ARMOURBEARERS

I
NMINI
STRY

EBENEZER‘
BAYOABRAHAM

1
Ar
mour
–Bear
ersi
nMi
nist
ry

EBENEZERBAYOABRAHAM
1stEdi
ti
on,June,
2005
nd
2 Edition,
June,2014

I
SBN–978-
2878-
33-
2

ALLRI
GHTSRESERVED

Nopar tofthi
spublicati
onmayber epr
oduced,stored,i
nar et
rievalsystem,
transmi t
tedi
nanyform orbyanymeans;el
ect
ronic,mechanical,
phot ocopying,
recording orother
wi se,wi
thoutt
he pri
orpermi ssion ofThe MountZi on
Publicati
ons.

AllTr
adeOr der
,Inf
ormationorRequestt
o:
THEMOUNTZI ONFAI THMI NISTRI
ESINT’L,
59,RINGROAD,
IBADAN, NI
GERIA.
+2348056208831,+2348135657999
bayoabraham7@gmai l.
com

Publ
ishedby
TheMountZi
onPubl
icat
ions
I
badan,
Niger
ia.

2
 DEDI
CATI
ON

Idedi
catet
hisbookt
othegl
oryofGodAl
might
ywhocal
ledmeoutt
obeHi
s
mini
ster
.

Li
kewise,toallmembersofgr
oupsandmi
nist
ri
eswhowi
llf
indsol
aceand
di
rect
ionthrought
hisbook.

Lastl
y,t
oEvangeli
stBodeOduwal
ewhom theLor
dusedbydi
vinear
rangement
toint
roducemeintoChri
sti
anDr
amain1983.

3
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Igi
vethankst
omypr
esi
dentandhi
swi
fef
ort
hei
rimmensecont
ri
but
ioni
nto
myli
fe.

Myappr
eci
ati
onal
sogoest
omybr
ethr
eni
nMountZi
onFai
thMi
nist
ri
esI
nt’
l.

Iam especi
all
ygr
atef
ult
omywi
fe,
Est
herJokeandchi
ldr
enf
ort
hei
runal
loyed
support
.

Myregardsal
sogoestoEvangel
ist
sMat hewandI
srael
,Br
oNi
ran,
Sist
erToyi
n
andAbiol
awhoworkedhardonthisbook.

Isay“
Thankyoual
landGodbl
ess”
.

4
 CONTENTS

Dedicat
ion i
ii
Acknowledgement i
v
I
ntroducti
on

Chapt
er1
Want
ed!
..
.TheAr
mour
-Bear
er

Chapt
er2
Pr
epar
eforGod’
sTest

Chapt
er3
Pecul
iarPr
obl
emsofMember
s

Chapt
er4
Whati
syourDescr
ipt
ion?

Chapt
er5
Get
ti
ngt
heSpi
ri
tofyourLeader
s

Chapt
er6
Howt
oGett
heSpi
ri
tofourLeader
s

Chapt
er7
TheGr
eat
estVi
rt
ue…Submi
ssi
on

Chapt
er8
TheBaneofCr
isi
sinMi
nist
ri
es…Commi
tment

Chapt
er9
Lear
ntoLetGo

Chapt
er10
Reasonsf
orI
nter
cedi
ngf
orLeader
sI

Chapt
er11
Reasonsf
orI
nter
cedi
ngf
orLeader
sII

5
Chapt
er12
Ar
mour
-bear
er’
sHor
izont
alRel
ati
onshi
p

Chapt
er13
GodatWor
k

6
 I
NTRODUCTI
ON

On2nd February,2001,duringathr ee-

daymar athonf
astingoftheminist
ry,the
HolySpi r
itmovedi tthatf ouroft hebrethr
enshoul dpreparetowriteabook
each,whichwi llcontai
nt hingsthatcouldbl essotherdramami ni
stersoutof
theli
tt
leexper i
encetheLor dhasmadet hem topasst hr
oughindramami nistry.
Surpri
singly,ourbrother,theaut horoft hi
sf inebookwasamongt hoset he
Lordpickedt owr i
tesomet hingf
orot hersinthemi ni
stryofdramaevangelism
toread.

Ontheot herhand,itcouldnothavebeenasur pri

set omef rom t
heLor dto
havepickedt hi
sbrothertowri
tedownsomet hings,why?Because,twice,he
hadappr oachedmewi t
hsomescr i
ptsofdoct
rinaltopi
cswhi chhehadsai d
theLor
dhadi nspi
redhimtowrit
e,whil
eoneachoccasi on,Ihadsaidt
heLor d
hadnotspokent omet hatheshoul
dwr i
teanyt
hingyet,andoneachoccasi on,
hehadhumbl ycompli
ed.

Atthatpart
icul
arti
me, Ihadfelti
nmyspi r
itt
hati
twasnottimef orhimt owr it
e
anythi
ngforpeople,becauseIknew,therewasnotmucht owr i
teyet .Thi
swas
abouteightornineyear sago.Whent heLordnow movedi tduringaf asting
ti
met hatHewant edsomeoft hebrethrentobeginpl
anningtowr i
tesomeof
thei
rexperi
encesi nthel i
tt
leyearstheyhavespentint hedr amami nist
ry,I
becamesogl adinmyhear tthatthet
imehascome.

Thismi nist
rybegan17year sago,intheyear1985,5th August,t
obepr eci
se,
outofwhi chwehavespentabout13year si nfullt
imeevangel i
caldrama
ministryoperat
ions.Iadmit,ourexperi
encesarestil
lli
ttl
e,butIhavealways
desiredthatmanymi nist
ersonfiel
dtodaywi l
lhaveoppor t
unit
ytosharefrom
theli
t t
let
hingstheLordhasmadeust opassthrough.

Iam ther
eforegladtointr
oducet hi
sbookwhi chcontainssomeoft hoset hings
Iwouldlikebrethr
eninmi ni
strytohearaboutandl earnfrom.Asatt het imeof
wri
ti
ngt hisintr
oducti
on,ther estt
hreebret
hrenhavewr it
tentheirownbooks
astheyhavebeeni nspiredbyt heHolySpirit
:Mywi fe,Glor
iaBami l
oyehas
wri
tt
en“ SuccessfulLif
einDr amaMi ni
str
y”and“ AnxietyoftheSingleSi sters”
;
Bro YemiAdepoj u has fi
nished wri
ti
ng on “ Call
ings and Distracti
ons i n
Mini
stry”
;whi l
eBroIsraelOre-Adewolewasinspiredtowr it
eon“ Fulf
il
li
ngYour

7
Vi
sionsinDr amaMi nist
ry”
.Thisaut
hor,Evang.EbenezerBayoAbr
aham has
wr
ittenaboutfol
lowershi
pinthemini
str
y.

Whilevivi
dlypor t
rayingt heidealf
eaturesofmi nistr
ymember sincampus,
denominati
onaland i ndependentministr
ies,he also r
eveal
s manyhidden
experi
encesofthebr ethreninthedr
amami nist
rywhichhebelongs,
tobut
tr
ess
hisvari
ouspoints.

Iam personallytemptedtoregardt hi
swr it
e-upami ni
-chronicleofthel i
ttl
e
year
sofTheMountZi onFaithMinistri
esInt’l
,fori
tdelvedintovar i
ousf unny
pastexper
iencesofthemi ni
str
ywhi chhebel ongs.Surel
y,t
her eisalottolearn
fort
hosemi nist
erswhosincerelyt
hirstandhungeraf t
ertherighteousnessthat
coul
dhelpt hem toexceli
ntheirminist
ryatthismomentofend- t
imeur gency.

Thei l
lust
rat
ionsuponill
ustrati
onsrel
atingtothemi ni
stryactuall
ymakest his
writ
e-upani ndi
spensablemanualf orthosewhodesi restolearntheprinci
ple
ofAr mour-Beari
ngi nMinistry,forwithoutproperfoll
owership,ther
ecoul d
neverbeadynami cleadershipthatwouldamountt oanef f
ecti
veandendur i
ng
ministryt
hatwouldful
fi
llt
hedi vi
nepurposeofGod.

Itherefor
ebel
ievethatt
heLor
dwillusethi
sbooktoencourage,enli
ghtenand
upli
ftthespi
ri
tofthosewhogenui
nelyhavethevi
sionandcall
ingforenduri
ng
ministr
y.

MIKEBAMI LOYE
Presi
dent
,
MZFM,
JUNE2005

8
 CHAPTERONE

WANTED!
..
.THEARMOURBEARER

“Davi
dcamet oSaulandent
eredhi
sservi
ce.Saull
ikedhi
m ver
ymuch,and
Davidbecameoneofhi
sarmour-
bear
ers”
.ISamuel16:21NIV

Inever
yestabli
shedchurch,par
a-chur
chmi ni
str
yorgr
oup,ther
eisalwaysa
l
eaderGodhascal ledtoover
seetheaff
air
sofsuchGod-gi
venestabl
ishment
astherepr
esentat
iveofGod.

Butwithmyl i
tt
leexper i
enceintheLord’
svineyar
d,Ihavediscoveredthatsuch
l
eadercannotachi evethevisi
onandassi gnment
sbef or
ehim alone.Heneeds
peopl
ewhowi l
lseet owhatheseesandwor kwholehear
tedl
ywi t
hhi mtocarry
outsuchresponsibil
it
ies.Hencetheneedforarmourbearer
sinmi nist
ry.

EarmaBr ownwr oteonmoder ndaysar mourbear erandsai d“amoder nday

armourbearerisonecalledbyGodt oserveandhelphisassignedleaderinl
if
e,
minist
ryandespeci al
lyinthef i
ghtoffait
h.Inessence,anar mourbear eris
cal
ledtoattendto,mini
sterto,
carefor
,help,beofuse,assi
st,benefi
t,pr
omote,
support
,makeeasyf or,nour
ishandencour aget
hei
rleader”
.

Wehavet ounder
standthat‘
armourbearer
s’arePastorsandmi ni
str
yleaders,
assi
stant
sandmember sasco- worker
sint heLord’svineyard.Theseeven
i
ncludethest
affi
nsuchmi ni
str
iesandchurches.Nomat t
ert henamet ag,one
thi
ngthati
ssurei
st hatwear
eal lhel
per
sofdesti
ny.

Mostar mour -bearersareselected from men and women who havebeen

observedtobef ait
hfultothemi ni
str
y,loyalanddependable.Theyaremenand
womenofpr ayerwhoknowhowt ost andinthegap.Ifnecessary,t
heywi
llnot
hesit
atetopr otecttheirl
eaders.Mosti mportant
ly,t
heymusthaveahear tto
serveand mustbet heperson thathi sorherpast ororl eadermustfeel
comfortabl
ewi th.

LikeDavidcametoSaulandent er
edhisser vi
ce,Ihavebeenoppor t
uneto
serveinachur
chunderl
eadersonpar t
-ti
mei ntheeight
ies.Also,
whenIj oi
ned
thedramagroupofmylocalchurchinJune1983, Iwasnott heleader.Imeta
l
eaderwhohadbeenadmi nister
ingtheaff
air
soft hegroup.So,alsowaswhat
happenedin1987,
whenIjoinedtheMountZi onFait
hMi nist
ri
esInt’
l,Myfat
her

9
i
nt heLord,Evangel
istMi keBamiloyehadbeenpresi dingovert hewholeaf
fai
rs
ofthemi ni
str
y.Nomat terhowef f
ecti
veandeffi
cientanymi nistryl
eaderi
s,he
cannotcarryoutallt heactivi
ti
esoft hegroupsingle- handedly,heneedsthe
servi
cesofl ike-
mindedpeopl e.Thesepeoplefor mt hemember shi
poft he
minist
ry.YouandIt hatjoinasmember sofourmi nistri
esarecal l
edarmour-
bearer
sinmi nist
ry.

Wehavet oknowt hisfact

;itisnotpossibl
eforever
ybodywhohasvi si
onfor
minist
rytobeal eader.TheLor dhasnotmeantever ypar toft
hebodytobe
head.Hecr eatedotherpart
soft hebody,kni
tl
yjoi
nedt ogethert
ocomplement
eachother.Soal sodoesHef ormschurchesandmi nistr
ieswithl
eader
sand
member swor kingt
ogetherfortheprogr
essofsuchmini st
ri
es.

