Word of Prayer from John Hagee Ministries

Father God, we worship you today! We give you thanks! We praise you! For you alone are worthy! There is none like you in the heavens above or in the earth below.

Today, we come before you and thank you for your many blessings! In good times and bad, you are with us every step of the way. Thank you for carrying us through the bad times as the storms of life were raging, and for the overwhelming goodness that floods our lives because of your incredible love for us.

Today, we want to specifically thank you for _______________. (Fill in the blank below and let's celebrate the goodness of the Lord together.)

Music: Jason Nelson to Release New Live Album ‘Jesus Revealed’

Bishop Jason Nelson
A great talented gospel singer/songwriter and musician, will release his much-anticipated new album, JESUS REVEALED, on Tuesday, January 20, 2015. Featuring the Top 2 hit gospel single “I Am,” the album is available for pre-order now on iTunes and Amazon.com. Pre-order JESUS REVEALED now and receive the Instant Grat track, “Can’t Stop Calling.”

A worshipper at heart, Jason Nelson recorded 14 live tracks earlier this year before a packed audience in his native Baltimore. Nelson teamed up with long-time songwriting partner, Dana Sorey to co-write most of the tracks, along with his twin brother and fellow gospel artist Jonathan Nelson contributing writing on “Can’t Stop Calling,” while, Tasha Page-Lockhart lends her voice to join Nelson on “I See The Lord.”

Following his hit solo releases I SHALL LIVE, PLACE OF WORSHIP, and the Stellar Award-winning SHIFTING THE ATMOSPHERE, Jason Nelson brings listeners together in worship with his powerful performances on JESUS REVEALED. From the hit single “I Am,” to standout tracks such as “God Is Great,” “The Lamb,” “So In Love,” and more, Nelson sets out to reintroduce listeners to the bible Jesus on the new project. “This album is about showcasing God’s heart, His love and His grace,” explains Nelson.

Visit Vevo to see The Making of Jesus Revealed: http://smarturl.it/BTSJesusRevealed?IQid=press

About Jason Nelson:
Bishop Jason Nelson pastors The Tabernacle at Greater Bethlehem Temple, a thriving ministry in Randallstown, Maryland; however he is one of the most recognized voices in gospel music and is considered to possess a rare gift in the Body of Christ as he releases the power of the presence of God. Jason established his vocal status and exceptional anointing in 2005 with the release of his first solo project, “I Shall Live”.

Not only a gifted voice, but also a gifted songwriter, the songs written for this project propelled Jason onto the industry watch list. Marvin Sapp’s title track to the platinum recording “Thirsty” was composed by Jason. The highly anticipated “Shifting the Atmosphere” project, which was released May 22, 2012, gives insight to its audience with the application of Praise and Worship. Jason has also received a Stellar Award for Praise and Worship CD of the year in 2013. Jason considers one of his greatest accomplishments to be his family, wife Tonya, and children Jaelyn, and Jason Christopher.

Pastor Chris: Building a New Nation

"I am personally convinced that one person
Can be a change catalyst, a "transformer"
in any situation, any organization. Such an individual is yeast  that can leaven an entire loaf. It requires vision, initiative,

patience, respect, persistence, courage, and faith to be a transforming leader."  — Stephen R. Covey

