CHRISTMAS ISN’T ABOUT A TURKEY AND SOME MISTLETOES

I love the Christmas season – the colors, the plenty food, the aura, and of course, the gifts. I’m not a very big fan of Christmas movies – too mushy for me. But I’m a great fan of Christmas songs. When I was in college, I usually gathered my collection from as early as August. These days, so I don’t seem weird, I start by November.  People do different things for Christmas. In my home country, growing up, I watched parents make new clothes and buy new shoes for their children at Christmas. Several people cooked special meals and did special things at Christmas. Although, that was never the kind of Christmas my siblings and I had. As pastors’ kids, while others were at Christmas parties on Christmas day, we were camping out in either a dilapidated school building or some field somewhere in a village. While others cooked and ate special meals, some even killing chickens, turkeys, goats, and rams, our special meal was mass-prepared jollof rice with little piece(s) of chicken or goat meat. Our parents didn’t buy us Christmas clothes, or make us a banquet, or treat Christmas the way others did. We put up a Christmas tree in our home every year, but the wrapped up boxes under the tree were empty, not containing gifts for us. Surprisingly, then and now, I have never felt deprived of Christmas pleasure. We learned in the church my parents serve as pastors in that Christmas is never about us – it is about Jesus. So on Christmas day, all of us (believers in all the different branches of our church body in the country) went out to share the love of Christ to people, to tell non-believers the real meaning of Christmas, and to plant churches – places of worship – for these new believers who accepted our gospel message. Simply put, Christmas for us was purely “missions”.

If everyone took some time to really think about it, we would see that that’s indeed the best way to spend our time this season – telling people about what and Who makes Christmas Christmas. It’s so sad that we all – children, adults, believers, and non-believers – have made Christmas about ourselves. We have kids expecting new and cool gifts. There are mothers planning great feasts with family and friends. Some fathers burst their butts trying to make money at any cost, by any means this season, so as to make their families happy at Christmas. There are lovers having unholy premarital/extramarital sex to celebrate a holy, spotless Savior that, of course, they fail to acknowledge. Even non-Christians, that is, people of other religious beliefs, also celebrate Christmas. If this wasn’t so sad, it would have been funny. What are they celebrating anyway? How can one celebrate the birthday of a Savior he/she openly despises?

See, there’s nothing wrong with having Christmas traditions (I have mine too). I believe Jesus would have been happy about all this euphoria going on because of Him. But I don’t think He’s happy that we have made it about our selfish selves. Sharing gifts, eating big meals, showing love, etc., are all great if we just can make it all about the celebrant – JESUS. Let’s share His love with unbelievers. Let’s make them know that Christmas is indeed the most wonderful time of the year. And it is so not because of toasted marshmallows or chestnuts roasting on an open fire. The love we feel at Christmas isn’t because of the gifts we receive or the people around us. It’s in Jesus alone that true love can be found. It’s not a turkey and some mistletoes that make this season glow. It’s Jesus, the one and only Savior of mankind, who brings glow to a person’s life. And glow, shine, radiance do not have to be only once a year; it can be every day if one just let’s Jesus in. 

So, fellow believers, let’s take up the challenge. Share Jesus’ love. Make this Christmas ALL about the Almighty Celebrant.

***

PS: My family always moved the celebration to January 1^st – just so you wouldn’t think we were such a sad family :)

How Boring Would It Be...?