You are needed in yourmi nistryand Iam also needed in mi ne f

ort he
successf
uldi sseminati
on oft he gospelofChr i
steffect
ively.Though our
i
nvolvementmaynotbeasal eaderbutasaco- workerwhohel pstheleaderto
ful
fi
llt
heGod- givenvisi
on.Atypi cali
ll
ust
rat
ionofthi
sformationisthecaseof
Jonathanandhi sarmour-bearer.Thisisf
oundinISamuel14:6- 7.

“AndJonat hansaidt otheyoungmant hatborehi sarmour(car

ri
edhi s
equipment). Come,and l et us go over int
o the garri
son of these
uncircumcised.I
tmaybet hatt
heLordwil
lworkforus;andhi
sarmourbearer
saidunt ohim;doallthatisinyourhear
t:t
urnthee,behol
d,Iam withthee
accordingtothyhear
t”.

Wecandeducef r
om theabove-citedcaset hatarmourbearersar ethosewho
supportthei
rleaderstomaket hingshappeni nthei
rministr
ies.Italsomeans
boththeleaderandmember sofeachmi nist
ryaresoldi
ers.Eachleaderhasthe
fol
lowingarmour :gi
rdl
e,br
eastplate,shod,shiel
d,hel
met,andswor dwhichhe
cannotcar r
yal oneallthet i
me.Somepeopl ehavetovol unteerbydi vi
ne
arr
angementt ohelphim byrel
ievinghim oftheburden.

Thehandsoft
heMosesi nourvariouschur chesandmini
str
iesmustbel i
ft
ed
upifwewanttoachieveandsustainsuccessi nourGod-gi
venminist
ry.The
memberswhoarewant edatthi
send- ti
mear ethosewhowil
lsay,“
wher eyou
goIgo”.Nomatt
erthesacri
fi
ceinvolved,Iam readyt
ogoallthewaywi t
hmy
l
eader
.

Noneofuscanber
ecogni
zedasami
nist
eri
nheavenunt
ilwef
ir
stmi
nst
ert
o

10
ourleader
.El
ishadi
dnotbegi
nhi
smi
nist
ryt
il
lhesawt
heneedt
omi
nist
ert
o
El
ij
ah.

“Andhe( El
isha)retur
nedbackfrom him(
Elij
ah)andt ookayokeofoxen,and
slewt hem,andboi l
edthei
rfl
eshwi t
htheinstrumentsoftheoxen,andgave
unt othepeopl e,andtheydideat.Thenhear ose,andwentafterEl
ij
ah,and
mi nist
ereduntohi m”.IKi
ngs19:21.

Nowonder,hewasr efer
redt
oastheonewhousedtopourwateronElij
ah’
s
hands.2Ki
ngs3:11- 12.Hesawhi
sleaderasamast
ergivent
ohim byGod.
Thisisthetypeofmember sGod islooki
ng f
ori
n var
iouschurchesand
mini
stri
esi
nthisend-t
ime.

Ther earet woot hertypesofmember swhoar ei nvari

ousGodest ablished
groupst oday,butwillbeflushedoutbyt hepowerofGodi ft
heydonotchange
from insidetheirheart
s.Firstofsuchset sarethosewhoseet hei
rleadersas
nor malcolleaguestheycancont rolanyhowi nthegroup.Ther
ewer emanyof
thistypeofpeopl ewhenIj oinedthi
smi nist
rysomeyear sago,butIwillonly
citetheexampl eoftwopr ominentonesamongt hem.

BroJones( nothisr ealname)usedt ochal l

enget hedeci sionofourl eader.He
woul dsay;Br o,wedon’ thavet odoi tl i
kethat.Bro,itisnotpr operthatwayet c.
Icouldr ecoll
ectadaywewer ehavi ngameet ingt orescueabr otherf rom an
i
mpendi ngexi tfr
om t hegr oup.Thecasewassoser i
oust hatitr equiredhi s
wifetot hrowl i
ghtintosomegr eyar eas.Ourl eadergavet hewi feago- ahead
to saywhatsheknew aboutt hei ssue,butBr otherJoneswi thstood t he
decision.Hesai d,‘bro,iti
snotr i
ghtf orthewi fetosayanyt hingont hisint he
presenceofherhusband’ .Thismeet i
ngcoul dhavesal vagedt hesi tuati
on, but
thecoupl e,event uall
yl eftthemi nistrybecauset hepr oblem coul dnotbe
addressedsi ncethewi f
ewasnotal lowedt oshedl ightont heissue.

Anotherbr
other
, Pet
er( nothisr ealname)al sohadt hehabitofthi
nki
ngt hathe
wasmor espir
it
ualthanourl eader .Outofmanyi nst
ances,ther
ewast histi
me
wewer etoroundof faseven- dayf asti
ngandpr ayersinDecember1990.Our
l
eadersaidweshoul dbecomi ngoutt okneeldownonebyonesot hatwe
wouldbeprayedf or
.Mypr esidentsai dthepersonnexttohim shouldstarti
tin
ordertol
ethim comel ast.Thisbr otherPetersaid,“Br
oMi ke,Iper
ceivedinmy
spir
itt
hatyoushouldst artfi
rst”.

11
Becauseourl eaderhasbeennot i
cingt hisdomi neeri
ngspir
itinBr ot
herPeter,
heinsistedthatthepr ogrammeshoul dr unashehaddi rected.Suchpeoplea
ti
mes,usedt ohi deundert heguiseof“ t
heLor dsays”,“Iperceived”or“the
scri
pturesays”.Thesear eallt
hegimmi ckof‘egali
tar
iani
sm’ i
nteam mi ni
str
ies.
Iti
ssenti nt
ogr oupstoweakent hef oundationofsuchgr oups.Heaveni seven
ful
lofhierarchy,how muchmor eont heear t
hher e,wherewehavet odot he
wil
lofGodasi tisinheaven.

Thesecondnegat i
vesetsofmember sint
ermsofleader-member-rel
ati
onship
i
nmi nistryarethosethatseet hei
rl eader
sasbosses.I ti
sthemember swho
seet heirleaderasbosst hatr ebel.OurGod- or
dainedleader
sar enotbosses,
theyar echosenbyt heLordt ol eadus.Thedegr eetowhichweacceptt hi
sfact
willdeterminethelevelofoursubmi ssiontot
hem, andconsequentl
ydetermine
theext enttowhi chwewoul df ulfi
llourdesti
ny.Thisisbecauseourdestinyis
ti
edt ot hei
rsuccessandvi ce-versa.

Rebell
iousmember sdot hi
ngsint heirownway.Theyf i
ndi tdi
ffi
cul
ttoaskfor
thecounselofthei
rleaderinthefirstplace.Theyseehim asabossi nsteadof
Godor dai
nedheadf orthegr oup.I nst
eadofget ti
ngthespi ri
toftheleader
s,
theyformleaguewithothersoutsidet hevisionofthei
rleader.Theydothisto
threat
entheauthor
ityofthei
rleaders.

TheLor dfrownsatallthesehabits.Suchat t
it
udesdonotpor t
rayusasgood
armour-bearersinourvariousmi ni
stri
es.Hedoesr emoveasmanyaswoul d
notrepentandbeconver t
ed,butHer etai
nst hosewhol i
veaccor dingtothe
pri
ncipleofarmour-beari
ng.Therefore,l
etthi
ssi nkintoyourspiri
tt hatweare
neit
herslaves,whowor kagainsttheirwill
snorhi rel
ings,whowor kf orwages,
butservantsofGodandco- mi
nister
swi thourl eaders.Though,theLor dhas
ordai
nedi tthataGodpr eparedmanorwomanmustl eadandwej oinhands
withthem tofi
llt
hegapmeantf orusi nthisend-timemoveofGod.

Ratherthancausingsani tyandor der

li
ness,t
hespi r
itof‘egali
tar
iani
sm’wi l
l
causeanarchy.But,i
fwei mbibet hecult
ureofarmour-beari
ng,ourleaderwil
l
be ablet o do whatevert he Lordlays i
n his heartwithoutany f earof
antagoni
sm withi
nthegr oup.

Lear
nabi
glessonf
rom theconver
sat
ionofAr
aunahandDavi
dasiti
swri
tt
en
i
n2Samuel24:20- 24.Heboweddownt oDavidintot
alsubmi
ssi
onand

12
whol
eheart
edlyreleasedhi
st hr
eshingfloor,hi
soxen,thethreshi
ngsledges
andoxyokesforthewood.Hegaveal lt
heset ot
hekingwit
houtanyresi
stance.
Heneverat
tachedanycondit
iontothereleaseofhi
sbelongi
ngs.

Butt
heki
ngi
nsi
stedonpayi
ngAr
aunahf
oral
lhewoul
duse.Hesai
d…
“
Iwi
llnotsacr
if
icet
otheLor
dmyGodbur
ntof
fer
ingt
hatcostmenot
hing”
.

Thekingt heref
orepaidhimfif
tyshekelsofsil
ver.Thi
sisapicturesqueoftotal
commi tmentt othevi si
on ofone’ sleader
.Hedi d notonl
yl etgo ofhi s
thr
eshingf l
oor,whichcouldbel i
kenedtothelif
eandt imeofgroupmember s,
butgaveal lotherthingsthatwer eatt
ached.Theseincludehisoxenf orthe
burntofferi
ng,thet hr
eshi
ngi nstr
ument sandtheyokesoft heoxenf orthe
wood.Itisthesecretofcohesi
vemi nist
ry.

We shoul d nothave any ‘no go ar ea’whatsoever

,which ourl eader
’s
administ
rati
oncannottouch.Ifwehaveany,weshoul ddoawaywi thitnow.
Thesoonerwedot his,t
hebet t
er.Ar
aunahgaveever ythi
ngthekingneeded.
Thosewhohavet hi
smi ndwillmakethemi nist
ryprogressr
apidl
yandcover
thewidestpossi
blegapwithi
ntheshortestper
iod.

Becauseal lofuswhor emaini nt

hismi ni
str
ymaket hevisi
onoft hegroup
primary,andletallotherthi
ngsbesecondar y,itgivesourleadertheample
chance to operate wit
houtf earofany r esi
stance from any member.It
resul
tantl
ygingersuni t
y,l
oveandr api
dpr ogressoft heminist
ry.TheLord
deli
ghtstodwellinsuchatmosphere.

Kindl
yand pat i
entl
yapplytheprinci
ples,knowledgeand examplesinthe
subsequentchapter
sint
oyourownmi nistr
y.Youreyesofunder
standi
ngshal
l
beenli
ghtened,andyoushal
lnotr
emaint hesame.

CHAPTERTWO

PREPAREFORGOD’
STEST

“
Formanybecal
led,
butf
ewchosen”Mat
hew20:16

Ithasbecomethepr
inci
pleofGodtotestwhoeverHecal
lsbef
orepl
acement
couldbemade.Hi
scalli
salwaysanopenone.

13
I
sai
ahhear
dHi
m sayi
ng,
“
Whom shal
lIsend,
andwhowi
llgof
orus?I
sai
ah6:8.

TheLor
dJesusChr
istsai
dtheki
ngt
oldhi
sser
vant
sto
“
Goyet her
efor
eint
othehi
ghways,andasmanyasyeshal
lfi
nd,bi
dtot
he
mar
ri
age”.

Thi
sisacl
earpi
ctur
eofGod’
scal
lint
oHi
svi
neyar
d.

TheLor dnormal lycallsthosewhoar eavailabl

eandwi l
li
ng.Asatt hetimeI
camei ntothismi nistr
yi n1987,t her eweremor ethanei ghty(80)member s
whohadj oi
ned.Outoft hesewer et hosewhosi ncer
elyjoi
nedt oservet heLord.
Somej oi
nedbecauseoft heirinterest.Therewerethoseamonguswhoshoul d
serveGodinot hermi ni
stri
esapar tfr
om drama.Ther estincludest hosewho
wanted to be known,t he over -
zeal ous,those who want ed to hijack the
l
eadershipoft hemi ni
str
yf r
om t hel eader,someagent sofdar kness,et c.In
short
,wewer emi x-mul t
it
udet hen.Si ft
ingwast heref
orenecessar y,because
l
ightanddar knesscannotco- exist.Theser iousandunser i
ousmember shad
tobeseparated.