OVER the last two decades, President, Believers Loveworld Inc, also known as Christ Embassy, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, has been a catalyst that leavens far more bread every year. He has extended his ministry's reach further across the world, taking his message to millions of people, changing lives, giving hopes, and uplifting men and women. Even he is shaping governments, as more and more government functionaries across nations of the world discover the leadership wisdom in his message.
Today, The Believers Loveworld is now seen as more than a body of nations. It has grown into a new nation with no geographical expression. Everywhere he takes the gospel to, men, women and children all respond with hopes. He has also been raising leaders all over the world, which shows to a greater extent, his quality of leadership.  Yet his attitude to what he does is simply amazing.
'The person who leads by example communicates strong work ethic (I'm willing to get down and dirty too), accountability (I won't ask you to do anything I'm not willing to do myself), humility (I'm here as another human being on a mission  not as a superior trying to boss you around), and unity (We're in this together),” he once told his audience.
In the words of the Argentinean writer Jorge Luis Borges, “Any life, no matter how long and complex it may be, is made up of a single moment  the moment in which a person finds out, once and for all, who they are.” This has been the major engagement of Pastor Chris, as he is fondly called, over the years, helping millions of people all over the world to know who they are, maximize the opportunities that knowledge of God's word brings their way, and go ahead to help others have same information. This has created a global ripple effect which has produced people of like mind, with same spiritual and intellectual disposition ready to take over the world and make it a better place. He is not only making great impacts in the ministry alone but his activities cuts across every field of human endeavour.
Pastor Chris' leadership is based on the teachings of love for one another as a compassionate leader. His style typifies what Victor Frankl said in the Brain Pickings that “Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality. No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves him. By his love he is enabled to see the essential traits and features in the beloved person; and even more, he sees that which is potential in him, which is not yet actualized but ought to be actualized. Furthermore, by his love, the loving person enables the beloved person to actualize these potentialities. By making him aware of what he can be and of what he should become, he makes these potentialities come true.”
Aware that knowledge, no matter how deep, without spirituality is vain, Pastor Chris through his numerous teachings has helped millions of people around the world who listen and accept his message discover a better way of living in harmony. His outreaches have successfully raised great men and women who in their book, Practical Wisdom, Barry Schwartz and Kenneth Sharpe, explained that “good deliberation and discernment were at the heart of practical wisdom…and that the ability to see how various options will play themselves out and the ability to evaluate them  is thus critical to perception. This is why experience becomes important  a critical assessment of what you have done in the past, for whom and with what degree of success. But it is not only the perception of the situation that is important. Wisdom requires the capacity to perceive and evaluate oneself, to asses one's motives, to admit mistakes or failures and to assess what has worked or not and why. His ministry is where it is today because he applied practical wisdom backed up by prophecies in virtually every aspect of the Church growth.
Writing on The Transforming Power of Faith, Richard G. Scott stated that “It is nobility of character, that fabric of inner strength and conviction woven from countless righteous decisions that gives life its direction. A consistent, righteous life produces an inner power and strength that can be permanently resistant to the eroding influence of sin and transgression.” This captures the seemingly speed at which the ministry has grown all over the world.
He is always at the fore front of developments. Pastor Chris is technological savvy. He sees the changes even before they come, and he prepares ahead of time for them. One major advantage of being in Believers Loveworld is that you get the opportunity to know the direction the world is taking, be it in politics, economics or cultural shifts. He will readily inform his members. Many business people have taken advantage of the nuggets of wisdom he shares to manage their businesses and even their lives. You can feel the trend even in the ministry. Every bit of information is now available in all digital formats: CDs, DVDs, web, multimedia, and other downloadable formats. Anyone can access all these online. Many large congregation of Christ Embassy churches were birthed through the ministry materials. Pastor Chris was the first in Nigeria to have e-books available online.