A couple of months back, my church invited a Senior Pastor from another State in the country to come minister to us. As we would be responsible for his hospitality (hotel & feeding), I was selected as the chosen one (**wink wink**) to handle that. OK, fine!… it was two of us. Well, on the first day, we served him chicken with sides of rice and plantain (general food). But on the second day, we decided to serve him one of his cultural foods. As I am from the same region as he is (South West- Yoruba), I was indisputably the right person to do that cooking. I decided to make him amala (made with plantain flour) and vegetable soup (Nigerians know what I’m talking about). Amala is native to the Yorubas (at least, some part), but vegetable soup is general to all Nigerians. What I didn’t know however, was that we (the Yorubas) prepared ours a bit differently from others. As I got set to cook the soup, my partner and her sister (who are not Yorubas) said they would like to watch how I cooked mine. As I cooked, I explained what I was doing, as a chef-in-the-making would (wink wink). I hadn’t gone past my second step when my partner’s sister got “disgusted” with how we cooked our soup, and she said, “Oh please, please, is this how you people cook your vegetable soup? It does not make sense. I don’t even want to know how you do it anymore. Oh oh, this is sth sth (can’t remember the words she used exactly).” 
At first, I was surprised she thought it was not good, or that it didn’t make sense. Seconds following my surprise, when she wouldn’t stop, I was disgusted by her disgust. One funny thing is she’s the only one who I know dislikes the way we cook that soup. She didn’t even care to taste it. John C. Maxwell in his book, Winning With People, said, “If Bob has a problem with everybody; Bob is usually the problem.” I guess my partner’s sister was the problem here. Second funny thing is that I have eaten the food she and her sister offered me several times, not because I thought it was delicious, but because they said it was their cultural food, and they were always very happy offering it to me. It didn’t matter to me that my taste buds noticed the unfamiliar taste and didn’t welcome it much, or that my eyes didn’t find the foods particularly appealing. I ate with the love of Christ. And lastly, the way they described how they cooked their own vegetable soup seemed weird to me too, but I never considered it worse than my people’s method. The thought didn’t even cross my mind.

You see, we live in a world where people think you’re “abnormal”, “weird”, “not-fitting-in”, “second-class citizens” if you are not like them? If we’re honest with ourselves and take a moment to consider it, we’ll come to realize that variety [differences] is what makes our world really beautiful. The Bible says that God made ALL THINGS beautiful in His time (Ecclesiastes 3:11); and that He made ALL these things for His own pleasure (Revelation 4:11). We act sometimes like God was clueless when He put variety in the world. 

Imagine how boring it would be if all the waters in the world were rivers – just rivers. That is, no seas or oceans, no fountains or waterfalls, no aquifers, no springs, no the-Grand-Canyon (gasp!) – Nothing more, just rivers.

Imagine how boring it would be if all the cars in the world were Mercedes; and that everyone was an Automobile Engineer by profession.

What fun is it if everyone spoke only English? No Mandarin, no Hindi, no Yoruba or Hausa or Igbo. French doesn’t exist, neither does Latin or Spanish or Afrikaans; the Kenyans don’t speak Swahili, and native speakers don’t speak Creole. Imagine if everyone spoke with a British accent. What fun would it be?

I weigh 72kg (most times), wear American Size 12, and I don’t think my weight is a problem at all; but there are a lot of people who think I should feel awful for seeing nothing wrong with my weight. So, what if I weighed 100kg and wore 22W or if I weighed 50kg and wore Size 2 or 4? Who determines the right weight - the weight that makes you a human being or less of a human being? Or who says the beautiful person is the skinny one and the fat person is just “OK” or not even good enough? 

Am I speaking out of place? I don’t think so. People fear to point it out, but we all know that in Hollywood, Bollywood, Nollywood, and all-other-woods the skinny actor/actress gets the good roles, while the overweight one gets mostly the crappy roles. 

I had a conversation with my friend few weeks ago, and he was telling me about a girl who wasn’t pretty before, but now he thinks she looks good. My reaction: Say what? She was ugly before and got pretty overnight? If you asked me, I’ll say something was wrong with his eyes when he looked at her the first time. By the way, who decides who’s pretty and who’s not? Who created the pretti-o-meter of the world? How do people determine the prettier one from the less pretty one? The Bible says God made ALL THINGS beautiful in His time (Ecclesiastes 3:11). If you’d ask our Manufacturer, I know He’ll say we are all good and beautiful, created in His image and likeness, just the way He planned it (Genesis 1:26-28, 31). 

A little over a month ago, I taught a lesson in my church on Forbearance (Colossians 3:9-17; Ephesians 4:1-3). I focused on the “tolerance” meaning of forbearance. People don’t have to be like us. The mistakes people make, the imperfection, incompleteness, and all the not-like-us things that we see in others are what spice up the world and make it beautiful, giving pleasure to our Creator. 