Thenetwhi chwast hrowni nt

ot heseahadcaughtever ykindoff ish.Ithadt o
besorted.Thegoodhadt obet akencareofandt hebadbet hrownaway.Thi s
wasexactlywhathappenedwhenal lmannersofspi
ri
tualexer cisesbeganf ull
y.
Wehadvi gil
satever yministr
ationvenuewheneverwehadsuchmi nistrati
ons
i
nt heevenings.Also,onweekends,i ft
herewerenomi ni
strations,weusedt o
haveretr
eats,whichinvol
vedf asti
ng,pr
ayersandvigi
lsatoursecr etariatinIl
e-
I
fe,OsunState,Nigeri
a.

Aswecont inuedl i
ket hi
s,thi
ngsweretakingshape.Thespi ri
tofGodwas
doi
ngthesor ti
ng.Thosewhower esupposedtobeinothervi
sionswer
eunabl
e
towit
hstandt herigour,pruni
ngandthecommi tmentwhicht heMountZi
on
Fai
thMinist
riesdeserved.

Later
,wej ustnoticedthatthei nterestofsomeofusf adedaway.Theycoul d
notconti
nuewi thus.Thef unniestthingisthat
,Goddi
dnotr educetheintensit
y
ofthepreparati
onHewasmaki ngust opasst hr
ough.Infact,i
twasget ti
ng
tougherandhot teraswemovedf rom onephaseoft hemi ni
str
yt oanot her.
Justlikeinf r
actionaldisti
ll
ationofcr udeoil
,wherediff
erentfract
ionsar e

14
obtainedatdif
ferentboi
li
ngpoints,thesemembersweredroppi
ngateach
stageofGod’st esti
ng.I
tmakesmer eali
zethatweneedtheset
estsinour
vari
ousgroupstoo,becauseitwil
lseparat
ethegenui
nefr
om thef
akes.I
twil
l
furt
hersepar
atethecasualsf
rom t
hecommi tt
edmembers.

This kind ofdeali

ng isthe f
oundati
on ofstrong and endur
ing mi
nist
ry.
Loweringthestandardwil
ldousnogood.Churchesandmi nist
ri
eswholower
thestandardar
eonl ypost
poni
ngthei
rtroubl
edays.

Furthermore,itshowst hateverybeli
evercal
ledbyGodi sfacedwithtwo
probabili
ti
es.Thatis,hewouldeit
herpasshistestandprogr
essinthecal
li
ng
orfailanddropbythewaysi de.ButGoddoesnotwishthatwebedropped.

Ifwear econvi
ncedinourspi ri
tthatHewant sustobei nthegr ouporchur ch
wear e,wehavet obef ul
lypersuadedofGod’scall
ing.Bever ysureofthi
sor ,
youwi l
lnotbeabletofacet hemusic.Ibeli
evet
herearesomewhooughtt obe
withusi nthemi ni
strynow buthavebeensweptof fbyambi t
ion,f
ami l
yt ie,
marri
agei mpat
ience,dist
racti
ons,andsoon.Eachoft heseiseit
heratestfrom
Godorat estf
rom thedevi lbutwhichGodper mit
s.Whi cheverone,t
heLor d
expectsthatwewouldbepur i
fi
edandr ef
inedbythem.Hehasnotmeantt hem
toovercomeus.

Butmanyat imes,wedonotknowt hatGodwast estingus.Wejusthandl

eit
anyhownotknowingthatourdesti
nyisatst ake.WhenLionandBearappeared
toDavidinthebushandwant edtokillsomeoft hesheephewasgr azi
ng,
nobodytol
dhi mthei mpli
cat
ionofhisr esponse.Hepr ot
ect
edhissheepby
ki
lli
ng t
hetwo wi l
d animal
si nst
ead ofr unning away.Thisfeatgavehim
promoti
ontofaceGoli
ath.

TheLor dtestedhi mtoknowt hest r

engt hofhisinnerman.Soi tisnotwhatwe
are‘ physically’thatcount sbutwhatouri nnermani s.Godal sotestedt he
Israeli
teswi thoutt el
li
ngt hem beforehand.Heaskedt hem t ospyCanaanl and.
Hewasabl et ogi vethem thel andwi thoutspyingitfi
rst,buthewantedt ot est
them.Tenf ailedwhi l
eonl yt wopeopl e(CalebandJoshua)passedt het est.
Deut eronomy8:8- 9descr i
bedt hel andasapl acefil
ledwithwheat,bar ley,
vines, f
igtrees, pomegr anates,oli
ve,honey, i
ron,brass,etc.Nowonder, hehad
tot estthem bef orecommi t
ti
ngi ttotheirhands.

The Lor
dis al
so commi
tt
ing i
nto ourhands t
he mi
nist
ryt
hatknows no

15
boundary.Ourmini
str
ati
oncandeliverpeoplebothyoungandold.I
tcanmake
boththe mili
tarymen and high rankmi ni
ster
sofGod who have start
ed
mini
ster
ingbeforewewer ebor
ntoweepl ikebabies.I
tmini
ster
stothebl
acks,
thewhit
esandt hecol
oured.

I
n1984,t hedramagroupofTheLastDaysEvangeli
calMission,I
lesacameto
t
hechur chIwasat t
endi
ngthen“Chri
stEvangel
icalGroup”tostageadr ama
t
it
led,“
TheGr eatBar
thol
omew”.Iweptli
keababy.Someel dersi
nt hechur
ch
werenotexempted.

Itremindsmeoft hedr ama, wewentt ostageatOgbomosoi n1986t i

tl
ed, “
The
LoveandJudgmentofGod” .Afterthetwohour spower f
uldrama, altar-callwas
madeandpeopl etroopedoutf orsalvationasi fnobodywassavedamongt he
audience.Al so,in 1988 atAbeokut a,Assembl i
es ofGod Chur ch had a
programmet aggedABESEC’ 88.I twast hefir
stt i
meIwoul dseeawhi teman
weepi ngunderdr amami nistrati
ons.Hewasoneoft heseni ormi nistersatt he
programme.Ot herministersandt hepeopl ei
nt hecongr egationweptwhent he
play“TheUnpr ofit
ableSer vant ”wasr unningtoanend;butt heonet hatremai n
i
ndel i
bl ein myhear twas t hatwhi t
e man who weptpr ofusely.We have
witnessedCapt ains,Maj orsandMaj orGener alsoft heAr myr est i
tutingwi th
tearsr ushingdownt heircheeksdur ingourDr amaMi nistr
ationsatZar i
a,Jos,
Calabar ,andLagos.I tisper ti
nentt oment ionthatdramadonotknowwhet her
onei saDoct ororaPr ofessor .

Wewentt ominist
erinapr ogramme, whichagr oupattheUni ver
sityofIbadan
i
nvit
edusasguestmi ni
sters.Theaudiencewer enotmanyt hatevening,but
the Chapl
ain was around.We st aged t he drama atThe Chapeloft he
Resurr
ecti
on,apopul arChapeli nthePr emierUniversi
ty.Afterthechapl ain
wit
nessedthemani f
estati
onoft hepowerofGodt hatevening,heinvi
tedust o
mini
steronaSundaymor ning.

Hedidnotannounceourcomi ngtot hechurch.Itwasaftertheministr

ationhe
tol
dust hatthosehewant edtobenef i
tfrom themessagewoul dnott urnupi f
theyknewt heywer egoi ngtowatchadr amadur i
ngSundaymor ningser vi
ce.
Theyonlyknewwhenwewer eabouttost ar
tthedrama.Theyt r
iedt oresistit
.
TheUniversit
yDons,t heErudit
eScholarsandChi efswhower epr esentatt he
servi
ceweresayi ng,“Thisisasacri
lege”.But,toGodbeal lt
heglory,attheend
oftheDramami nist
ration,
itwasthesesameset sofpeoplewhower eshowi ng

16
ust i
ssuesandhandker
chi
efst
heyusedtowipet
earsdur
ingt
heminist
rat
ion.
Theygavet est
imoni
esofthechal
lengest
heyrecei
vedandhow theywer e
recei
ved.

Thati swhyJer emiah51:20-23saysthereisnobodyt heLord’

sbat t
le-axeand
weaponofwarcannotbr eakdown.Ibel i
evet hispor t
ionisexpressingt he
effecti
venessofChr i
sti
anDr amaandFi lm atthisend- t
ime.Whataf antasti
c
mi nist
rytheLordhasgivenus!Asfantasti
candef fecti
veasChrist
ianDr amai s,
testingmustf i
rstcomebef or
eGodwi llgi
veust hemessaget hatwilltur
nt he
wor ldup-sidedown.Thevar i
oustest
ingwhi chcoul dcomebef or
ethej ourney
i
nt oeffect
iveminist
eri
all
if
ebeginsarethefollowi
ng:

i
)Testf orsi
fti
ng
Sincethereismi x-mult
it
udeinourvar iousgroups,theLor disalwaysint he
habitofremovi ngt hedrossf
rom ourmet althrought est
ing.Hedoest histo
bring t
hegenui nememberoutf rom t hecomposi t
ion oftheover -
zealous
brethr
en,reservistsandcasualbrethren,thoset hatareabsentwithoutleave
because they ar e unabl
e orunwi l
li
ng t o adaptt ot he l
if
est
yle ofdrama
minist
ersandt hosewhowantact i
ngonl y.

Jointfast i
ng,prayersandvigi
lswerenottakenser i
ousl
yinthedramagr oupI
wasbef oreIjoinedtheMountZi onFai
thMi nist
ri
es.So,inspi
teofmor ethan
ten-ful
ll engt
hpl ayswehadt hen,whichmessagescanr ankwithst andard
Christi
andr amaorf i
lm messageswear ehavingnow,wedi dnotknowmuch
aboutt hei mportanceofint
ensivespi
ri
tualexerci
seindramami ni
stry.So,we
werenotsi f
tedatal l
.Themi x-
mult
it
udet hatj oi
nedwasj usttheredoi ng
everythingwi thus.Theywi t
nessedthef uneralofthegroup.Ignorancei s
danger ous.

Therei s a big difference bet

ween recei
ving messages and the spi
ri
tual
preparationofthemember s.Shall
ow spir
it
ualpreparati
onmakest hegroup
conduci veforbot
hdi cksandharri
es.Hereiswherepr ayi
ngforourl
eadersfor
boldnessanddeci siveact i
onsareverycompulsor
y.Wewi l
lknowmor eonthis
i
nsidet hechapterthatdealswi t
hint
ercessi
onforleaders.

Apartfr
om vari
oustypesofpeoplet hatl
eftasaresultofint
ensiveprayers,
fast
ingandotherspi
rit
ualprepar
ati
on,ther
ewasacaset hatculminat
edt he
sif
ti
ng att
hepr epar
ati
on levelofthisminist
ry.I
n 1988,wehad adr ama

17
mi ni
str
ati
onatachurchinIlesa.Wel aterret
ir
edtot
hef l
atofamemberoft hi
s
mi ni
str
ywhol i
vedatIl
esa.Ourvigilstart
edasusualat12mi dni
ghtsandends
atabout6. 00am,as we used t o have itwheneverwe wentf ordrama
mi ni
str
ati
ons.Butonthisparti
cularday,thevigi
ldi
dnotendunt il5:30pm i
n
theeveningofthenextday.Seventeenandahal fsoli
dhourswasspentnone
stop!

I
twasont hatdaytheLor dfishedoutfi
veagent sofdarkness.Someofthem
hadjoi
nedf ormorethanayear .Ther
ewer etwoofthem whower emember sof
achurchdr amagr oup.Theywer enotdetect
edi nthechur chdramagroup.
Theyusedt oconcealtheiridenti
ti
esandonlywhent hespiri
tualat
mosphereis
hott
hatgif
tsoftheSpir i
twi l
lbemani f
est
ingthroughwhichsuchpeoplecanbe
det
ected.