Reaching the world, changing destinies of nations
As the word of God aptly captured that the hearts of kings are in the hands of God, the Church has been doing a lot in that direction. Pastor Chris has, because of this, raised countless leaders across over a hundred countries of the world. He has been teaching his leaders and members the need to contribute to the wellbeing of the countries they live in and operate from. That is why Christ Embassy in all the countries adopts their countries of residence as their responsibilities, using the Rhapsody of Realities as a tool of change. Various Church groups in different countries have been engaging in community development projects in schools, prisons, police stations, and other public agencies all geared towards contributing to the good of humanity.
Today, Rhapsody of Realities daily devotion, which is the number one daily devotional in the world, had been translated into more than 550 languages as at November 10, 2014. This means many more people now have the opportunity to study God's Word in their own languages.  Pastor Chris is changing the destiny of nations. The Reachout program of Rhapsody of Realities has become the number one project so many different countries look up to annually. Many communities in many countries have benefitted immensely especially places where the government efforts have made little impact. This year alone, so many communities in Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Haiti, Zimbabwe, Cameroon among others benefitted from the ReachOut programs which saw, among others, schools getting free hand sanitizers against the Ebola outbreak, prisons getting thousands of mattresses, generators, Police Stations being beautified and equipped and schools getting rehabilitated. Also, some of the zonal churches held free skills acquisition training for unemployed graduates. Only a generation with desire to change the land can do this.
International School of Ministry(ISM): raising leaders across borders
Highlighting the differences between a boss and a leader, H. Gordon Selfridge, said, “"The boss drives people; the leader coaches them. The boss depends on authority; the leader on goodwill. The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm. The boss says "I"; the leader says "WE". The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown; the leader fixes the breakdown. The boss says, "GO"; the leader says "LET'S GO!"
The statement above aptly captures the manner Pastor Chris has been raising leaders across the world through the International School of Ministry, which is the first of its kind in Christendom since 2007. The burning desire to bring God's Word to all men in simplicity and with the power of the Spirit inspired Pastor Chris to envision the International School of Ministry, specifically, to train and equip ministers of the Gospel of Christ, irrespective of their denominations, building in them the realities of God's Word and empowering them to carry the message of eternal life in Christ Jesus to their world, with great demonstration of the miraculous power of God. The vision of ISM is teaching, demonstration and impartation. This vision easily rubs off on the students such that on returning to their churches, these ministers find themselves teaching the Word with great conviction and accurate knowledge, demonstrating the character of the Spirit, healing the sick, casting out devils and imparting others with the divine unction. The ISM provides up-and-coming leaders with the opportunity of being tutored under the ministry of the man of God, Pastor Chris.Since inception in 2007, the ISM has trained and equipped thousands of ministers from different nations of the world. The lectures at ISM are captivating and inspiring. Students are served a detailed and insightful curriculum of course topics and lectures. The courses have been specially selected to meet the ministerial needs of every minister, from Kingdom Finance, Soul Winning, Structuring for Growth, Introduction to Ministry, the Work of a Pastor, Church Administration, Ministry Gifts, Lay Ministry, Doctrines and many more.
ISM has literally reproduced the same vision of teaching, demonstration and impartation of the Spirit, in the lives of many of her graduated students who are now producing amazing results in their lives and ministries with the Word of God. At the completion of your course at the ISM, a graduation ceremony is conducted for each set and certificate of attendance issued to each student. Everyone is given the opportunity to register to become a member of one of the after-school communities of the ISM-either the ISM Ministers Network (ISMMN) or the ISM Alumni Association (ISMAA).
However, the ISM maintains continuous communication and correspondence with all her graduated students through the after-school communities, ISMMN and ISMAA, providing them with necessary continuous learning and spiritual guidance from the ministrations of Pastor Chris. The teachings at ISM are for every minister of the Gospel. It doesn't matter where you are, what continent or language. If you desire growth, expansion and in-depth knowledge of God's Word in your life and ministry, then you are heartily welcome to an impactful and refreshing experience at the ISM.

Using technology to change the world
The Internet has revolutionized the world we live in today as it has set the stage for an unprecedented integration of capabilities and therefore given birth to new possibilities. The Internet was originally conceived and developed to meet the demand for automatic information-sharing between scientists in universities and institutes for information dissemination; a medium for collaboration and interaction between them without regard for geographic location. Pastor Chris has variously adopted cutting-edge mobile applications and the deployment of various mobile technologies. A whole new race is now being impacted with the gospel through the ministry of Pastor Chris.
It is estimated that over 3 billion people in the world today are active mobile users and through the various mobile applications, the gospel is been made available to them in the palm of their hands. Noteworthy among these apps is the Live TV app (with a combined download of about 120,000) which broadcasts the TV programmes of the ministry satellite stations all around the world. Through the app, the coverage of the stations is greatly multiplied beyond the limitations of satellite coverage, political barriers and geographic barriers. As the pioneer mobile application for the ministry, it has led to the expansion of the ministry into the various countries of the world. Apart from the Live TV app, there is CeFlix mobile app. Through deep insight and revelation, the man of God had begun preparing the ministry to take advantage of this statistic by pioneering an online Internet TV Platform called CeFlix. CeFlix is a social WebTV platform which provides opportunities for millions around to fully express themselves
The Internet multimedia arm of the ministry was born by divine foresight. As media content consumption channels shifted from traditional terrestrial media channels to the worldwide web, Pastor Chris once again made a strategic decision by the Spirit to stay ahead by setting up Internet television platforms through the Internet multimedia ministry. This gave birth to the development of platforms like the Live-TV application, the Pastor Chris online Channel and the CEFLIX platform.
The Live-Tv app brings together our three satellite TV stations of the ministry, and streams their content on the web; this makes it possible for people to enjoy a wider variety of our life-transforming programmes no matter their location.
On the PastorChrisOnline platform, the cleric gives answers to questions from believers around the world on a wide range of topics and proffers solutions to problems, which have held men bound and hitherto vulnerable. The Internet Multimedia went on to expand the PastorChrisOnline platform in 2012 into a multichannel platform with The Pastor Chris Teaching channel, Worship channel, Miracles Channel and many more. The platform now attracts an average of 20,000 visitors daily from around the world, with testimonies of healings and deliverance constantly flowing in. CEFLIX is a social web-TV platform with an app made available across all mobile platforms. It gives the world the opportunity to experience wholesome content; it is a haven from the decadent stream of content been broadcast by the secular media.
As a visionary leader Pastor Chris also mandated the Internet multimedia ministry to bring every member of the ministry into the mobile technology revolution and this gave birth to the mobile world educative campaign. The campaign has helped brethren take advantage of technology for increased productivity in their lives and also for the furtherance of the gospel and the Christianization of their communities.
Global evangelization has without a doubt been made more efficient and effective through the Internet multimedia ministry.