If everyone was like you – looked like you, talked like you, thought like you, ate the foods you ate, etc like you, I bet you wouldn’t want to stay in this world past your tenth birthday; because boring can be unbearable. I read in my devotional one morning that the only person who has the right to be proud and to think of himself better than others is a person who is entirely self-sufficient; and we all know there’s no such human alive on the earth. For starters, everyone breathes God’s air, so I need not explain to you how highly dependable-on-God we are as humans. Only God has the right to be proud, and even He isn’t (Psalm 8:4-5). He comes down to our lowly state and sees us as His friend, regardless of color, size, age, looks, our imperfection, etc. We, as God-carriers, should do same for others.

Dear Readers: HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Readers,

As my blog name, Temi’s Race, implies, I have kept up with telling y’all about my experiences and inspirations on this Christian journey; many times, ending those experiences with words of exhortation and encouragement to you. This post is no different, except that today, I need counsel from y’all.

Here it goes:

This year has been very tough – really tough – for me. I don’t want to talk about anything in detail now. [I plan a 7-day series on “2014 in Retrospect,” where I’ll share my major experiences and learnings this year. I plan that for the last week of the year, December 25-31. So, please, watch out for that]. Pending that time, however, one of my this-year-has-been-very-tough-for-me experiences has to do with rejection. I “suffered” two major bouts of rejection this year. One was such a hard blow, it threw me into utter confusion for weeks (I’m still confused, but I’m rising above). The other one came slowly, quietly, and craftily. Whether the intention of the sources of these two instances was rejection or not, I don’t know. Bottom line is that it felt like it – I acknowledged it and it hurt – it really really hurt.

Many months after, I have come to realize that I’m really scared of being rejected again. Knowing this, I cannot but seek help from y’all, my friends. I know that the fear of rejection can lead to several unpleasant things; one of which is compromising your faith just to please people and be accepted by them. OF COURSE, I’m not there yet, and I don’t want to get down to that level ever. So, pleaaassseeee, what practical steps can I take to deal with this? HELP ME!

Please, don’t fail to drop a word or more in the comment session below. I promise to consider all the counsels and put into action the godly advice that you offer.

GOD BLESS YOU!

THANK YOU...

“Please…” “Thank you…” “I am Sorry…” Growing up, I was taught that these are the most important words anyone can say – some call it “magical words”. Personally, I have never found it difficult to say any of these words whenever I need to. I’m not sure why. I’m guessing probably because my siblings and I had very good upbringing – I mean “veeerrrryyy gooood”, if you know what I mean. My parents took discipline very seriously. When we deserved to be disciplined, we were disciplined. When we didn’t deserve discipline, we were disciplined. While dad chose words as his preferred weapon, mom used sticks. Apparently, she took the words of the Teacher in Proverbs 22:15; 23:13 literarily and very very seriously. I could choose to be bitter about those times, but now in 2014, looking at how we all turned out, I think every lash – whether with words or with sticks – was totally worth it. 

Anyway, because of how easy it has been for me to use these “magical words” when appropriate, I deem it highly uncourteous when people aren’t humble in making requests, appreciative, and/or apologetic. I expect a “please” to come before any request, a “thank you” or “great job, Temi” after a good deed, and an “I’m sorry” if I am wronged. A couple months back, however, I realized that I didn’t just expect people to say those words; I kinda expected a little more – more than I deserved. 

So one day, when I was beginning to feel like I deserved a “thank you, Temi” or “great job, Temi” for everything I did, I said a little prayer. I said, “LORD, please, help me to be able to do a good deed without expecting any appreciation.” Not like appreciating a good deed is wrong. No, it isn’t. I will teach any child to always say “thank you” when they need to. But I saw a need for me to do selfless service and ascribe ALL the glory to God for everything He does through me (Philippians 2:13). Anyway, just to point this out, the LORD answered almost immediately – the next Bible Study I taught, only the Holy Spirit said “great job, Temi.” At first, I was disappointed, but I quickly remembered the prayer I’d prayed, and that made me smile instead. I also was a bit worried that the people were not blessed, but when I heard “great job, Temi” from the inside, I was satisfied. That was the first “noticeable” time. Subsequent times weren’t as easy. Making that request to God made me conscious of just how much I needed to be appreciated or “recognized” for any good thing I did. Strangely though, I do feel uncomfortable when people are “highly” appreciative for a little act of kindness done by me; nonetheless, I realized that I still wanted them to be grateful - really grateful. Maybe I felt a thrill in the discomfort or maybe it made me happy that I was a blessing to someone, or maybe… just maybe anything... I’m not sure. All I know is that I liked it much, and I wanted to stop liking it. That was why I prayed. I sincerely desired to get to the level where I could truly, honestly, and wholly attribute all glory to God for whatsoever that He does through me.

