Alonge, Senior Pastor, The Capital Assembly, Abuja and Rev Stephen Olusegun Shafe of Banner of Grace Ministries, Calabar, among other top ministers of the word of faith.

Ministering at the Port Harcourt centre is Bishop Winston T. Iwo, Senior Pastor of Grace Covenant Church based in the Rivers State capital.  He will be joined, among others by Pastor Chris Oarhe, Senior Pastor of Hilltop International Christian Centre, said to be one of Nigeria’s fastest growing churches, located on a 5-acre property, with a 3,000-seater fully air-conditioned auditorium.

The Ibadan centre, on the other hand, begins Camp Meeting 2011 on Friday October 21 and will run for three days.  Rev Yinka Ojo, Senior Pastor, Grace Family Church, Lagos and Rev I. D. Lawon of Full Stature Missions International are guest ministers at the meeting holding at CCIC’s Ashi auditorium.

Guest Ministers for the National leg of the convention include such anointed ministers of the word like Dr. David Oyedepo, Presiding Bishop, Living Faith Church Worldwide aka Winners Chapel, a long time associate of the chief hosts, Rev Dr Tunde and Rev Mrs Ebun Joda, who will minister on the nights of Tuesday 18 and Wednesday 19; and Rev Sam Adeyemi, Senior Pastor of the Oregun, Ikeja-headquartered Daystar Christian Centre. Also confirmed from Nigeria is Rev Dr. Lekan Babatunde of Kings Chapel, Ibadan, who has been a Camp Meeting regular.

Two other Camp Meeting veterans complete the list of guest ministers who would be joined by many others from CCIC. They are Reverend Clyde Oliver, founding pastor of Maranatha Christian Center of Melbourne, Florida, and Rev Mike Moore, both from the United States.

According to the Church Council which has been working round the clock to make the programme a huge success, there are plans to live stream this year’s meetings to enable those who are unable to attend nationally and internationally to participate and benefit from the move of God that is certain to be experienced.

Founded over 25 years ago, the driving force of Christ Chapel International Churches has been an unalloyed commitment to faith that moves mountains. And this has been exemplified by the outstanding and astonishing accomplishments of the numerous men and women who have passed through the ministry.

With Jesus Christ as the epitome of the Christian’s virtue of love, Christ Chapel thrives on the enduring command for the Christian to live a life of Praise and Worship which is often missing in some Christian assembly.

A ministry totally committed to a life of prayer, fellowship, teaching the word of God as a foundational and evangelism enshrined in that great command of Jesus Christ in Mark 16:15 “Go ye into the world, and preach the gospel to every creature”, the last two and half decades have been more fulfilling than any enterprise could ascribe to itself.

From such themes as Faith is the Victory (1987), Spiritual Warfare in the following year down to the passionately convincing theme of 2001 – Fresh Faith, Fresh Fire; the different editions of Camp Meeting of the Church has attracted Nigerians and foreigners in a gathering of transformation.

Each year, speakers have been drawn from the Americas, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Ghana, other Europeans and the elite of Nigerian ministers of the gospel, among others. It is therefore not any surprise that this year, the highly acclaimed Bishop David Oyedepo is leading the team of world renowned ministers to Camp Meeting 2011.

Bishop Oyedepo has created landmarks in Nigeria and beyond turning around desolate lands into flourishing Eden here in his country. The Covenant University is one of such numerous expressions of the Bishop’s responses to God’s command.

For Pastor Sam Adeyemi who has grown the Daystar Christian Ministry into a world institution, his first time in Camp Meeting is perhaps a measure of how busy he has been that has made it impossible for his calendar to accommodate the wonderful spiritual move of the Holy Spirit during past Camp Meetings. He is therefore planning to make the most of this rare opportunity.