Yookos
During his interactive session with Young African Leaders this year, United States President Barack Obama said that the internet and social media is causing a paradigm shift in Africa and that Africans are also teaching the world one or two things through platforms such as Yookos and MixIt. Yookos since its launch in 2011 has made tremendous impact and contributions in knowledge sharing. It has helped millions in and outside the ministry have an alternative means of online interaction that is secured, devoid of all the social ills the other platforms are suffering from. Today, Yookos subscribers are in the neighborhood of 40 million people - and still counting. Through this platform, Pastor Chris has increased his daily interactions with members and awesome things have been coming off it

Inner City Mission for Children: molding great minds of tomorrow
The Inner City Mission was conceived by Pastor Chris in response to the understanding that every child is your child. It is used as an avenue to give hope to inner city children most of whom are orphans, destitutes and from dysfunctional homes. Its initial aim was to go around the city and adopt these children, give them home, educations and love. Also, there are those whose parents could not send to school because of poverty. Inner City Mission catered for these people.
As time went on, the Inner City Mission for Children of Christ Embassy (ICM4C) became a call to reach children and teens that are in this very challenging situation. It was founded in 2005, as a ministry arm of Pastor Chris Oyakhilome to the indigent children living in deprived communities and the forgotten places of our world. Nine years after, it is a full-fledged faith-based Non-Governmental Organization that delivers a sustainable solution to the problem of urban and rural child poverty.
The key focus was the slum areas of urban environment where many kinds are easily found in the garbage dump scavenging for a living. This initiative began in 2005 and has grown in impact to include a defined program. It is a recognized registered NGO in Nigeria and other countries as well as a registered resource centre. A very important impact of ICM4C is in networking with other organizations of like passion to extend the compassion of Pastor Chris and partners alike. Some of the kids that came to Inner City in 2005 are already in the universities today and they are doing so well showing that environment is everything and if street kids are well taken care of the society will be a better place. These children are growing with a different mindset; they now understand the power of the word of God and will be great ambassadors tomorrow. They are a new generation of a new nation, and indeed the Man of God is pioneering a new generation across nationalities to form a beautiful people of a beloved country.

International Day of Service
Every December 7, Christ Embassy churches all over the world embark on special charity projects to reach the needy in their environment in commemoration of the birthday of Pastor Chris Oyakhilome. This involves raising money, food stuff, and materials for the needy in the society especially Motherless Babies Homes, old people's homes, Remand Homes and Prisons among others. There is no event like it as each church caters for those within its own vicinity.
All over the world, Pastor Chris is raising a new generation that sees the world differently and are eager to rise to be counted. His influence across the world is expanding at the speed of sound and men and women across racial, ethnic and linguistic divides are all accepting his message, making him one of the global influencers with the widest reach. As he celebrates his birthday, we wish him the very best and pray that as his tents are daily enlarged God will help him raise men and women who will continue to buy into this message and make it theirs.