Some weeks ago, while I pondered on this situation (yes, it had become a “situation”…lol), I heard the words of Matthew 5:16 – “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and GLORIFY YOUR FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN.” Boom!!!… The glory wasn’t for me anyway. It’s my light shining, and it’s my good works being done, but it’s NOT my glory. Making that request to stop expecting “thank you” was totally in line with the word of God. So, any “thank yous” I receive are just bonuses and not my right. Only God has the right to be told “thank you” and to receive “thank you”; for it is Him who works in us to do anything at all that deserves “thank you”. Choosing to be used by Him is something we should be grateful for. As far as God is concerned, He will bless and reach out to His people regardless of who He uses. Being a vessel in His hands is all the “thank you” we need.

Again, don’t get me wrong. It is good to be appreciative. It is a courteous act that everyone should imbibe. However, we must be careful not to want it so much to the extent that it changes our minds towards doing something nice for people the next time. Some of us withhold good from people because the last time we did something for them, we didn’t receive the level of appreciation we expected. This should not be so! Only God deserves to be praised. We are just vessels in His hands, and it is a privilege to be used of Him. At least, that is what I think… :)

A Little Bit Further...

A few weeks ago, I was in a taxi [PS: Taxis in Port-Harcourt may or may not be privately/personally chattered. You could get in a taxi like you get in a public bus – that’s the kind I was in]. So, I was sitting behind the driver in this “public” taxi with two other passengers beside me at the back seat when I realized that my left ear was missing its earring. “Oh no!” were my first thoughts. To my jewelry-using sisters out there, you know how you feel when you lose one ear of your earring pair. It’s awful! Trust me, brothers, it is. Those ones are my best pair of earrings. They were not expensive, but they are beautiful. Without even looking for it, I began thinking about how to get another pair of the same kind. As I was thinking, a passenger sitting beside me got to her stop and alighted. This gave me a little room to search for the missing earring. I put my hand in between the seat, checked on the floor of the car, but didn’t find it. A little while after, the other person sitting beside me got to his stop and also alighted. I had even more room to search for the earring, and I did; all the time, checking on my right side, and in front of me. I gave up and decided to 'deal with it'. I was fast approaching my stop and would soon alight, when I suddenly decided to reach out with my left hand to the side of the door by which I sat. I was so sure that I wouldn’t find it, but then, I did. I found my missing earring hanging somewhere on the door by my left foot. As soon as I picked it up, I reached my stop and got off the taxi. Of course, I was thrilled. I excitedly thanked God that I had found my missing piece of earring. One would have thought it was something more serious. Lol. I caught myself being too excited, and I tried to behave myself when I received the words, “reach out!”

 

Many times, in life, we give up too easily and too quickly. We desire a thing or more, and after a little effort, we give up; and then we, feeling defeated, decide that maybe it was never ours. Wait a minute, though, what if it was yours? What if that was the exact thing God wanted for you; but you, being in a hurry or being too lazy, didn’t reach a little further and you lost it. If I hadn’t reached out to my left at the time I did in that taxi, I would have alighted, and just thought the earring was lost somewhere unknown and there was nothing I could have done about it. I could have probably even said something like, “Maybe this is a sign that God didn’t want me to use jewelries again, OR maybe the earrings were too long and too dangly and I should have been more conservative.” But no, none of these were it. The earring was in the car right by my foot, and I just needed to reach out a little to the left, a little bit further, in a little bit more time to find it.

 

Bad things happen and we decide it is God’s will. How wrong? James 1:17 straightly tells us that ALL good and perfect gifts come from the Father of lights, with whom is NO variableness, neither shadow of turning. God does not delight in anyone’s death, poverty, misfortune or suffering. Ezekiel 18:32 says that He doesn’t delight in the death of a sinner. Neither does He derive pleasure in the death of a saint, according to Psalm 116:15. His thoughts towards us are not of evil but of peace to give us an expected end (Jeremiah 29:11). No form of evil seems like God’s definition of expected end to me. He delights in your prosperity and not in your hardship (Psalm 35:27; 3^rd John 2). BUT, He won’t do it all for us. God knows that there are some things we can’t do for ourselves, which He must help us with, and thankfully, He does. But He also knows that there are those we can do for ourselves, and those, He won’t do for us. When we give up too quickly, we fail to access what God has prepared for us, and with that, God is not pleased.