Amongstt herestthreewer et wosi sterswhousedt ohi detheirevi

lspiri
ts
somewher ebeforetheycamei ntoourmi dstforpr ayers.Whenhotpr ai
sesand
wor shipt hatled tof er
venti ntercessor y prayers was goi ng on,the Lord
revealedt oushow andwher et heyhidt heirevilspi r
its.Itwashighdemoni c
conceal ment,whichtheLor dalonecoul dreveal.Sowecommandedt hespiri
ts
tore- possesstheirowner s.I
twasdur ingt hispar t
icul
arpr ayerpoi
ntthatthey
started mani f
esti
ng.Thei rleaderconf essed t hatt hey came i nfort ot
al
destructionoft heministry.ToGodbet hegl oryt hati twasnotpossiblefor
them.Al lthetesti
moni eswear ehear i
ngnowcoul dnothavebeenpossi bleif
theyhadsucceeded.I ntensi
vepr ayer
si st heant idot
et ospi
ri
tualt
ermitesin
groupsandchur ches.

Mygr oupisaseed.Yourgr oupi sal soaseed.Theseedcannotger minat

e,
growandbl ossom i ft
hel if
einsidei tiseatenup.Wher eas,whattheseagents
ofdarknessareafteristoeatupt hel i
feinourgr oupssothatt
hegr oupwil
lnot
benefi
tanybody.Theyhavet obesi ft
ed,i ftheydonotvol untari
lysubmit
themselvesfordeliver
ance.Buti ftheydi scoverthestr
angespiri
tandsubmi t
themselvesfordeliverance,Godcandel iverthem anduset hem asHeused
Mar yMagdalene.Imeani fiti
sGod’ spowert hatreveal
edthem t
hroughvisi
on,
dream,wor dofknowl edgeet c.theyhavenobusi nessstayi
ngint hegroup.
Chil
drenofGodandchi l
drenofsat ancannotcohabi t
.

i
i)Test
ingoft
heGideoni
tear
my
Test
ingandsif
ti
ngoftheGideoni
tear
myi
sar
elevantcasest
udywecannot

18
i
gnor eifwewantt ogett heclearerpictureofGod’stesti
nginteam mi ni
str
ies.
Inhistroopwer et hosewhower efearfulandafr
aid.Outofthir
ty-twot housand
soldi
ers,twenty-twot housandturnedback.I notherwords,i
tshowst hatthose
whower enotpr eparedforthebat t
leofsuchmagni t
udewer emor ethant hose
who pr epared.Ital so showswhyt hemember sofTheMountZi on Fait
h
Ministr
iesInt’
lwhi chwer emor ethanei ghtyj
ustdroppednumer icall
yt oabout
fort
yaswewer eaboutt ocr osstof ul
l-ti
me.Eventuall
ywewer eeighteenthat
crossedtofull-t
imemi ni
ster
ialoperati
on.

Thefir
stsetofGideonitesoldier
st hatwasdroppedwer enotpreparedenough
forsuchchallenge.Anyst udentwhof ail
st oprepareverywel lwhenhei s
supposetopreparewillbeafraidont hedayofexami nati
on.Asifthatt
estwas
notenough,t
heLor dbeheldt hattheremaini
ngt enthousandsoldi
ersweresti
ll
toomany.He,theref
ore,sai
dt oGideon- t
heleaderoftheteam t
hus:

“
Butt
heLor dsai
dt oGideon,ther
earesti
llt
oomanymen.Taket hem downto
t
hewaterandIwillsi
ftthem foryout
here.IfIsay,t
hisoneshal
lgowithyou,
‘
heshallgo’
;butifIsay,‘ Thisoneshallnotgowi thyou,heshal
lnotgo’.
Judges7:4NI
V

I
tist heLordthathast hefinalsayonourt ests.Hemaynotdi scloset
hist
oour
l
eader suntilHemusthaveconduct edthet est
.Hedoesgi vet her
esul
tand
decidesonwhatwedeser ve,whet herpromot i
on,repeat,demot i
onoroutr
ight
withdrawal.Thoseofuswhoar ejustcomingt ojoindramagr oupsshoul
dsee
thi
sasawar ning.Ibelievet hismustbef amili
artot hoseofuswhoar ei n
dramagr oupsal r
eady.Hence, itshoul dbear eminder.

Gideonwast oldtotakethemendownt ot hewaterandsepar atethosewhol ap

thewat erwit
htongueslikedogf r
om t hosewhokneeldownt odrink.Judges7:
5-6.Afterheseparat
edt hem, ther
ewer ethreehundredsoldierswhol appedt he
wat erf
rom thei
rhands.Al lt herest,gotdownont hei
rkneest odrink.Those
threehundredment hatlapped, putt
ingt heirhandstot hei
rmout hspassedt he
test.Godapprovedt hem event hought heydi dnotknowt hatt hi
sr esponseof
theirswoulddeterminet heirapproval.Theydi dnotknow t hatselecti
onwas
beingmade.Myt est
ingandyour swillcomewhenwel eastexpectit.Mypr ayer
i
st hatwewi l
lpassourtest sinJesusname, amen.

I
n 1989,t
heLor
dtol
d met
oresi
gn myappoi
ntmentwi
tht
heCol
legeof

19
Educat i
on,Ilesa,OsunSt at
e,Nigeri
aandgoonf ull
- t
ime.Thereandt henmy
fat
herwasduef ormedicaloperati
onandhewasl ookinguntomef orfi
nancial
assi
st ancebecauseIwast heonlysur vi
vorofmyf ather.Mynamewasamong
thest affthatwoul dbenef i
tfrom vehicl
el oanappr ovedbyt heCollegefor
August .ThisIhadbeenpur sui
ngf orthepr evi
ousf ouryears.Thi
rdl
y,the
Gover ni
ngCounci lhadjustapprovedst udyleavewi thpayf orthestaf
fwho
appli
edf orit.Andlastl
y,Ihadawi f
eandt hreechil
drenandt hefourt
hwasbor n
t
h
on6 Augustoft hi
s1989.

Inspiteofalltheseaboveoppor tunit
iesandt hoseIhadt ocaterfor,Isaidto
God“ Thywillbedone” .Myco- workerswhoknewaboutal lt
hesechancesand
knewt hatIwouldf or
fei
tthem i
fIresignt houghtIwasmad.TheLor dhadbeen
speakingtomanymember softhemi nistrytomovehigherint hei
rcalli
ngby
goingonf ull
-ti
me.Thebr ethr
enwer egi vi
ngvari
ousexcuses.Butwhent he
Lordwoul dmaket heclear
-cutdemar cationofsif
ti
ngusaswewer ecrossing
tot he nextlevel,He t ol
d my pr esidentt o arr
ange forourf ir
stdr ama
ministr
ati
ontourt oKanoCi t
yforthewhol emont hofAugust1989.

However ,myl eaderwasnott ol

dwhatwoul dhappenwhenweal lgettoKano
otherthant hatHe( God)woul ddelivermanyf r
om theshacklesofthedevi l
duringthetri
p.Hepr omisedusofgl oriousmi nistr
ati
ons.Hesaid,Hewoul dgo
beforeusandr emoveeveryresi
stanceandsof tentheheart
softheaudiencein
Kano.Hedi dnotdi scl
osetoust hatHewoul dcl i
maxthesif
tingHehadst art
ed
l
ongago,andmakeasepar at
ionbet weent hosewhowoul dgoandt hose
woul dl
ethindrancesdeterthem fr
om goi ng.

Duringthejoi
ntmor ni
ngdevoti
on,theseconddaywear ri
vedKanocity,a
prophecycamefrom theLordt
hatthoseofuswholef
tal
ltocomedownforthe
onemont hmini
strat
ionare,
hencefor
th,
thebonaf
idemembersoft
hemini
stry.

Somewhodi dnotgowithuswant edt

ojoi
nwhenwecamebackinSeptember
.
Wecouldnotadmi tt
hem becausetheLor
dhadspoken.I
twaspai
nful,t
osee
somebrethr
enweconsideredbeingcommitt
ed,
droppi
ngbyt
hewayside.Man
l
ooksatthefacebutGodseestheheart
.

i
ii
)TheLordhat esvainglor
y
The Lord says,“ The har
vesti
s plent
eous butt
he labourer
s ar
ef ew’.
Never
thel
ess,Hei seagertouset
hosewhowi l
lseet
hei
rcall
ingasgrace;not

20
thepeoplewhowi llbragforanyr eason.Therefore,test
ingmustf ol
low our
call
ing.Thej
ourneytovictorymustwi t
nessseriesoft est
s.Victorywillsurel
y
come.TheLor disgoi ngt opr omoteourmi ni
stry.Hewi llgiveusf antasti
c
messagesanduseust opul ldownst r
ongholds.Butwhent hepr omot i
on
comes,ifwearenott est
ed,itcouldbecomeacur seratherthanabl essing.If
pruninghasnotgonefort
hbef orepromotion,onecouldbeensnar edbyit.

TheLor
dtol
dGi
deonpoi
nt-
blank,

“Thepeoplet
hatarewiththeearet
oomanyf ormetogi vetheMidi
ani
tesi
nto
thei
rhands,l
estIsr
aelvauntthemsel
vesagainstme,saying,mi
neownhand
hathsavedme”.Judges7:2

Someyear sago,t hereweref ew membersoft hismini

strywho wereso
sensati
onal.Wheneveranygoodthi
nghappenedintheminist
ry,
theywouldbe
thefi
rsttorol
lonthegroundanddanceendl
essly.Butwhenthegoingi
stough
theywerethepeoplewhowouldquickl
ybedowni nthei
rspi
rit
.

Thoseamongt heabovement ionedsett hatdi dnotbr aceupandst andupi n

thei
rspir
iteventuall
yleft
.Thereisal evelor dinarysensati
oncannotcar r
yone
beyondint hewor koft heministry.TheI sraeli
teswhodwel tonsensations
neverknewt hewayoft heLordinthewi ldernessandt heyallper
ished.Maywe
gettoourdestinat
ioninli
feandmi nistr
yi nJesusname.

Secondly,Godwi l
lnevershar
eHi
sglor
ywit
hanybody.Hi
sglorybel
ongsto
Him andHi m alone.Thatist
her
easonHetest
speoplebef
oreHeexposes
them t
oHi svi
ctori
ousglor
y.

Therewer esomet hi
ngst heLordt ol
dHisdiscipl
esordi di nthei
rpresencebut
warnedt hem nottopublizes.Hewoul dsay" seet hout el
lnoman" .I
nf act
,it
wasr epeatedtentimesinMat thew,Mar kandLuke.Hesai dsot osafeguard
Hismi ni
stryf
rom minist
erialdestroyersanddistractor
s.Mi ni
stri
est
hatwantt o
succeedmustmai ntai
nthispr i
nci pl
e,butthesesensat ionalmember scannot
keepmut eont hevit
alsecretsoft hegroup.Mor eso, i
fitconcernst
hesuccess
ofthegrouporspecialdealingsfrom God.

Mostoft hesuccessesofthi
smi nist
rythatleaked outand whi
ch nearl
y
wreckedtheshipintheear
lypar
toftheminist
rywer er
eleasedt
otheenemies
bythissetofmember s.

21
Member swhoar enotfi
tforthebat t
learet hosewhowillmakethemostnoi se
i
mmedi atel
yther
eisvictory.Emptybar r
el,itissai
d,makestheloudestsound.
Thesepeopl edo nothavespi r
it
ualtapr oot.Theyareonlycont ent
ed with
surf
acelevelChr
ist
iani
ty.C.S.Lewiscall
edi tMereChri
sti
ani
ty.

Peopl
ehar dl
yrecogni
zedvaliantmenexceptont hebat t
le-
fiel
d.Thosewho
havenot
hingtodeli
vernor
mal l
yvauntabout.Theywoul dgoaboutboasti
ngas
i
ftheywerethepeopl
ethatfoughtmorethantheircol
leagues.