     

HIS KINGDOM, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, HIS MAN (3)

If you are just joining us, you are welcome to the last of a three-part serial, which itself is a rehash of an earlier four-part serial first published in 2009 as “Open Letter to Kingdom Persons.” The rehash, as I stated before, was necessitated by some of the questions raised by men at the Saturday, September 17, 2011 Men’s Breakfast Plus, an event organised by the Ikeja chapter of Christian Men’s Network Nigeria. The questions as I pointed out betrayed inadequate understanding of the reality of God’s Kingdom on earth and our place in it as His children. I shall quote mainly from the concluding part of the 2009 effort, as liberally as space allows. Here goes:

“…I wish to reiterate that those of us who have accepted the Lordship of Jesus Christ have no business living our lives as anything but sons. The kingdom that the Lord Jesus helped to birth is a kingdom of sons, not of subjects. Adam was a son of God who worked in the Family Business. When he lost his son-ship through rebellion, God promised to restore him one day. He did through the Lord Jesus, also known as the second Adam. The restoration is total. The Bible says he who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. The import of that was that we were restored to that state of fellowship, which Adam had with God the Father in the Garden of Eden; that state where they enjoyed “Tales by Moonlight” together in the cool of the day. Righteousness…speaks of that state of being able to stand in the presence of the Father without any feeling of guilt, unworthiness or inferiority. That is an envious state to be in! 

“But what use is an enviable position that is not used for any good? What use is son-ship if, in practice, it’s just another name for servant-hood? Yet that unfortunately is the rule rather than the exception in Christendom, a whopping 2,009 years after Jesus finished the work of reconciliation, reinstatement and restoration at great personal cost to the entire Godhead. The Bible says God was in Christ reconciling us to himself. It says Jesus came to restore unto us eternal life, which is the very nature of God. It says that to those who believe, he has granted the power, the right to become sons of God.

“I have been saying that in nowhere else is our servant mentality more glaring than in our attitude to work. If some sociologist had not conceptualised the rat race, the average Christian would have - he epitomises it!  From cradle, he is primed for the race – the race to get an education so that he can get a certificate or certificates, so that he can get a job, so that he can make money to put food on the table, wear good clothes, live in a good part of town, ride the best cars, put his children in the best schools, so that they can join the rat race...

“If somewhere along the line, he realises that things are not working exactly as he would have wanted, it dawns on him that he needs God. So, he inserts God and church somewhere in his schedule. From that point on, he never leaves home without praying, which, oftener than not is simply to tell God what’s going wrong and ask him to fix it “in the mighty names of Jesus.” And off he goes to work for his daily bread!

“If, like many, he doesn’t get a job fast enough after acquiring his degrees, he “gets religion,” which is saying, he becomes active in church. He’s the first to arrive for every service. Whatever work there is to do, he’s available. He’s fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, to borrow the words of Apostle Paul. Then his prayers are answered, he gets a job. Glory to God. Of course he is no longer available to serve the Lord – “understandably”. He has to wake up at five in the morning, in order to be at work before eight. He does not return home till 10pm, thanks to heavy commuter traffic.  He’s in the rat race now, to make money so that he can put food on the table, wear good clothes, live in a good part of town, ride the best cars, put his children in the best schools, so that they can join the rat race…

“Of course, our now gainfully employed brother feeds his intellect fat in the course of his job - no choice about that. It is a requirement if he’s to keep his job and ever get ahead. In contrast, he has become a Sunday-only Christian who sits under the word only on the Sabbath. And if his church is one of those seeker-friendly ones; where the service …is the microwave, fast-food type; that can mean hearing the word of God for no more than 30-40 minutes a week. In effect, his spirit is severely malnourished. He becomes heavily depended on the wisdom of man, not having fresh supply of the wisdom of God that’s available in God’s word.

“This is the general trend. We are resigned to the demands of the Babylonian system. We even tell God to understand because, after all he gave us the job, and in any case that’s where our tithes and offerings come from.