 

As able believers, who can do all things through Christ that strengthens us (Philippians 4:13), we should refuse to settle for less, we should refuse to settle for what life dishes us, we should refuse to give up [like I almost did in that taxi in my mundane missing-earring situation] and just reach out a little bit further to receive what is divinely ours. With a little more push, some more prayers, a little more reach, and sometimes, in a bit of more time, we can get a hold of what is ours.

Reach out. Don’t Give Up!

He that shall ENJOY unto the end…

In a popular scripture in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus tells quite a detail about how the end of times will be like. At a point in Matthew 24, while Jesus described these events, He said, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” I have read that passage several times, and heard it being preached several times, but I never really got the meaning of that phrase, “He that shall endure to the end shall be saved.” I thought I did. I thought I understood what endurance meant as it concerned Christianity, but now I know I really didn’t. Until recent happenings in my country and in the world at large, I didn’t. I didn’t understand that endurance actually meant looking anguish, sorrow, death, terror in the face, and with all the courage you can muster, you still say, “I’m a Christian - sold out to Christ forever!” I thought it meant, you know, preaching to someone and having water poured at you for that; or that it meant being criticized by your old friends for your new dressing style or your obsession with going to church. Oh, I thought it meant not landing the job you desired and being broke once in a while. Boy, I didn’t know it meant getting beheaded just because you said you’re a Christian – people killing you and thinking they’re doing God a favor (John 16:1-3). I didn’t know it meant going against the wind by all means, at any cost.

Hmmm. He that shall endure unto the end shall be saved. Jesus didn’t mince words when He made this statement. In fact, if there’s anybody who knew how to endure hardship, it was Jesus. So He was pretty aware of what He was saying. Don’t you think so? Unfortunately, however, many people have read that passage as, “He that shall enjoy unto the end, the same shall be saved.” I say this because, looking around me, I realize that people - fellow Christians - do not understand that these times are real and that everyone will have a taste of it. Many of us spend all the time we have pursuing ambition, career, convenience, fame, money, power, etc. for “me, me, me, I, I, I”; sadly, for some of us, at any cost, by whatever means.

While praying in the Spirit sometime in May this year, before things got even worse with our world, I began to interpret what I was praying, and part of my interpretation was, “These times are not for the weak minded…” Brothers and Sisters, the weak minded Christian will not make it through these times. The weak minded Christian cannot endure hardship like soldiers of  Jesus Christ – 2^nd Timothy 2:3. Oh, Oh, Oh, these times are not for the weak minded; because, guess what? It will get worse. It cannot get better. So for those of you praising God that you’re not in West Africa at the moment, and so, infectious-disease-of-the-year, Ebola, cannot get to you, you’d better pray. For those of you singing “alleluia” that you’re not in Northern Nigeria or in Iraq or other places where people are brutally murdered for being Christians, start praying. Don’t pray that it won’t get to you, because it will. It may not come in the same form, but a desperate need for endurance at these times will get to you, as long as you’re a Christian. So pray that GOD should help you endure unto the end.

For those of you my Brothers and Sisters in Christ who take your convenience more important than God, tsk tsk - God is merciful, the terrorists aren’t. Some people who couldn’t stand the heat in Iraq have converted to Islam just to save their lives here on earth. What for? I ask. You may think that you’d never do that. I’m sure they thought so too. When they were lifting up holy hands every Sunday praising Jehovah, they thought come rain, come shine, for Jesus all the way. Don’t judge them. I don’t. The heat was unbearable, so they left the kitchen. For those of you who love the pleasures of this world so much, Jesus meant it when He said, “You cannot serve both God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24; 1^st John 2:15-17). You’ve got to choose one, my dear; and now is the time to make your choice. Don’t get swallowed up into their messages and deceived by those prosperity preachers. They’re not helping you. They know they didn’t get rich in a day. They know that it wasn’t by decreeing, “money come” that money came. If they told you you can ride in a Rolls Royce by decree, they are lying to you, and they are going to watch you suffer and die poor. Haven’t you wondered how come the money hasn’t come after all these years of your so-called decree? Apostle Paul declared, “I count all things as dung that I might gain the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 3:7-8). You think Paul didn’t have a lot to lose? Think again (2 Corinthians 11:5-6, 22). He had so much to lose; but He knew that those things are not worthy of being compared to the glory ahead (Romans 8:18), and He wasn’t ready to let such trivialities deprive him of that glory. That is why he was able to die for the sake of the gospel.

