THE LITTLE BOY WAS RIGHT

   THE LITTLE BOY WAS RIGHT 

           Few years back while serving as a Children Pastor in a children church. I led them in pastoral prayer and I raised a prayer point that "Father do not let my debtors have peace until they pay all my debts". The children teachers began to pray fervently, the children also joined but behold a boy who drummed for us  changed the prayer point and prayed: "Father let my debtors have peace of mind so that they can pay all my debts" I was angry within me, tapped him from the back and told him why did he changed the prayer point and he explained "if he does not have rest of mind how will he be able to pay my debts". This didn't go well with me , I scolded him to pray the prayers as I raised it without altering it. 

    Few days later while meditating in my closet, The Holy Spirit told me expressly that you were wrong but the little boy was right. I was dumbfounded in the spirit and felt bad for scolding the little child that was right. Sometimes the reason why you are not getting answers to your prayers is that you are praying amiss.probably the reason Jesus's disciples beckoned on him to teach them how to pray. Whatever issues you are facing rely on the Holy Spirit to teach you on how to pray your way into breakthrough.

Abolanle Oladipupo

13th November, 2020 

DO NOT TOLERATE THAT JEZEBEL

 DO NOT TOLERATE THAT JEZEBEL

                  Jezebel is a beautiful name that means chastity but the role played by Jezebel the wife of Ahab made the name to be associated with lust, seduction, pride, manipulation, deceit and wickedness. Elijah reputed to be one of the most powerful Prophets that ever lived fled away from her. Why? The best approach to attack seduction is to flee away from it.

           Jezebel controlled over eight hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and made them do her will. She silenced all the prophet's except Elijah who dared her but only to later ran away when she threatened to kill her. She was powerful and ruled behind the throne of Northern Israel during Ahab's reign. She was simply a god that could get "anything" she wanted and people dreaded her.Her atrocities were so great like the killing of Naboth who could not forfeit his father's inheritance for Ahab. She was a reference point of evil in her generation and the evil she did even lived after her.she singlehandedly ruined the political career of her husband. God had to anoint Jehu specially to get rid of her. It takes a Jehu anointing to get rid of Jezebel.

               Hundreds of years later, God is rebuking the church of Thyatira for tolerating Jezebel in their midst. This Jezebel was a powerful person either male or female controlling, manipulating and seducing the leadership of the church into doing evil. The evil may not be sexual immorality. It can be favoritism, prejudices and politicizing the church system for their selfish gains. The Jezebels do not see anything wrong in their doings, it is a normal thing to them and they derive joy in it. They can do anything to remain in control of the church even if it will take wasting of lives.God was not happy with them because they refuse to repent. This act invoked God's wrath and warned of impending danger if the Jezebel refuse to change.

                  Jezebels are everywhere today, they are in church, schools, governments and every facet of life. Their roles are to manipulate and control the leadership of the organization for their own selfish gains and interests which is usually at the detriment of others. As a leader it is your duty to recognize the activities of Jezebels in your organization and refuse to be under their control. You belong to everyone and not to a person or group of people. Jezebels mission are to ruin organizations for their own betterment. To tolerate a Jezebel is to sit on a gun powder. Get the Jezebel out before he gets you out or render you incapacitated. 

            The pastor of the church in Thyatira came under serious rebuke for tolerating Jezebel in the church. As a leader you are responsible for all that happen in your domain. Take responsibility, act, and flush out that Jezebel before he get you out of your position. Jezebels are not easy to get out because they have tentacles in all the units of an organization. Attempt to get them out by force may get you into crises  if you do not carry Christ along. Remember that it took a Jehu anointing to get rid of Jezebel. To get a Jezebel out tarry in the LORD's presence until you get the "Jehu anointing" that waste Jezebels. After getting the power you launch out and get rid of that Jezebel. God will not do it for you, you have to act and confront that Jezebel in prayer and corresponding actions. 

Abolanle Oladipupo 

11th November, 2020 

A LAMENTATION FOR NIGERIA

 A LAMENTATION FOR NIGERIA

Nigeria, our valued and esteemed country

A country born out of interests

A land blessed with  human and earthly resources 

A country made of nations with diversity in culture and language. 

A country that some have sacrificed their lives for her well being but yet still sick

A country groaning in pains from corruption, poverty and bad leadership 

A country suffering in the midst of abundance 

Oh my country rise up! 

She cannot rise 

She has been sucked dry by her enemies 

She is fainting and gasping for breath 

She is bleeding but her leaders seem not to care

They are milking her and she is groaning in pains 

Prophets are sounding calls for her rescue

Her lovers are crying 

Her leaders are seeing call to rescue as threats to take the leadership from them

Oh my country when will you have peace? 

When will banditry stop? 

When will corruption stop? 

When will nepotism stop? 

When will terrorism stop? 