“Next, when issues arise threatening the job, we are ready to give it whatever it takes to retain it. The guys are willing to play tough and rough while the babes are willing to play soft and smooth. The former is euphemism for maiming and killing, while the other can mean bed-hopping and unscheduled late nighters…

“When you see your job as a kingdom assignment, you’ll appreciate the need to apply only kingdom principles in carrying out your duties. You will not seek to hold on to it at all costs; you’ll resist the urge to do the immoral, the illegal and the sinful.  You will do it as unto the Lord. One of the most effective weapons of the enemy is the lie that faith and your work don’t mix; the lie that work is work and it has its own methodologies, and faith is faith and it has a different set of rules. The truth is that children of God have only one assignment – to grow the family business, which is the kingdom of God.  You grow the business not to earn a living, but to serve your father in love. You have an heirloom to draw from as an heir of the Father and joint-heir with Christ. God will meet your needs, if you let him. If he chooses to do so through the department he has posted you to, that’s his prerogative.  But that job is not and can never be your source, He is.” (CONCLUDED)  

HIS KINGDOM, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, HIS MAN (2)

As I was saying, some of the questions raised by men at the recent Men’s Breakfast Plus event organised by the Ikeja chapter of Christian Men’s Network Nigeria on Saturday, September 17, seemed to indicate that our understanding of the reality of God’s Kingdom on earth is on the shallow side.

While it is true that many of us readily agree that we are children of God by virtue of being born again Christians, and therefore citizens of the kingdom of God on the earth, we still have not grasped the full implications of that truth that we know and profess. And since we have not grasped it, we simply cannot manifest it!

As I quoted from an earlier serial, “Open Letter to Kingdom Persons” in closing last week, “…many men reading this already know, and accept as true, the biblical assertion that we are sons of God. Many might even be walking in this truth in some areas of their life. But many of us are slaves masquerading as servants; some others are servants parading as sons, while some of the very best are merely living on the fringes of sonship. And it shows glaringly in everything. It shows in the way we pray and what we pray for. It shows in the way we praise and worship God whom we say we have accepted as our father.   It shows in our attitude to work; in how some of us have become slaves to work in the pursuit of what we call ‘putting food on the table’ or providing for the family. It shows in how desperate we sometimes get in the pursuit of this all-important provision for the family, such that compromise has become the norm, even among Christians whether we are business persons, academics, politicians, civil servants or holders of high government posts”.

Put as starkly as I can manage it, our identity does not match our behaviour!

“I was saying that the line between son-ship and servant-hood seems to have become blurred in the consciousness of many of us, kingdom persons. We say we believe what the Bible says; that we are sons of God, by adoption through the finished work of Jesus Christ, and in line with God’s original plan. But we live like servants or slaves…

In Part two of the serial, I stated as follows: “Yet the difference is clear. The Pocket Oxford Dictionary describes a slave as a ‘person who is owned by and has to serve another”. It defines a servant as ‘person employed to do domestic duties.’ But it says of a son, ‘male descendant or inheritor of a quality’.  A slave is owned by his master and is not even accorded the dignity of a free-will. A servant has to earn his keep. A son is an inheritor…”

I continued: “The point being made here is this: while servants have to earn their keep, sons do not have any such obligations. No father provides for his son on the condition that he serves him. Fathers provide for their children out of love and as a duty. Masters pay their servants according the quality and quantity of their service. The Bible is very clear about this. Paul did not say my God shall supply all your needs according to how hard you’ve worked; it is according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus (see Philippians 4:19). Does this imply that sons have no responsibilities; that they do no kind of work; or that they just sit idling away? Not at all. Sons serve in the Family Business; they work to grow the family enterprise; they serve in love not out of compulsion or in order to ‘put food on the table’. I shall come back to this presently…”

In concluding the second part of that serial, I wrote: “An oft-quoted passage of scripture, the full import of which seems lost on many children of God is in the Book of Matthew, chapter six. It is a graphic depiction of the rat race which the servant mentality has pushed us into. And it goes on to give the father’s heart on the matter. The New Living Translation renders it this way: ‘… I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?  Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?  Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?  “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? ‘So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need (verses 25-33)…”

Continuing, I wrote: “This passage had been widely seen and taught as an exhortation against anxiety - and it is. But it is much more than that. It is the Lord Jesus’ blueprint for true kingdom living. It is the prescribed lifestyle for kingdom persons who have successfully exorcised the servant mentality and have come into the fullness of son-ship.”  

I shall bring this to a conclusion next week, by quoting a bit more from the 2009 serial  in the hope that it will ginger us to take another look at our lifestyle to see how it lines up with the plan of God for us. 

Happy 51^st anniversary Nigeria, and may this decade of Jubilee lead us permanently out of the woods, in Jesus name (CONTINUES).