Agbar aNl a( TheUl ti

mat ePower )wasser i
ali
zedonaboutsi xT. V.st ati
onsi n
theWest ernNi ger i
ai n1993.Theef f
ectspr eadt hroughoutt het ownsand
vil
lagesupt ot henei ghbouringcount ri
es.A si steri nanot hermi nistr
ysaw
sisterGr acewhot ookt hemaj orr ol
ei nt hef i
lm besi det her oadi nLagos;she
stoppedandpi ckedhersi ncebot hoft hem wer ecomi ngt oI badan.Ast hey
wer epassi ngt hroughast reet,thechildrensi ghtedsi st
erGr aceandwer ever y
happyf orseei ngherphysi call
y( inperson) .Becauseoursi sterknewt hegr avi
ty
ofshar i
ngt hegl oryt hatbelongst oGod,shej ustsmi l
edt ot hem andhi d
hersel fast hecarwasgoi ng.Butt heot hersi st
erpeepedf rom t hecarandwas
wavi ngatt hem.Shel ookedatt hissist
erandsai d“ Thesear emyf ansi nLagos.
Ourf amehasspr eadt oLagos” .Iwast ol
dt hatshar ingofGod’ sgl or
ywas
obvi ousi nt hewayshet alked.Wher eoneper sonwasbur yingherheadwas
wher etheot her( t
hatwasnotsopopul arasshecl aimed)wasar rogat i
ngt he
gloryofGodt oher self.

Anotherattr
ibuteoft hosewhol appedt hewat erlikedogandt heywhoknel t
downt odipthei rmouthintothewat erisgreediness.Suchpeopl ewil
lgotot he
batt
legr
oundt oseekf orspoi l
s.Theywi llcovetouslycarrybootiesi
nsteadof
supporti
ngthecommi t
tedsoldier
stodef eattheenemy.Suchpeopl earedevil’
s
i
nstrumentsofdi st
ract
ionsanddi scouragementt ot hecommi tt
edmember s.I
f
thedramagr oupshoul dgooutf ormi nist
rati
on,thegr eedymember swil
lbe
aft
ertheoffering.Hewi l
lbet heonet oadvisetheor ganizerstostopthedrama
mid-wayt ocol l
ecttheoffer
ingbeforethedr amacoul dcontinue.

Furt
her
mor e,whenevertheycomeacr ossanyrichfell
ow whosatundertheir
mini
str
ati
on,theywi l
lseeitasanoppor tuni
tytotellhim orherthei
rneeds.
Theycanwr i
teS.
O.S.(Saveoursoul
)lett
ertosuchri
chi ndi
vidual
.

ByHi
sgr
acewehavemetmanymul
ti
mil
li
onai
reand i
nfl
uent
ialmen and

22
womeni nt hecour seofmi ni
steri
ngabout .Someoft hem wouldaskf orour
needsbot hcor por
atelyandindividually.Evenatthet i
meofgr ossl ack,we
neveropenedourmout ht otellanybodyourneeds.Ourr epl
yal wayswas
what evertheLor dlaysonyourhear ttodo,doit.Whereas,someotherpeople
willseet hi
sasanoppor t
unit
yt ogr ab.Inordertopresshomet heirdemand,
theywi l
lleakthesecr et
softhemi nistr
yandwhatot herbrethr
eninthemi ni
str
y
arepassi ngthrough.

Theyarethegener
ationofAchan,whodidnotknowt
hatt
herearebett
erthi
ngs
theLordhadreservedforthem,ift
heycouldpasst
hetestofJeri
cho.Those
whof l
outedthedeal i
ngsandi nst
ruct
ionsofGodt ol
ookf orshortcutin
mini
str
iespai
ddear l
yfori
t.

Abraham expr
essedt
heful
l-knowledgeofthi
spr
inci
plewhenhet
oldt
heki
ng
ofSodom aft
erhewonthebattl
eforthem t
hat
,

“Iwi
llnottakefr
om at hreadeventoashoel achet
,andthatIwil
lnottake
anyt
hingthati
sthine,l
estthoushoul
destsay,IhavemadeAbram r
ich”
.Gen.
14:23.

Beloved,endureasagoodsoldierofChri
st.TheLor di smoreinter
estedinour
l
ivesthanwedo.Yet ,Hehastotrai
nust odependonHi m.Hedoesnotwant
anybodyt otakegloryonoursuccessfulministeri
all i
fel
ater
.Godt rai
nsand
teachesHismi ni
ster
snottolookuntomen,butt otrustinHim sothatHecan
taketheglory.Ihaveseenthatthosewhovi olatedt hi
srulepaiddearlyfori
t
withthei
rcall
ingandvisi
on.

Iwast ol
dofanot herdramagr oupwhowentfr
om t
hewesther
etotheeast
ern
partofthiscountrytomi ni
steri
ntheear
ly90’
s.Amemberofthegroupstol
e
moneyr ightinsi
det hevest
ryofoneoft hechur
chesi
nwhichtheystaged
drama.Whatasacr i
lege!

Theirminist
rat
ionsweresof r
uit
ful
,butwhatabouttheembar
rassmentcaused
bythissupposedbrother?Goddoesnotwanttheintegr
it
yandtheimageofthe
ministr
yHegaveust obet ar
nished.So,Hemusttestustoremovethefakes
bef
or egivi
ngvict
orygaloret
othegenuinemini
ster
s.

i
v)GodHat
est
hePr
oud
I
nasmuchasGodi
seageral
wayst
odousgoodi
nourmi
nist
ri
es,
Hewi
llnot

23
compr omiseHisst andard.We,dr amagr oupmember sandchur chworkers
needt oobeyourl eaders.Ther eisnol eaderinanycapacitywi t
houtGod
knowingabouti t
.So, Godpl acesourl
eader st
hereforourpr
otect
ion.Weneed
toloyall
yfoll
ow them,notbecauseoft heirper
sonali
ti
esbutbecauseoft hei
r
posit
ion.Theyarehel daccount abl
ebeforeGodf oreachofus.Therefor
e,our
obediencetothem isineffectobedi
encetoGod.

Goddoesnotcal lusi ntoourmi nist

riestobechall
engingourl eader sonever y
steptheyt ake.Suchconf rontati
onweakenst hest r
engthoft hef ormidable
dramagr oups.Ifmaj ori
tyoft hemember shavethi
sspi r
it
, i
tistheeasi estway
forthedevi ltoscat terthegr oup.Though,t hosethatwer echal lengingt he
authori
tyofourl eaderandt her ati
onalebehindsomedeci sionsbei ngt aken
wereinmymi nistrywithi
nt hefirsteightyear
sofi t
sest abli
shment ,butt hey
wereinmi nori
ty.TheLor dedgedt hem outoneaf t
ertheot hertil
ltheywer eall
gone.Thepai nfulaspectofi tallisthatthesepeopledeceivedsomei nnocent
brethr
en,whoal sowentwi t
ht hem.

Igottoknowt hrought
hesepeoplet
hatthespir
itofpr
ideandteachabl
espiri
t
arecontrar
ytoeachot her
.Whil
espir
itofpr
idesowsdi scor
dhereandt her
e,
teachabl
espir
itcompli
eswithl
eader
’sdir
ect
ives.Thetwoarerepl
icaofgoats
andsheep.

Have you noticed t hatwhen some dr ama group member s ar e being

commendedf ort heeffectoftheirperf
ormanceonst ageori nfi
lm,insteadof
givi
ngGodthegl ory,theywilljustsay“Thankyou,anotheroneiscomi ngthat
willbemorepower fulthant hat”.Suchpeopl ehaveputt hemselvesi nthe
posit
ionoft
hegi verofthemessage.Wher eas,

“
TheLordgavetheword(message)
:gr
eati
sthehostoft
hosewhobor
ethe
t
idi
ngs”
.Psal
m 68:11RSV.

Thoughthemessagel
ift
supthemessenger
,het
oomustal
wayshumbl
e
hi
mselfundert
hemi
ght
yhandofGod.

Apar
tf r
om t
hefactthatGodtaughtusf r
om thebegi nningtoascri
beallglor
yt o
Himforever
yachievementofourlif
e, weal
sodi scoverourimperfect
ionalways.
Wef ast,wepraybef or
eanddur i
ngeachdr amami nist
rati
on,yetwemake
mist
akesont hestage.Thesemi stakeswereneverdel i
berat
e;infactithurts
whoevermakes such mi stakes.Itwas al so painfultot hose ofus t hat

24
wit
nessedi torhearditfrom thebackstageasthecasemi ghtbe.But,despi
te
ourinadequaciesori nadvert
entmi st
akes,theLordmovesi nt hewayst hat
beatouri magi nat
ion.Themyst eryt hereisthatwhen theseunintenti
onal
mistakeshappenedmor ewer ethetimest heLor dmovedmostt oconvict
peopleofsins,ofri
ghteousnessandofj udgement.Wewit
nessedsalvati
onand
del
iverancegalorewhent hi
ngshappenedl iket
hisonst
age.

Mydi scoveryont hi
sisthatHeshowsthatHei st heonedoingitHi
msel f
.The
signs,wonders,revi
val
,salvat
ionanddel
iverancewer enotourhandi
wor k,but
His.So,iti
snotbyourpowerorbyourmi ghtbutbyHi sspi
ri
t.Hedecreasesus
byt heseexperienceswhileHekeepsoni ncreasinginus.Glorybet oHi m
forever
.

v)Test sbri
ngsust omaturi
ty
Maturity here means ful
ldevel opment ,consist
entgrowthtoful
lness in
ministeri
alexperi
ence.Inotherwor ds,itmeansbei ngmenandnotbabesi n
thethingsofGod.Thisisthekindofgr owththatmakesadramamini
sterstand
shoulderhighi nthemi dstofconf usi
ngsituati
on,per
sonalandminist
erial
tur
bulentdaysanddur ingminist
erialuncert
aint
ies.

Atti
mes, t
hedevi
lmaywantt osi
detr
ackorsidel
ineus.Atsucht
imes,
iti
sthe
exper
iencewehavegainedfrom t
hepastteststhatwil
lhelpustosi
tdown,
prayandponderonwhattodo.

Iforonehavepassedt
hrought
hef
urnaceofl
acks.So,
Icansayl
ikePaulwho
said,

“Iknowbot hhowtobeabased,andIknowhowt
oabound:ever
ywher
eandin
allt
hingsIam inst
ruct
edbot
ht obeful
landt
obehungr
y,botht
oaboundand
tosufferneed”
.Phi
l4:12.

Inmyf amil
y,t
hereweredayswedi dnoteateventhoughwewerenotfasti
ng.
Eachofusi ntheminist
rywasaffect
edbyt helackswewentthroughduring
ourminist
eri
alwil
der
ness.Butsomeofuswer eser i
ousl
yaf
fect
edthanothers
becauseofthesi
zeofeachfamil
ythen.

TheLor dall
owedthishardshi
pinordertotestusl
ikeHedidconcerni
ngthe
I
sraeli
tesi
nt hewi
lderness.I
twasthenweknewwhat“ manna”i
s.‘
Manna’is
whateveryouseeyoueat .Somet
imes,itcouldbeasingl
etypeoffoodfora

25
week,
amont
horevent
hreemont
hs.I
treal
lyhappenedt
ousl
iket
his.

Upt i
ll1997,t
hereweremont hsIcouldnotaf
fordtogivemyel destsonwho
att
endedsecondar yschoolatadistanceofaboutfivekil
omet er
sfrom our
houseN10t ranspor
tat
ionfar
edail
y.Hence,heusedtot r
ekbotht oandfro.I
t
wasdur i
ngthisti
mesatancamewi t
hthescri
ptur
alpassageinITimothy5:8.

“Buti
fanyprovi
denotforhi
sown,andespeci
all
yfort
hoseofhi
sownhouse,
hehathdeni
edthef
ait
handi swor
sethananinfi
del
”.

Whent hi
spassagebegant ocomeint
omyhear tever
ytimeasIwasseei
ngt he
l
acksi nmyfamily,sadnessanddepressi
onoverwhelmedme.Iwasweeping
withi
nmyhear t.Iwentt oGodi nprayers.I
twasdur ingoneoft
hepr ayer
sessi
onstheHolySpiri
tspoketomyhear t
.

Hesaid,“whocall
edyou?’Youar
e,wasmyreply.Heal
sosai
d,“di
dn’
tHeknow
Ihadf amil
ybeforeHecalledme?”Isai
dsure,youknew,Lor
d.Het her
efor
e
al
layedmyf ear
.Hesaid,

“Thi
syourwif
eandchi l
drenarenomor edependingonyou.WhenIcal
ledyou,
Ihavecal
ledthem indi
vidual
ly.So,t
heyhavet olookuntomeandnotunt o
youasaperson.Yourli
feisinmyhandandt heir
salso”
.