The country of our dream is no longer safe

Dogs are killing lions

Baboons have hijacked the aircraft 

Baboons cannot fly 

Her pilots are wailing 

The country is stagnant 

The country is deteriorating 

Her economy is retrogressing 

Decaying while still breathing for life 

Worms of police brutality are coming out 

Worms of bad governance 

Worms of injustice 

Worms of unemployment 

Worms of epileptic power supply 

Worms of bad roads 

Worms of poor social amenities 

Worms of poverty 

Worms of bad health care system 

Worms of poor education system 

Worms of electoral malpractices

Her youths are wailing: "End police brutality" 

Their cries were seen as revolution to take over the government 

Her youths were killed 

They were killed for asking for a better governance 

The worms are not the problem

The worms are as a result of a desease 

The disease of bad governance. 

The system is favoring and benefiting few at the expense of the masses. 

Her youths want the country that works 

Her youths want a country where a child of nobody can become somebody 

Her youths want a country that meet basic needs of life 

Oh my country Arise! 

Will she make it? 

Her well wishers are saying reform and make it work for all

The cries are met with deafening silence 

Her dying condition is profiting her enemies 

Her enemies do not wish her well

Her lovers want her to be healthy and benefit all

Her enemies paraded themselves as her lovers 

They are killing her gradually yet they do not want her to die

Her death will not profit them but they keep doing what will kill her. 

How long will this tussle last? 

Oh my Country ! 

My heart cries for you 

We wish you get well but your enemies are stronger than you 

Oh God of creation arise

 Intervene before the labour of our heroes becomes vain. 

Abolanle Oladipupo (BSc, BTh ) 

31st October, 2020

CONTEND FOR THE GOSPEL

                    CONTEND FOR THE GOSPEL 

               The church of God has been facing persecution since its inception. The seed of the church is the blood of the Martyrs. Persecution is dynamic and take various forms. The general known form of persecution is killing of Christians and burning down of worship centers. This seem to be the highest form of persecution and the worst in human view. If you kill a Christian for his belief, you have assisted him in sending him home to rest in the LORD. If you burn down the church, you have just razed down the building because the church is  not monument but believers. Spreading the wrong gospel via false teachings is a great threat and disaster to the church. Believers become deceived and still believe that they are still believers. 

                  The false teachers have been let loose like wild dogs on the church. They twist the word of God and live lives that raises questions about the gospel. The natural response is to to curse them on the pulpit and raise red flags on their teachings but doing that may not be effective. As for curse, they are already cursed except they repent. The book of Jude gives us light on that: Jud 1:10 Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals--these are the very things that destroy them.

Apostle Paul was not bothered about the false teachers of his time. Instead of being distracted, he was focused and kept preaching the truth, teaching the truth and raising faithful men that would teach men the word of life. This generation is gracious, we have the technology which have enhance communication, the scripture can be on your phone, ipad and other gadgets for your meditation at all time. The role of God's servants is to preach the truth, teach the truth, live the truth and point men to the way of life. As a believer do not stop at that level, pray and study the word of God to a deeper level where it becomes a living water in you that flow to others. Reading devotional books and other spiritual books is good but it cannot replace the Bible. The Holy Spirit is always there to interpret it to you and it is the word that will cleanses you and sanctifies you. 

                The only antidote and cure to false teachings is spreading the truth of God by all means available. If the truth is spread the false teachers will be out of business. The people will even make a fun of them because they are deep in the truth. Instead of them devouring the sheep, they will run away from the sheep because they are armed and fully guarded with the truth. It is high time we preached truth like never before, teach the word, and read the word. Do not just listen, be like the Berean Christians. Study to show yourself approve to God. If you are vast in the word and deep in the word, you will not be swerved by the false teachers who are bend on destroying the church, gather flock and take advantage of the technology and the social media to draw many youths and gullible people. 

               The church is marching on and the gate of hell shall never prevail but the church have great roles to play. The church is getting worldly, worldliness is eating deep into the church, the church that should influence the world is being influence by the world. The truth is being watered and diluted by some Preachers and Teachers. They are more interested in their bellies than getting souls saved for the kingdom. Paul spoke of them in philippians 3:19,

 " They are going to end up in hell, because their god is their bodily desires. They are proud of what they should be ashamed of, and they think only of things that belong to this world" (GNB) 

Pastors do not fail in preaching and teaching truth to church members. preach and teach the sound word of God. Failure to teach the church, false teachers will dictate what is right and will rubbish the faith of our fathers. Contend for the gospel,study the truth, preach the truth, teach the truth, and live the truth.members of the church do your best to make your pastor comfortable so that he can have time to study and go deep in the word of God. The only antidote to false teachings is growing deep in the word. Do not forget the Bible says if possible the saints will be deceived. This is itchy generation. This is the time Paul says it will be hard to be a Christian. This is the generation that dictates to the pastor what they want to hear. The truth remains the truth, it is our sword that can defend the gospel, being angry is not enough, commit to the truth, demonstrate your anger by living the truth, teach the truth, preach the truth and grow in the truth by studying the word daily. Our sure defence is the WORD OF GOD which is the sword that will destroy every form of false teachings against the church. It is time to brace up and contend for the gospel like never before. 