FROM PASTOR CHRIS DURING THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN LEADERS AND PARTNERS CONFERENCE 2014.

FROM PASTOR CHRIS DURING THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN LEADERS AND PARTNERS CONFERENCE 2014.

Don't give yourself over to the negative part of life
Live for him. Don't let your life be conditioned by this world
Our faith is always connected to our need
Your need triggers your faith
let your need excite you and connect to your faith
Overwhelm your need with your faith
You are separated unto the wisdom of God
You will change whatever situation to conform to what you want
Let nothing discourage you
You are made of the word
I am a winner everyday.
It is not possible for me to be discouraged
Be strong and very courageous
Have no fear —  with PastorchrisLive Impact
#iCelebrates

AVOIDING A BAD MARRIAGE.

   By Pastor Chris Oyakhilome PhD.
 After salvation, the most important choice you will need to make is who to marry. This choice is so important that if you miss it, you will suffer for long, if you get it right then you will enjoy forever. A bad marriage can affect every other area of your life. This subject is so important, so many married people are hoping to be single again so as to make the right choice. If you are single please don't just be in a hurry to get married, you have the best opportunity to prepare for it. For two people to come together to live in peace and harmony, they must agree spiritually, mentally and physically. Just like an elephant cannot marry an ant so also a believer cannot marry an unbeliever. If an elephant marries an ant how would they live, if a goat marries a fish where would they meet? You must look for a Godly man or a Godly woman to marry, nothing can beat this. The devil's primary target is the family. He knows that everyone belongs to a family and if he can make two wrong people meet then he has succeeded affecting the community and nations negatively. Ignore your age and the pressure for a moment, the pressure in a wrong marriage is far worse. God has somebody for you but you must set your priorities right. What do you need in a woman? What do you need in a man? Marriage is not about what you want, it is about who you need, that will make you better while you make him better. It is about destiny. That is why you must know your purpose before you get married. Genesis 2:18. You must pray before you choose. God knows the best person for you, it is only wise to seek His will. It is very easy to know God's will when sex is not involved. The moment sex is involved and you want to know His will then He will blank you out. Why? Because you have broken His first Law of NO SEX before marriage. If you have had sex in the past then you need to repent totally and stay away from each other for sometime then you can seek the face of God. Your marriage will not be hell on earth. Your marriage will be honourable in the name of Jesus Christ.
Don't marry for sex, don't marry because you are of age, don't marry because you are getting old, don't marry because you are lonely, don't marry because you need someone to support you financially, don't marry because you mistakenly got pregnant, don't marry because you don't want to lose the person, don't marry because of family pressures, don't marry because you like the idea of marriage and admire every wedding gown you see, don't marry because all your friends are getting married. But get married because you want to fulfill destiny. Get married because you want to be a help mate. As a man, get married because you want to fulfill your purpose. God will help you in choosing, please let His will be done. Amen. Forward to the singles you love. God loves you! #iCelebrates

AVOIDING A BAD MARRIAGE.

   By Pastor Chris Oyakhilome PhD.
 After salvation, the most important choice you will need to make is who to marry. This choice is so important that if you miss it, you will suffer for long, if you get it right then you will enjoy forever. A bad marriage can affect every other area of your life. This subject is so important, so many married people are hoping to be single again so as to make the right choice. If you are single please don't just be in a hurry to get married, you have the best opportunity to prepare for it. For two people to come together to live in peace and harmony, they must agree spiritually, mentally and physically. Just like an elephant cannot marry an ant so also a believer cannot marry an unbeliever. If an elephant marries an ant how would they live, if a goat marries a fish where would they meet? You must look for a Godly man or a Godly woman to marry, nothing can beat this. The devil's primary target is the family. He knows that everyone belongs to a family and if he can make two wrong people meet then he has succeeded affecting the community and nations negatively. Ignore your age and the pressure for a moment, the pressure in a wrong marriage is far worse. God has somebody for you but you must set your priorities right. What do you need in a woman? What do you need in a man? Marriage is not about what you want, it is about who you need, that will make you better while you make him better. It is about destiny. That is why you must know your purpose before you get married. Genesis 2:18. You must pray before you choose. God knows the best person for you, it is only wise to seek His will. It is very easy to know God's will when sex is not involved. The moment sex is involved and you want to know His will then He will blank you out. Why? Because you have broken His first Law of NO SEX before marriage. If you have had sex in the past then you need to repent totally and stay away from each other for sometime then you can seek the face of God. Your marriage will not be hell on earth. Your marriage will be honourable in the name of Jesus Christ.
Don't marry for sex, don't marry because you are of age, don't marry because you are getting old, don't marry because you are lonely, don't marry because you need someone to support you financially, don't marry because you mistakenly got pregnant, don't marry because you don't want to lose the person, don't marry because of family pressures, don't marry because you like the idea of marriage and admire every wedding gown you see, don't marry because all your friends are getting married. But get married because you want to fulfill destiny. Get married because you want to be a help mate. As a man, get married because you want to fulfill your purpose. God will help you in choosing, please let His will be done. Amen. Forward to the singles you love. God loves you! #iCelebrates