Mybel oved,thatwaswhenIknewi twast hedevilwhowasusi ngthatpassage

toattackme.Ther eandt henIhadpeace.Somet imes,laterwhenIr eadt hi
s
Phili
ppians4:12,IunderstoodwhatApost lePaulwast alkingabout.Because
I’
vepassedt hroughthi
sexper i
enceandt heLor dhascomf or t
edme, It
heref
ore
knowt hatthisGodcansavemeandpr ovideforme.Andi fHedecidesnott o,
forar easonbestknownt oHi m,Iwi llnotcompr omisemycal li
ngf orany
reasonwhat soever
.Thi
sist hematurit
ywear etal
kingabout .

Toleavethel
evelwherewet akemi l
kt oeatingsoli
dfoodandevendevel
opt o
mini
sterswhocrackspi
ri
tualandmi nister
ialbones,wemustfacedi
ver
setests
fr
om thecapt
ainofoursal
vation.Testisourspirit
uali
nocul
ati
onwemustt ake
fr
om God.

Somepeopl ewereboughtverycheapbymen,bysat anorbysel

f-ambi
ti
on
becausetheydidnotknow thewort
hoftheircal
li
ng.Buti
fweall
ow Godto
tr
ainus,oureyeswi
llbeopenedt
othequal
it
yofwhatHecall
susint
o.Thi
swill

26
consequentlyenhanceourcommi t
mentt othiscour se.Imustsay,wepassed
through dif
ferentkindsofhar dt i
mesi nt hismi nistr
y.But,allwepassed
throughcannotbecompar edtothegoodnessofGodwear enowexperiencing.
These include spi r
it
ualand physi calbl essings and most i mpor tantl
y,
aboundingtest i
moniesofsalvati
on,deli
verance,revivalandrecommit
mentet c.
thatispour i
ngi nfrom vari
ousquar ters.Al
lt hesehar dt i
mesdevelopedour
capacit
yt oresistal
lsortofungodli
nessi nl
if
eandmi ni
stry.

Thestandardofthegoodl andGodpreparedf
ortheI
sraeli
teswor t
ht herigour
theywentthrough.Therearealwayspri
zestopayforhighlypreciousthings.
Yourgroupisverypreci
ousbeforeGod.Yourcal
li
ngisofagr eatvalue.Hence,
Goddemandst otalsacr
if
icefr
om you.

Fai
thi nthisGodwear edeali
ngwi t
hwi l
lassistusgr eat
lytopassourt ests.
Thef aith ofthespi eswast ested.Thef ai
th ofthet wenty-t
wo thousand
warri
ors ofGi deon was also test
ed.Gehazi ’sfai
thi n hisleaderand hi s
compet encet odiscernti
meswer et est
ed.Yourf ait
hshal lbet est
ed;your
obedi
enceshal lbetestedandyourcompet enceshal
lpasst hr
ought hefur
nace
ofGod’st est
.2King2:12-18,Phil2:12.

Apartfrom alltheseki ndoft est

sIhavementi
oned,ther
ear estor
ms,which
bell
owsmi ni
stri
es.Itusuall
yblowswhenadramagr ouporminist
ryi
scr
ossing
tohigherl evelofoper ati
on.WheneverJesusChristaskedHi sdi
sci
plesto
crossovert otheotherside,therewer
eragi
ngstor
ms, whicht
heLordall
owed.
Thisissti
llpartofthetests.

Asl ongaswear eint hi

sbusinessofsnatchingmenf r
om helltoheaven
thr
ough our God-gi
ven minist
ri
es,testi
ng conti
nues.Ther
efore,pr
epare
everydayf
orGod’
stest
s,beiti
nthesecretori
ntheopen.

CHAPTERTHREE

PECULI
ARPROBLEMSOFMEMBERS

Thereisthespir
itofleader
shipandthereisthespiri
toffol
lowershi
p.Theyare
God’sgif
ts.Eveninheaventhereishier
archy.Divi
neorderexist
sintheheaven
too.Asi
desetsofeldersinheaven,t
hereareleadersamongt heangel
sofGod.

27
Nevertheless,human fl
esh wor ks againstt
he spir
itand vice versa.Thi
s
coupledwi thdail
ychallengesandenvi r
onmentalci
rcumstancesthatcause
prevalentprobl
emst oconfronteverydramagroupmember .Theout comewill
bedet erminedbytheforti
tudewi t
hwhichwehandl etheseprobl
ems.Someof
thesepecul i
arpr
oblemsar ethese:

a)I
nferi
ori
tycompl ex
Thi
si sacanker worm whichcandemoral
ize,di
str
actandsidet
rackChr
ist
ian
workersandmi nist
ers.I
tcanpushpeopleawayf r
om theperf
ectwil
lofGod.
Sat
anusest hi
sspi r
itasheusespr
idef
orus.

Manydramaandmusi cgroupmember sthinktheyarepl ayi

ngsecondfiddl
e
j
ustbecausetheyarenotleader
s.Weshoul dnotfeelinfer
ioratal
l.I
tisnot
bei
ngamemberoral eaderthatisimportantbuttoset t
leforwhattheLord
cal
ledusfor
.Thati
sthemostimportantr
easonf orourli
ving.

Iknew two membersofdr amagroupswho l eftt

hei
rdr
amami ni
str
iesto
becomeleadersi
nthei
rvari
ousmini
str
ies.Ibel
ievet
heymusthavethoughti
t
wasfool
ishnesst
obesati
sfi
edasgroupmember s.

Thefi
rstwi
thdr
ewt ohimselfbef
orehelef
twhilet
hesecondmemberbecamea
thr
eattohi
sownl eader
.Eachofthem wentaheadtoestabl
isht
hei
rowngr
oup.
Theyhavenotsucceededmuchi nmini
str
yeversince.

WhoeverleaveswheretheLor
dcovenant
edhimtobebecauseofanyr eason
whatsoeverisleavi
ng t
hepresenceofGod l
ikeJonah.Such advent
ureis
dangerous.

Secondly,inf
eri
ori
tycomplexcoul
dcomeasar esul
tofonesi nabil
it
ytodo
somet hings.Orbecausewearenotinthelevelorstandar
dwet hingweare
supposedt obe.Thesuccessorabi l
it
yofanot hergroupcoul
dbeusedby
satantointi
midateandweakenusfr
om per
formingourGodgiventasks.

Someyear sago,Iwasheavi
lyatt
ackedbyi nfer
iori
tycompl ex.Iwassur eGod
call
edmei ntodramamini
str
y.Iknewhowdeepl yIwasi nvolvedinotherarms
ofthemi nist
rysuchast heInst
itute,Pri
nti
ngandPubl ication,Li
braryand
CorrespondenceandCounseli
ng.Yet,becauseIwasbei nggi venminorrolesto
playinthest agedramaandfil
msoft heminist
ry,thedevilusedt hi
st otaunt
meal ot
.Het oldmethatt
hisministr
yisdramami ni
str
y.Thati stosay,drama

28
i
smaj orandot herarmsar eminor
.Hesai dser i
esofot herunspeakabl
eand
unpri
ntabl
ethingstomyhear t.Heevenpoi ntedmyat tenti
ontot hebret
hren
whojoinedthemi ni
str
ylat
erwhower egi
venmaj orrol
estoplay.Satanwasso
consi
stentwit
ht hisatt
ackinthisdir
ect
ionf oraboutsevenyear s.Hewoul d
l
eaveforaseasononl ytocomebackagain.Itallcametot hecl
imaxin1998.

Hismai nai m wast omakemei nfer

iortomycol l
eaguesandt herebyboltoutof
themi nistry.Imustconf essthathisonslaughtreal
lyhitme.It hanktheLor d
whohel pedmet odr aw enoughst rengt
ht ostayint hemi nist
ry.Withever y
boldness, Icansayi tisnott hemagni t
udeofwhatonedoesi nt hemi ni
strythat
count,rather ,i
t’
sbeingwher eGodwant sapersontobet hatr eall
ymat t
ers.If
yourassi gnmenti nthevi neyardisconnectedtoor angef r
ui tsonly,t
heLor d
mayor deryout obepi ckingtheorangewhi l
eothersar eassi gnedtoeitherbe
plucki
ngt heor angeorcar r
yingthoseyougat heredwi ththei rbasket
st ot he
barn.Thoughyouar easkedt oworki nconnecti
onwi thor ange,know wher e
youshoul df unctionlestyoubepl uckingorangeswhenyoushoul dbecar rying
thosepluckedandgat hered.

“
Paulpl
anted,Apol
loswater
ed,butiti
sGodthatgavet
hei
ncrease….Nowhe
t
hatpl
ansandhet hatwater
sareequalandeverymanshal
lreceivehi
sown
r
ewardaccordi
ngtohisownlabour”
.ICor
.3:6-8.

Bewel li
nformedlestyouencr
oachonanot
herman’
sland,whi
chwi
llyi
eldno
heavenlydivi
dend.

Noneofusknew t hatitwasaphaset hatwillsooncomet opass.AllGodis

doingnowi nourmini
strybygi
vingeachofusper mi
ssiont owrit
eandproduce
movieswer enotknownt oust
hen.Ifyoual l
owt hedevilt
oi nt
imidat
eyouwith
yourpresentcondi
ti
on,hemayaswel ldr i
veyouawaybef oreyourfut
uregl
ory
comes.

ThatAsstheLordrodetoJerusal
em didnotknowt hathisdayofgl or
ywould
come,when he would carrythe King ofkings.Though he di dn’tknow
ever
ythi
ngbutheenduredt heshameofbei ngtieddown.Thepaydaysur el
y
came.He mar ched majesti
cal
ly on cl
othes and pal
m l eaves which hi
s
gener
ati
onneverhadsuchopportunit
yeit
herbeforeoraf
terhim.

Thir
dly,inf
erior
it
ycompl
exmakes peopl
einthe mini
strycl
amourforthe
posi
tion which i
snotmeantf
orthem.Heaven r
ecognizesourobedi
ence,

29
commi t
mentandsacr if
icestot hecourseofthegospelwhenwedot hesein
God’sperfectwi
ll
.Themi nist
erswhoar ei
gnorantofthi
ssimplefactclamour
forl
eadershipposit
ionintheirchurches,mini
str
iesorassoci
ati
ons.Theyar e
l
ikeJamesandJohn,t hesonsofZebedee,whodi dnotknow t hatevery
posit
ionintheLord’
svineyardisforthosewhom ithasbeenpr
epared.Mar k10:
35-40.

Whenthesetwoover -
ambi
ti
ousbr
other
smadet
hei
rrequest
,theLor
dsai
d
poi
ntbl
anktothem t
hat

“
…buttositonmyrighthandandonmyl ef
tisnotmi
ne(myri
ght
)togi
ve;but
i
tshal
lbegivent
othem forwhom i
tispr
epared”
.Mar
k10:40.

Tryi
ngt oat
tai
nthepositiontheLordhasnotpr eparedforusistantamountto
ci
rcumventi
ng one’
sf ell
ow.Thi sisnothing than usurpat
ion ofpower.No
usurperwil
lgoscot -
freef r
om God’swr ath.Whi l
ebei ngcommi tt
edt othe
minist
ryGodhasputyoui nto,wai
tpati
entlyforthetimeofyourr eward.I
tis
Godal onet
hatcandeterminetheti
ming.

WhenIj oinedthismi nist

ryIneverdr eamtofcoordinatingorleadinganysub-
groupinthemi nist
ry.But,betweent heti
meIenteredi ntoful
l-t
imei n1989and
todayIgiveglorytotheLor df orHi
sgoodnessi nmyl ife.Hehadchosenmet o
head various sub-gr oups atdi f
ferentoccasions.The l it
tle exper
ience I
gather
edmakesmeknowt hatHemakesever yt
hingbeaut if
ulatHisownt ime.

(b)Impatience
In1988and1989wewer ehi ghl
ybusyonst age,act ingdr ama.Har dlywas
thereanyweekendwhenwedi dnothaveatl eastfourdr amami nistr
ations.
Therewer eweekendswehadonedr amami ni
strat
iononFr i
dayevening, t
woor
threeonSat urdayandt woort hreeonSundaydependi ngont hedist
anceoft he
venueofsuchmi nistr
ationst oeachot her.Thi
sbusyst agedr amaengagement
graduatedwi thust ofull-ti
me.I twasasi fal
lwewoul dbedoi ngthroughout
ourmi nisteri
alli
feti
mewi llbeact ingdr amaonst ageonl y.Justi maginea
minist
rywhost ageddr amaf orabout28dayswi thi
namont h.Wehadi tlike
thatinKano,Jos,Zar ia,Kaduna,War r
i,Beninandvi rtual
lyal lt
hest atesi n
South-West ernpartofNi geri
a.