Many of us deceive ourselves saying that whether life or death, we will follow Christ. You can deceive yourself and others around you, but the LORD knows those that are His.

Be strong my people. This message is for me too. I’m not preaching it as one who’s gotten there. No, no, no, it’s a message for me even more importantly. We must all endure to the end. The times won’t get easier. And don’t get it twisted, you cannot do this by yourself. You need the One who taught us by example what it means to endure to the end (1^st Peter 2:20-24; Philippians 2:5-8). Yield yourself to Him (Romans 6:12-13), and allow Him to work in and through you for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13). You can be rest assured that He will carry you home safely.

 ***        ***        ***

To those of you who have rejected Christ over and over, there is only one reality for you. Please, I encourage you to read my post about hell here. Only one reality. But you still have the chance to escape it. Accept Jesus today!

Finally, back to you, my Brothers and Sisters in Christ, as a side note, I’ll like to leave you with this question, “Are you winning souls or entertaining them?” Please, think deeply about it.

 

For the world passeth away, and the lust thereof:
but he that doeth the will of GOD
abideth for ever

- 1^st John 2: 17 (KJV)

OH WOW, AND I THOUGHT I WAS SAVED ALL THESE YEARS!!!

What is the Gospel?

It may be awfully surprising to learn that a lot of “Christians” do not know how to answer this question. Don’t judge them. You probably don’t yourself. Well, I didn’t for a very very long time.

First thing you should know is this: the gospel (Good News) is the most important message in scriptures. There is absolutely no salvation without it. NO Salvation. So, you must know what it is.

Like I said, I didn’t know how to define or explain it for a long time. Did I go to church? Of course! Did I do evangelism? Now, I wonder how I was able to manage to preach a gospel I didn’t even know about; but absolutely, I did evangelize! Did I parade myself as a Christian? Oh, you bet I did. I even started and hosted a number of Bible Studies hoping that people will find what “I had found in Christ”… What a joke!

For 12 years – TWELVE solid years, I had proclaimed Christianity… Or should I say, Christian Religion; because what I practiced was nothing other than that – Religion. I did things by the book, constantly made efforts to do right, and regardless of what I did, was continuously tormented and condemned by the spirit of religion.

You know, Roberts Liardon said something about this spirit in his amazing book God’s Generals: the Roaring Reformers (2003). He said, “I’ve encountered all kinds of evil, deceptive spirits. But I’ve never seen a meaner, more vicious spirit than the spirit of religion. It disguises itself so you think you are serving God. It is a murdering spirit with a “nice” camouflage… You’ll never appease it, nor will you ever please God through it”

I agree with him 100%.

For 12 years, I practiced and preached the Christian religion, thinking I was serving God. No relationship. No experience. Somewhere within me, I knew it had to be more than this. Something wasn’t right, I knew, but didn’t know what was wrong. Thank God for good friends.

It was a “real” Christian friend that showed me what was missing. He explained that what happened was I hadn’t even understood the basis behind my salvation; so how could I have lived a saved and renewed life?

Romans 1:16 says that the gospel of Christ is the power of God UNTO salvation to everyone that believes. Oh wow, so it means I believed in who Christ was, but I lacked the power that could save me. I had not properly received the gospel message. As Kenneth Hagin put it, I knew about Christ just like I knew about Abraham Lincoln (not like I know so well about the ex-president even).

1st Corinthians 4:15 says that Christ begat us through the gospel. This means that without understanding the message of the gospel, believing it with your heart and confessing it with your mouth (Romans 10:9-10), you cannot be saved. So if you automatically became a Christian because your dad and mom are Christians and took you to Sunday School as a kid, please, check your salvation again. You may be professing Christ, but you may not have been truly saved.

My friend (the real Christian friend) and I were discussing one day, and he mentioned that there are several pastors that do not even know the gospel and aren’t saved, yet they tell people about Jesus and do good works.