Inspired by iCelebrates

The most successful men and women on earth have had to correct certain weak spots in their personalities before they began to succeed.

The most outstanding of these weakness which stand between men and women and success are INTOLERANCE, CUPIDITY, GREED, JEALOUSY, SUSPICION, REVENGE, EGOTISM, CONCEIT, THE TENDENCY TO REAP WHERE THEY HAVE NOT SOWN, and the HABIT OF SPENDING MORE THAN THEY EARN.
#iCelebrates

Confession

I function today with supernatural amplitude of comprehension; dealing circumspectly in all the affairs of life, because the wisdom of God is in my heart and in my mouth! Blessed be God! #iCelebrates

My husband has scolded me many times for leaving the keys in the ignition.
My theory is the ignition is the best place not to lose them.
His theory is that the car will be stolen.
As I burst through the door, I came to a terrifying conclusion.
His theory was right. The parking lot was empty.
I immediately called the police. I gave them my location, confessed that I had left my keys in the car, and that it had been Stolen.
Then I made the most difficult call of all, "Honey," I stammered; I always call him "honey" in times like these.
"I left my keys in the car and it has been stolen."
There was a period of silence. I thought the call had been dropped, but then I heard his voice.
"Are you kiddin' me?" he barked, "I dropped you off"!!!
Now it was my turn to be silent. Embarrassed, I said, "Well, come and get me."
He retorted, "I will, as soon as I convince this policeman that I have not stolen you car!!!
#iCelebrates

Were is Christian Love, that's been sheared abroad in our heart by the Holy Ghost

The current news of the divorce between the General Overseer of one of the most prominent churches in Nigeria, Pastor Chris and his wife,  Anita Oyakhilome is just about going viral. I have seen a lot of speculations on social media from Christian and non-Christians alike which has made me to reflect on the thoughts I am putting down.

I am not a fan of Pastor Chris; neither do I attend his church. The closest I have been to him and his wife is to stumble on his programmes while flipping through the channels on television. A colleague of mine from work gave me one of their books,  Rhapsody of Realities for kids by Pastor Anita, which I used with my kids for a few weeks.

I have concluded that in sum total, people have been blessed by the ministry of Pastor Chris and his wife despite my reservations. People have been saved, healed and delivered through their ministry. He has made a positive contribution to the society, amidst  scandals. Musicians such as Sinach, Frank Edwards, Samsong, through the platform provided by the Oyakhilomes, have been able to  express their gifting and are a blessing to the body of Christ and a  source of pride to Nigerians. I am sure that we Nigerian Christians have at least one of their albums, or know at least of their songs.

A few thoughts came to my mind concerning the separation and eventual divorce of these dear Pastors:

No Christian enters into marriage with the intention of divorce: I can imagine the early days of the Oyakhilomes when all they had was a calling and a dream, with hopes of spending their lives building the kingdom of God together. The thought of divorce may have been as far from them as the thought of going to hell. The truth is, hardly anyone enters into marriage thinking ‘OK, we’ll stay married for a couple of years, then after that we will get a divorce’; at least not in God’s kingdom. Most, if not all of us enter into marriage expecting the best to come out of it, and expecting the best from our spouse. Dynamics change, challenges come, churches grow, marriages crack.

