THE ISSUE OF CHURCH UNITY – Yemi Obideyi

"And He gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers; v-12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry; for the edifying of the body of Christ. V-13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, "and the knoweledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." (Ephesians 4:11-13).

Various attempts in time past to foster unity among Church denominations had failed woefully. In most cases, what usually started with an aphoristic drive to unite the churches often fizzled into a faded hope and the desired unity remains elusive.

Dis-unity among the church called by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ is an indication of spiritual immaturity. It depicts the state of being susceptible to the wind of doctrines - each of which is a measure of truth taken from the Bible, but not the whole truth (Christ Himself). 

In a nutshell, the Scripture contains books written across generations of mankind and as such it is a witness of the evolution and progression of God's dealings with man. It also predicts God's ultimate desire, plan and purpose of His creation. It is clear in the Bible that God relates with His people from the point of a new - born through adolescence to maturity. Consequently, there are things permitted for a toddler or beginners of the journey with God but not allowed at full age, adulthood or advanced stage or nearness to the land of promise.

For example, at their take-off, God led Israelites on their way to Canaan with the pillars of Cloud and Fire in the day and night respectively (Exodus 13:21). At a point in the journey, God said “you have dwelt for too long on this mountain". This simply means that the (physical) directional pillars had been removed and replaced with the leading of the Spirit of God which the people were expected to be tuned to. One denomination takes a part of the truth or what holds (held) sway at a point and builds (built) a doctrine around it to differentiate it from others.

VIDEO Michael W. Smith - A New Hallelujah (Featuring The African Children's Choir) (Live)

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BLAST FROM THE PAST: Celebrating the Ministry of the Fit Man

As a great downpour begins with solemn gathering of clouds, so it was with the exhaustive prayer session experienced at the fellowship last Sunday.

It began with a few comments made by some brethren on challenges to spiritual growth. In other words, attitudes often spurred by desires or lust of the flesh; on-the-job situations that pre-dispose people into lying; tendencies to pitching tent with the majority or siding with popular opinion even when the Spirit of God nudges one to go the other way etcetera.

In clear demonstration of the biblical injunction that “one shall put to flight a thousand, and two ten thousands” the brethren held one another and launched out into an intensive and combative prayer session. From the low to the medium and then high “tempo”, it was easily discernible that participants in this intercessory warfare were resolved and united in seeking God’s help to rid them of anything that could hinder “His Spirit” from gaining full and absolute control of each person’s members.