Abrotheramongstuskeptonaski ngifthatwast
hewaywewoul dbegoi
ng
aboutforli
fe,f
all
ing down and str
aini
ng our
sel
veson st
age.Weallsaw

30
our
sel vesasChr ist
ian Travel
li
ng Theat
re.Noneofuscoul d gi
vehim any
sat
isfactoryansweraswewer eallmovingwi t
htheLordbyf ait
h.Weall
bel
ievedGodwoul dgiveusagoodf ut
urebutt
owhatextent
,wedidnotknow.
Thebr othercoul
dnotwai tpati
entl
ytoseewhattheLor
dwoulddo.

Beforeheleft
,twootherar msoft hemini
str
ywereri
singl
ikeaman’shandthat
appearedtoPr ophet
- Eli
jah’sser
vant
.TheLordisst
il
lexpandi
ngthearmsand
other
st hatspr
angupl ater.Wearenowgetti
ngbusi
erinmanyotherarmsthan
i
nst agedr amami nistrati
ons.Though,westil
lgoonst agebecauseiti
san
i
ndispensablearm ofever ydramaminist
ry.

Thewayourmi nist
rymetamorphosedfrom it
si ncept
iont i
lldat
ecouldbe
l
ikenedtotheIsrael
it
esj
ourneyfrom EgypttothePr omisedLand.TheLord
commandedt hem togot
hreedays’jour
neyintothewi l
dernesstosacr
if
icet
o
Him.Ex.3:18.

Itwast hesamej ourneythatlandedt hem ont heverysoiloft hei

rdestiny.
Jehovahi ncr
easedthem ast heypressedon,ont hei
rjourneywi thHim.He
gave them the wil
derness,Lebanon,and as f aras the greatr i
ver,River
Euphrates.Healsogavet hem allt
hel andoft heHitti
testot heGr eatSea
towardthegoingdownoft hesunast heirt
err
it
ory.Josh.1:4.Hedi dnotreveal
theseblessi
ngstothem inEgypt.

Todat e,t
heLor dhashelpedustopr oduceabout100movi esint hemini
str
y
asideotherassignment
sandr ai
singofdisci
plesi
nt heareaofourcalli
ng.All
thesewedi dn’
tknowthen.TheLord,wil
lbeunfol
dingHisplansforusbitbybit
aswemovewi thHiminf ai
thandobedi ence.Hewant sust obel i
evethe
greatnessandexpansionofwhathecommi t
stouswi thoutseeinganythi
ng
yet.Hesaid,

“
Blessedar
etheyt
hathavenotseen,
andyethavebel
ieved”
.John20:29.

Manyar enotpatientenought oseewhatt heLor dwil

ldo.Manywhoshoul d
wor koutt
heirsal
vat i
onwithfearandtrembli
ngasmember s;arenownursing
theambi t
ion ofbecomi ng l
eadersoft hisort hatmini
stry.Theyar eboth
dreaminganddesiringtobeleaders.Thesemember sandmi ni
stersmusthave
forgot
tenthatwear eallcl
ayinthehandofGod,whoi sThePor ter
.Ourmotto
shouldbe“ Thywillbedone,ohLor d”.Ifhel
ikes,Hecanputusi nanyother
positi
on.I
ti snotour stofashionoutanypl acementforour sel
ves.Rel
ease

31
your
sel
ftoGod.Donotl
aunchyour
sel
fout
.Hewi
llr
aiseyouupi
nduet
ime.

Thosewhoar enotpati
entenoughtobegoodfollowersarenevergoodleaders.
Whoeveristoobi gtobel edisalsotoosmal ltolead.Andanybodywhose
ambiti
onistobecomel eaderwil
lneverseeanyr easontopasst hr
ought he
schoolofdi
scipl
eshi
p.Therefor
e,t
heyarehal
f-bakedmi ni
ster
s.

Friend,ifyouar eponderingonwhet hertoboltoutf rom thepresentmi ni

str
y
youar eandestabl
ishanot her
,becar
efullestt
hedevi ldeceiveyoutothinkiti
s
thecheapwayoutofwhatyouar epassingthr
ough.I nsteadofittosolvewhat
yout hi
nkisapr oblem now,itwil
lcompoundi t.Satanusessucht houghtsto
distractandder ai
lsomef rom t
hecour seoffulf
il
li
ngt hemi ni
str
ytheyhave
receivedi ntheLor d.LetGodmakeyouwhatHewant st omakeyou.The
agendaofourl ivesareinHi shand.Heist heonewhocanunf oldthi
s,it
em by
it
em.

David’
smendi dnotcravet obeki
ng,yett
heybecamemi ght
yandthei
rfame
spr
eadabr oadli
kethef ameofanypopularkingyoucanthi
nkof.I
fyouare
pat
ientenoughi
nHispr esence,
youwil
lbesurpri
sedwhenHepromot
esyou.

c)NeglectingSt ewardship
Responsibili
tymustwor khandi nhandwithaccount abil
it
y.Concealedfact
s
andf i
guresbr eedguessi ngandr umour
.Manyar mour -bearer
sdonotcount
stewardshipsoi mportant.Hence,t
heyhar
dlygivedet ai
lexplanat
ionofthei
r
deali
ngs t o t heirl eaders. When our group leader commi ts certai
n
responsibi
lit
iest oourcar e,i
tisourdut
ytolettransparentaccountabi
li
tybe
ourwat chwor d.

Oneper t
inentthingcommont ousinthemi nist
ryisthatmajori
tyofthepeople
thatr
elatewi t
hTheMountZi onFaithMinistr
iesInt’
larenotknownphysi cal
ly
bymyPr esi
dentandhiswi fe.Eachofushassomepeopl ewecomei ncontact
withi
nt hecour seofdischargingourGod-givendutiesinthemi ni
str
y.Butwe
makesur ewer eportal
lthattranspi
rebet
weenusandt heotherpar
tyindetai
ls
toourleaders.

WhatIdiscover
edist
hataswegi vethem t
hesefeedbacksfr
om ti
met ot
ime,it
givesmyleaderandhiswifetheri
ghtconfi
denceinus.Properaccount
abil
it
y
bymember soneveryresponsi
bil
it
ydelegatedbyt heleader
,pavewayf or
accept
abil
it
y.Thosewhoarenotawar eoft
hei mport
anceofaccount
abil
it
yli
ve

32
casual
ly,becomeindi
ff
erentandnegl
ectproperfeedback.Thi
scausesser
ies
offr
ict
ionandrancori
nmanydr amagroups,mini
stri
esandchurches.

Thereisnodoubtt hatmanyf ol
lowersaredoingexcellentjobsinthear easof
thei
rresponsibil
it
ies.Theyseewhatt heyaredoingasser vicesuntoGod.So,
they do allassi gnmentsf ait
hfull
y.But,we shoul d notf or
gett hatour
fai
thf
ulnessuntoGodi si
ncompl et
e,inthi
scase,exceptwer outeitt
hroughour
l
eaders.Thatmeans,wemustbeconst rai
nedt opleaseourl eaderst oo.I
beli
evet heprinci
ple,whi chappliestolovei nIJohn4:20al soappl iesto
accountabi
li
ty.Thepr i
nciplei
s

“….het
hatl
ovesnothi
sbr ot
herwhom hehasseen,howcanhecl
aimt
olove
Godwhom hehasnotseen”.

Thesimpl
elogicher
eis,weareaccountablet
oourleadersasmuchaswear
e
toGod;f
ortheyar
eGod’srepr
esentat
ivesinourmi
nistr
ies.

Iknowofadr amagr oupmemberwhosel eadergaveanassi gnmentt o.Dur i

ng
thecour seofdischar gi
ngt hedutiesassignedtohi m,heputhi sleaderi nthe
darkonwhathehasdoneandt hoset hatwereyett obecompl et
ed.Inf act,hi
s
Presidenthadtobesear chingforhim,justtogetenoughi nformation.Whenhe
explainedthi
stome, Itoldhimf r
anklythatwhathedi dwasnotgoodatal l.We
shouldnotbecar riedawaybywhat evergoeswr ongbyanymeans,butwe
shouldbearitinmi ndt hatheistheonewhodel egatedthisandaut horit
yt ous..
Hence,wear ebound t ol ethim know al lthei ntr
icaci
esi nt hedut i
eshe
delegatedtous,else,hef eel
sbetrayed,becauseouract i
onmusthaver ipped
upt heconf i
dencehehasi nus.Hence,t rustisl ostandhi strustinusi s
shattered.

Somet i
mes,thef eedbacksmusti ncl
udeeverydet ailoffact
sandf i
gures.All
thesear etheblockswedouset obuildthewallofourcor por
ateminist
ri
es.No
mat terhow saintlyourleaderis,ifwehoardi nf
or mationheissupposedt o
knowconcer ni
ngouri nvolvementwit
hpeopleasr elatestoourgr
oupsorot her
i
nter nalassi
gnment s,i
twi l
lhavenegat i
verepercussiononourr elat
ionship
withhi m.Mostespeci all
ywheni tcomestot hei ssueofassigningf ur
ther
duties.

Duti
esofspiri
tuali
mport
ancear
edel
egatedtothosewecant r
ust.Thi
sis
becauseoft
her i
ski
nvol
vedwhenwemist
akenl
yengagedevi
l’
scoll
abor
ator
s

33
i
nt hekingdom ser
vice.TheLor dJesusChristevensai d,hewhogavepr oper
accountonhow het radedwi thfi
vetal
entswasgi venaddit
ionalt
alent
s;he
worthtobegivenadditionalt
alent
sbecausehepr ovedtobedependable.

Likewi se,weshoul dl etourleader sdependonus;Toachi evethisi snotaday’s

job.I thast obeagr adualpr ocess.I thast obecont i
nual.Ourconsi st
ent
transpar entaccount abilit
ywillenablet hem reposeconf
idencei nus.Thi sgoes
al ongwayt opr omot eandenl argethescopeofourgr oup.Ourl eadercannot
singlehandedl ycarryoutal lthedut i
eswi thinthegroup.Butheneedst he
peopl ehemustdel egat ehisaut hori
tytoandi tmustbethosehecant rust
.Are
youamongt hebr ethr enyourl eadercant rust?Lethi
shear tsafelytr
ustinyou.
Thi sisoneoft hemosti mpor tantwayst oenj oyourmi nist
erialstayandt o
makeourmi nist
rypr ogr ess.

d)TheEr r
orofGehazi
Anothersetofmember sandassociat
eswhocauset r
oubleinthei
rmini
str
ies
arethosewhot hi
nkorf eelt
heyknow bett
ert
hant heirleader
s.Theyar
et he
goat
si nthemi dstofsheep.Suchpeopl
efomenttroubleswithi
nthegr
oupand
gi
vet heoutsi
derswr ongimpressi
onaboutt
hegroup.

Weal lknow t
hestoryofarmourbearerofPr
ophetEl
isha,cal
ledGehazi
,and
whathedi dwhenhi sleaderr
eject
edthegift
sofNaaman.Thepar ti
cul
ar
thought-
li
nesofhis,whichiscommonamongdr amagr oupmembersthese
daysisfoundin2Kings5:20.

“ButGehazi,theservantofEli
sha,themanofGod,sai d,Behol
d,mymaster
hathsparedNaamant hi
sSyr i
an,innotrecei
vingathi
shandsthatwhi
chhe
brought
;but ,astheLordliveth,Iwil
lrunafterhim,andtakesomewhatof
him”.

WhatwereadaboutGehazishowedt heex-r
ayofhi sheart.I
tshowedhowhe
t
ooktheacti
onofhisleader
.Iti
sapi ct
ureofthehear tofmanydramagroups
memberstoday,t
hewivesoftheleader
sincl
usive,becausetheyaremeantto
f
oll
owthei
rhusbands,
sincether
ecannotbetwomast ersinaboat.