Divorce is painful: The process of divorce is painful, no matter who you are.  Your souls are knit together in marriage, and the separation will leave pain and open wounds that need to heal.  After all is said and done and we remove our masks, the pain of separation still lingers, and need to be healed.

When one member suffers, we all suffer: Have you ever hit your small toe or your finger on something?  The pain is not isolated to the small toe or finger alone. The whole body is uncomfortable, although varying degrees of discomfort. That is the way we are as the body of Christ. No matter how we analyze what could have gone wrong and share the news or talk about it; as long as we proclaim the Lordship of Jesus, we are all members of one body: the Body of Christ. When one of the members suffers, the whole body suffers with it.  We cannot isolate ourselves from the secret and open battles of Christians leaders.

Marriage is commitment to hard work:  We tend to take it for granted that once we are Christians and we get married, we will live happily ever after, conflict free. While I believe that Pastors Chris and Anita made an effort in their marriage and kept it to the point where it is now, a lot of us tend to take for granted the fact that building our marriage is an intentional and proactive process. Simply put, marriage is work: hard work. In marriage we love, and then we learn to love; we cherish and we learn to cherish, we trust, and we learn to trust, we obey and we then again, learn to obey. If we don’t tend our garden, it will grow weeds and some of these weeds will grow and fill the whole garden, choking the plants.

Pastors are people too: We all breathe the same air, eat the same food, relate with the same people and have the same problems, go through the same temptations. The difference between those divorced or facing scandal and the rest of us is that ‘but for the grace of God there go I’. We cannot afford to judge and point fingers at what we could have done or would have done. We do not know how much heat we can take until we get into the oven.

What We can Do

Pray for the Pastors: Church members, body guards, good music and all the glamor  of their ministry cannot shield them from the pain of the open wounds of divorce. It is our responsibility to pray for them. The decisions they make will ultimately be theirs, but we can pray for God’s guidance and peace.

Work out your Salvation (Your marriage) with fear and trembling: Marriage is one institution that can be destroyed by both errors of commission and omission. Don’t take things for granted. Loving someone and adjusting your life to fit theirs is a very humbling process.  Learning to like your spouse when your expectations are dashed takes an extra dose of grace. Learning how to love what your spouse loves and hate what your spouse hates spells selflessness and commitment. We were not born with all these loving qualities and we have to learn them. Just like a field grows whatever you plant in it, if you plant these seeds you will reap the harvest. Work it.

Don’t assume that it can never happen to you: This is the biggest and most dangerous form of deception. While I am not saying that we should start fearing divorce at the smallest disagreement and conflict we have with our spouses, we should also not fall into the wrong assumptions that problems will just go away. Unresolved issues can grow into deep seated problems and irreconcilable differences. Watch it.

Remember that the devil is not attacking a particular pastor or reverend, he is attacking the Church. The bigger the scandal, the juicer the story. Manage information properly and don’t be used to spread wrong information. Remember that they have children, they have extended family, and they have a life.

Finally, invest in your spouse and your marriage. Spend time together with a focus of building a good relationship. It is never too early nor too late.

Now unto Him that is able to preserve our spirit, soul and body unto the coming of our Lord.. Faithful is He that has called us, and will also do it.

Peace. 

Woman's Love

Ever noticed that a Woman's love is like a Clock Alarm?.. She calls/ Texts you as early as an Alarm is set for a day's routine.. She keeps you warm &awake, feeling loved for d day.. Wishing you a safe great day, she doesn't worry much about your not calling like she does, aslong you're romantically responsive &still who she knows. Aint that sweet?

She also stands to even have lunch with you when you're on Break, through coming over or calling!.. She doesnt mind doing all these, cuz She's in Love..

Now, when you have such a woman in your life, who's more worthy than her? Why chase others who dont call/ text, where you end up calling always &sometimes they dont pick, Or feel you're disturbing them?..

Contentment, Loyalty, Trust, Committment, Respect, Honesty, Communication!, these are all a Real woman wants from you, Not your Money..

So, always appreciate such woman, they're hard to come by TODAY!..

Do we still have such Women here?

@Dennis_parkes: Don't choose a better girl, choose the girl that's going to make you the better guy... Dennis E.N.