Abolanle Oladipupo

 Bsc(Oou) Bth(NBTS) 

12th September, 2020 

DO NOT POSTPONE YOUR SALVATION
Sometimes in April this year on my way to ogbomoso from Oko, I boarded a car coming from osogbo to ogbomoso.As my custom, I declared the gospel, at a point I began to plead with them to accept Jesus Christ, repent from sins and allow Jesus to Lord over their lives as I led those who accepted Jesus in prayer of confession and in the process of praying and ministering deliverance to round off the preaching process, the rear tyre burst on speed, I was shocked because it was exactly five minutes ago when I said nobody knew what will happen in the next five minute. To God be the glory nobody was hurt but the amazing thing was during the period of replacement of tyre and when we continued the journey we are all in sober mood reflecting on the word of God. God is not an originator of evil but he works in all situations to glorify his name. #onebillionsoulsforchrist

Last week was  tightened, full of schedules and in the process making evangelical exploits,from preaching in the bus, to preaching in taxis and witnessing on the motorcycle. Let me briefly discuss two spectacular experiences. Preaching on the motorcycle was strange to me, having been witnessing for eleven years, the Holy Spirit had been telling me to witness on motorcycle but I always give excuses that the rider may not hear me and may loose concentration but last week Tuesday when the Holy Spirit told me to witness to the motorcyclist, I obeyed, not knowing how to start because that was my first time of doing such. I initiated conversation, and I created eternity consciousness in him, with this he showed great interest, at a time he slowed down, I witnessed to him and committed him to God.
In another vein last week Wednesday, in a taxi on my way to office, the Holy Spirit told me as usual to witness in the car, but I don't understand,fear gripped me... It was then I discovered that no two witnessing scenarios are the same.I prayed in tongues silently and in the process the Spirit of Evangelism possessed me and I declared the gospel with all boldness.There was a great silence, I felt the presence of God, after the witnessing, I ministered deliverance and healing.The amazing thing was that after the preaching there was a great silence as we all meditated on the word of God. That you have been witnessing eleven years does not mean that you can always open your mouth and declare the word with all boldness. You need Daily walk with God and sensitivity to the wavelength of the Holy Spirit, yesterday anointing is not enough for today's work. It was then I remembered the prayer of Apostle Paul in Eph 6:19 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel and also in Col 4:3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.#onebillionsoulsforchrist

THERE IS STILL HOPE IN NIGERIA
The situation of Nigeria seems to be getting bad by the day, today mark the 59th independence anniversary but Nigeria is still crawling among nations like China, India, Bahama,that they got independence together. Nigeria is the 6th producer of oil in the world, blessed with mineral resources, fertile land for farming and most populous black nation with a population estimate of 200 million, life expectancy of 54.5, GDP of $397.270billion,27th largest economy in the world in terms of nominal GDP, Nigeria as large as his population so is her problem which can be summarized into two: leadership and corruption.
Since independence good leadership has eluded the country, it seems the foundation of the country was laid in such a way that the wrong people will be governing the affairs of this nation. The situation of this nation became worst right from the first military coup in 1966, the military came into power with the motive that politicians are corrupt but Nigeria suffer so much in the hands of military dictatorship and their frequent coup plotting to overtake democratic rule had not bettered the lot of this nation. The emergence of democracy 20 years ago seemed to be a breakthrough until the hope was dashed in 2015.the country got into recession and till now the situation keeps getting worst. Corruption in Nigeria is so organized that it has eaten up all the sectors in Nigeria and it is retarding economy growth. No thanks to insurgencies which raised her ugly head in 2009 and the book haram group are now the second deadliest terrorist group in the world. The herdsmen and recently bandits have made Nigeria to become an unsafe place. At 59, Nigeria cannot boast of uninterrupted power supply, good network of roads and other social amenities. The unemployment rate is alarming, there is brain drain in all the sectors as there are mass exit of professionals to Europe, America to seek greener pasture. The country has no plan for her teeming youth population that is characterized with internet fraud, financial crimes, money rituals and so on. Last week top army staff said tackling Boko haram insurgency require spiritual approach. All these situations affirmed that there seems to be no hope in Nigeria.
In the midst of these entire situation, there is still hope in Nigeria. This may not make sense considering the picture that has been painted. There is hope in Nigeria if our leaders and the entire nation return to God .God is able to heal our land, visit the foundation of Nigeria and make dry bones alive again. It is only God factor that can make Nigeria great again and bring out hope out of hopeless situation. For Nigeria to be great, we all have a role to play, a better Nigeria start from me and you. A change start from me and you when we are willing to confess positivity in the midst of negativity and live uprightly.
God bless Nigeria! Happy independence anniversary.

Abolanle Oladipupo