I pondered upon what he said, but not until I had a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit that completely changed my life did I understand what he meant. No wonder there are several pastors and believers in Christ who can’t pray for the sick to get healed, or cast out a demon, or even demonstrate faith in God for their own problems to be solved. Didn’t Christ say ‘these’ signs shall follow them that believe? Mark 16:17-18. No power (Romans 1:16). No blessing (Romans 15:29). No truth (Colossians 1:5). No peace (Ephesians 6:15). No hope (Colossians 1:23). No faith (Philippians 1:27). No salvation (Romans 1:16). No glory (1st Timothy 1:11).

Brother Hagin gave two examples of how a person can lead a church and lead people in Christ for years without being saved and without knowing it.

He told of a sister who had left her church after her wedding to join her husband in his church. On getting there, she began to hear things she had never heard before. She heard the gospel being preached and so she got “truly” saved and baptized in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in new tongues. Then she began to wonder if her former pastor knew the things that she had heard. “I mean if he knew, he would have told it to us,” she thought. Some months passed and she was invited to her former church for an event, and so she used that opportunity to preach the gospel of Christ to her former pastor. He got saved that day and became baptized in the Holy Ghost.

Brother Hagin also told a more interesting story of a pastor who retired from his fifty-years of ministry. He had preached and served in the church for 50 whole years but was not saved, and he did not know. At the age of 75 after he had retired as a pastor, he had an encounter with the Holy Spirit, got saved, and spoke in tongues for the first time ever. Brother Hagin mentioned that this elderly pastor said that “I have learned so much and experienced God so much than I did in all my 50 years of ministry put together.”

So, you may ask if all I’ve heard and known isn’t the gospel, then what is the gospel? The funny thing is you already know the gospel message. I am almost 100% certain that you know what the gospel is. You just may not know that that is the gospel.

A commentary in my Bible (The King James Study Bible, Liberty University © 1988) explains that the gospel is both a proposition and a person.

So, here it is – the proposition. In 1st Corinthians 15:1-8, the apostle Paul declares the gospel message of Christ:

“…how that Christ died for our sins according the scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen…”

But it is also a person – and that is the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ (Mark 1:1).

Now, one is saved when you (1) receive the person of the Lord Jesus as Savior (Revelation 3:20), and (2) if you believe the proposition of the gospel in your heart and you confess it with your mouth (Romans 10:9-10).

So, it is not enough to know about God. It is not enough to go to Bible colleges and earn theology and divinity degrees. It is not enough to buy theology books to learn about God (like I did). It is not enough to just go to church and tell people about God. While all those things are wonderful and are supposed to be evidences of a saved life, those things in themselves cannot save you (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The gospel message brings about a reconciliation of man to God. The gospel has to not only make you believe in Christ’s complete work of salvation, and has to not only make you accept this work; but even more, it has to restore you to a fellowship with the Father. That is the whole essence of Jesus’ coming anyway.

If I were you, I’d tell God to search me out (Psalm 139:23). You may like to consider the following questions:

-          Does your salvation carry power? John 1:12

-          Was there a fullness of blessing with the gospel you received? Romans 15:29.

-          Are you filled with and being led by the Spirit of God? Ephesians 5:18; Romans 8:14.

-          Did you experience peace through the gospel? Ephesians 6:15

-          Does your gospel lack faith in the complete work of Jesus? Philippians 1:27

-          Do you have hope of a glorious future? Col 1:23

-          Is your gospel true? Colossians 1:5

-          Did you ever take the conscious step to accept Christ as Lord and Savior – to believe it in your heart and confess it with your mouth? Romans 10:9-10, and

-          Did the gospel you heard reconcile you to God?

It will be absolutely terribly horrible if after all your “works” for the sake of Christ, you find out that you never really were saved, and that there’s no place for you in heaven.

The gospel is true. It is salvation. It is faith. It is glorious. It brings peace. Accept Christ today. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth Christ’s complete work on Calvary and be saved. For me, it was after 12 years of thinking I was saved, did I become actually saved. For that elderly retired pastor, it was after 50 years. It is never too late, as long as you still have life in you.

Your works are good, but they should be evidences of your faith, not the other way around. You cannot earn enough good works to purchase your faith or to purchase salvation.