Thescr i
ptur
emakesmet oknowthatGodseest hemanast hel
eaderandas
theonewhowi l
lbeaccountabl
eforeveryact
ionandinact
ioninthemi ni
stry
thattheLordcommitt
edt ohim.Therol
eofthewi f
eofEl
iwasnotment ioned.
Asf arasGodisconcerned,
nomat t
erhowknowledgeabl
eorspiri
tualt
hewi fe

34
thi
nkssheis,i
ftheLordmakesthehusbandtheleaderofthatmi
nist
ry,
iti
sthe
l
eaderthatwillbeart
heconsequencesofwhat everhappens.Theexcuseof
Adam neverchangedGod’
sstandonthisdi
vinepri
ncipl
e.

MaybeGehazithoughtheknew morethanElisha.Het hereforeechoedi

nhi
s
hear
tthus“mymast eri
stoosoft,heshoul
dnothaveal lowedt hi
smantogo
wit
hallhebr
ought”.Thi
shear
tbeatofhi
scouldbei nt
erpreted,as–

“Mymast eriswrong.Iam wiserthanhim.Hecouldnotseethisasagood

oppor t
unitywemustgr ab.Myleadermadepovert
ypartofhismini
str
y.Iwil
l
notlethi sill
-l
uckaff
ectme.Ifwedonotsei zet
hisopport
unit
y,wecannot
makei tinlif
e.Hedoesnotevencareaboutmywelfar
e.Aft
erall
,i
fhedoesnot
wanti tforhimsel
fwhydi dhenotcol l
ecti
tformysake?Hei snottheonly
persont hatknowsthewaysofGod,Ial sodo.Hecannotcajol
emewi thany
spi
rituali
ty”.

Gehazitookthatnast
ydeci
sionbecausehefor
gotthathewasnotinGod’s
counci
ltoknowwhattheLor
dhadt ol
dHispr
ophet.Hewasavi
cti
m ofpr
ide.

Atti
mes,ourleadermaytakesomest epsorr efuset
ot akesomest epswit
hout
bei
ngabletosupporthisdecisi
onwithconcreteexplanati
on.But,
thatdoesnot
meantheLordi snotl
eadinghiminthatdir
ect i
on.Between1989and1992, the
Lordhadsti
rr
edupmyspi ri
tandgivenmet heinspir
ationtowrit
ethefoll
owing
booksint
omanuscr i
pts.

WhattoknowaboutGod,Chr
istandRel
igi
on
I
setimofunose(Locall
anguage)
BeofGoodcheer
.

Towar dstheendof1992, Iapproachedmypr esi

dentforpermissi
ont opubl i
sh
them;hesai dIshoul dnotpublishanyoft hem.Iobeyed.Shor t
lyafterthat,
the
Lordgavemesomet i
tl
est owrit
eonagai n.Itwasasi fIwoulddieifIrefuseto
compl y.I
twast henIwr ote“God'sHeart
-Cr y”and“ Sat
anicStr
ategiesExposed” .
Ieven wentas f aras t ypesetti
ng the f i
ve books.Af t
erwards,Ipr ayed
concer ni
ngitspubl i
cati
onknowi ngful
lywel lthatitwasGodwhogaveme
thesemessagescoupl ed with manyt esti
moni esIhear df r
om t hosewho
wor kedontheircorrect
ions.

Iwentt
oshowmypr
esi
dentt
hesescr
ipt
sagai
ninDecember1997.Het
ookt
he

35
typesetcopi
esfrom me;hecheckedt hroughonthespotandgavethem back
tome.If i
xedmyeyesonhi minanticipat
ionofwhathewouldsay.Hel ooked
atmeand sai d hedi d notseeanyr eason whyIshould notpubl
ish the
mat er
ial
s.It
hankedhim andlef
tformyhouse.

Hesentf ormet henextday.WhenIgott ohi m hesaid,“Don’

tattemptt o
publi
sh t hose books” .The deviltr
ied to att
ack my heartthr
ough it.He
remindedmeofal ltheri
gourIpassedthroughoneachoft hemessagesint he
books.Hepoi ntedmyat tent
iontothebattl
eIfoughtbef
oreIcouldsucceedt o
recei
veundi lutedmessagesf rom Godandhoweachoft hebooksr eal
lyhelped
myspi r
itualgr owth.Though,Iwassadwhent heset
houghtscamel i
keaf l
ood,
butIdetermi nedtoobeymyl eader
.

Itwassomedaysaf t
ert hi
si ncidencethattheHol ySpiri
tsatmedown
overnighttoexplai
nsomet hingst omewhi chreli
evedmeofever ybur
den
concer ni
ngit.TheLordaskedi fIwasnotbei ngblessedduri
ngthet
imeof
receivi
ng and writ
ing each oft he books.Ianswer ed t
hatIwas al
ways
tremendouslyblessedthrought hem andmanyot hertrut
hsHegavewhich
wer esolel
yformeatthet i
meofwr i
ti
ngthebooks.

Hemademer eal
izet
hatsuchmessageswer
egiventome,f
ir
standforemost
,
formyspir
it
ualand mini
ster
ialgrowt
h.Hesaid,oneoftheobject
ivesof
sendi
ngi
tdownhasbeenachieved.

Secondly,theLordsaidHewast heonewhogavet hemessages.I twasnotas

aresultofanyover -
ambiti
onormi ni
ster
ialdiversi
on;andt hatHewasal sothe
one thatst opped i
ts publ
icati
on through my Pr esident.He gave me t he
i
ll
ustrati
onofPaulwhowr otemanyt hingsagai nstcir
cumci si
on;butwhent he
Lordwant edt otesthisobedienceandsubmi ssi
on,Hemovedt heEldersin
Jerusal
em t otel
lhi
mt ogoforcircumcision(Acts21:17- 28)

Hewasarrest
edri
ghtint
hetemplewhilecircumci
sing,
butt
hemyst
eryofi
tal
l
i
swhathappenedaft
erhi
sdefenseatJerusalem.

“Thef
oll
owingnightt
heLor
dst
oodbyhim andsai
d;Takecour
age,forasyou
havetest
ifi
edaboutmeatJerusal
em,soyoumustbearwi tnessalsoat
Rome”.Act23:11.

TheLor
dsai
dtome,Hi
sst
andi
ngbyPaulshowedhehadnotsi
nnedby

36
obeyingtheEl
dersdespitehisful
l-knowl
edgeofwhatci r
cumcisi
onorun-
cir
cumcisi
onwasallabout .I
fPaulhadsinned,He,theLord,wouldnothave
stoodbyhim.Thisexplanati
onoftheHolySpiri
ttrulysankint
omyspi ri
t.I
t
real
lygavemetheconf
idencetoanswerSatan.

Ididnotraisethei
ssueanymor e.Buton2nd Febr
, uary2001,theseconddayof
thr
eedaysofmar at
honf ast
ingandpr ayersoft hi
smi ni
stry,myPr esi
dent
announcedt ousthatfourofusshouldpraytowrit
eabookeach, whichwould
bepublished.Mynamewasment i
onedasoneoft hefourbr et
hren.I
treal
ly
baff
ledmebecauseIwasnotexpect ingitatall
.

HaditbeenIhaddi sobeyed,i
tcouldhaveadverselyaff
ect
edmymi ni
steri
alli
fe,
mydestiny,
asawhol eandmysel f.Thevi
sionisforanappointedt i
me, waitf
or
i
t.Itwi
llsur
elycome.Donotpr ovet obewiserthanyourleader .Wheneverwe
thi
nkwear ewi serthant hepersont heLordhaschosent ol eadus,wear e
boundtoenterintosin.Gehazil
iedtoNaamanandal soli
edtot hemanofGod.
Whatbroughtthisaboutwast hethoughtheall
owedt ooverwhel m hi
m

“
Mymast
ershoul
dn’
thavel
ett
hisf
ell
owgetawaywi
thoutt
aki
nghi
sgi
ft
…”
2Ki
ngs5:20LB.

Gehazimustbewr ongi
fhethoughtthatGodshouldt
ellhim whet
heritist
ime
toreceivethi
ngsfrom Naamanornot .Whatwasexpectedofhim wast oabi
de
underhi sl
eaderbyhavingabsoluteconf
idenceint
heleadershi
pofEl
isha.I
fhe
hadt akenhisleadersdeci
sioningoodf ai
th,hewoul
dnothaver unintosuch
err
ort hatt
erminatedhismi
nister
iall
if
e.

Themomentwest epoutoft hei nstr

ucti
onordeci sionofourl eader,weare
going away f r
om God’ s protection meant f or our corporate minist
ry.
Disobeyingleader’
sdeci si
onsbr ingsspiri
tualleprosyonwhoeverf l
outssuch
decisions.Wemaynotsay,weknowmor ethanourl eader
s;butact i
oni ssai
d
tobel oudert
hanvoi ce.Inotherwor ds,weshoul dexami neourr esponseto
what evergoesoni nthemi ni
strywear easmember s.Thequestionweshoul d
all
ow t ocomet oourhear talwaysi s“DoIt akemyl eader’sdecisi
oni ngood
fai
th?OrIam j ustobeyingrel
uctant l
y?”

Thi
sGodwear
edeal
ingwi
thcheckst
hehear
tandwei
ghever
ymot
ive.Hesai
d,

“
I,t
heLor
dsear
cht
hehear
t,It
ryt
her
eins,event
ogi
veever
ymanaccor
ding

37
t
ohi
sways,
andaccor
dingt
othef
rui
tofhi
sdoi
ngs”Jer
emi
ah17:10.

TheGodwear eservi
nghadnotsupporteddi
sobedi
enceorappr
ovedr
ebel
li
on
atanyt
ime.Hewil
lneveracceptanyf
rom ust
oo.Bewarned.

Wecannotst opt hebir

df rom f l
yingint hesky,butwecanpr eventitfr
om
buildingitsnestonourheads.Li kewise,wecannotst opbot hgoodandevi l
thought sfrom comi ngtoourmi nds;butwecanbr ingever ythoughtunder
cont rol
.Learntot akeeveryt houghtcapt i
vetoobeyChr i
st.Ifwecontrolour
thought s,wewi l
lnotstr
ayawayf rom thepathofrighteousness.I fGehazihad
obeyedEl i
shawi thoutreservati
on,hecoul dhaveeat ent hef r
uitoffourfol
d
anoi nti
ngandt heblessi
ngsEl ishainherit
edfr
om Elij
ah.I nstead,hewentaway
beingal eperthroughouthisl if
eti
me.Mayt heLor dhel pusi nJesusname,
Amen.

e)Yiel
dingtothestorm ofdeviati
on
Dramami nister
scannotbutgett othiscruci
aljunct
iononourminister
ial
j
ourney.Deviati
onfr
om theoriginalcal
li
ngisoneofthemosti
mpor
tantatt
acks
ofSatanagainstdr
amaandmusi cminist
ri
es.

Ican countmany bel oved zeal

ous and commi tt
ed brethren in campus,
denominati
onaland independentdr ama and musi c minist
ri
es who wer e
ful
fi
ll
edinacti
ngdr amaorsi ngingli
fe-givi
ngsongs,butnowset tledforword
minist
rat
ionorpastori
ngchur ches.Someoft hem thateit
herhaddi scussi
on
wit
hmeorwi thotherMountZi onbrethrensai
dt heyarenowi nhighercall
ing.
Satandidnotl
etthem seeitasanat t
ackont heirori
ginalvi
sion.

Thisdeviati
oncouldcomewhent her
eisfrustr
ati
on,quarrelandconf usionor
whent heyareenjoyi
ngincr
ementinanointi
ngandf r
uit
fulness.Andi tcouldas
wel lcomeduringacutelacks.Thereisnol adderthedevi lcannotcl i
mbt o
attackdramaandmusi cminist
ers.Hismajoraimi stost opusf rom using
thesemaj oref
fect
iveweaponsofevangel
ism.Thebibli
cali l
lust
rati
ont heLord
broughttomyspi r
iti
sthecaseofLotasamemberofAbr aham’ steam.

“SoAbr
aham depar
ted,ast
heLor
dhadspokenunt
ohi
m;andLotwentwi
th
him”
.Gen.12:4.

Thei
ror
igi
nalvi
sionwast
ogot
otheCanaanl
and.Butt
heyhadt
opass

38
thr
ough var i
ous phases.They passed t hr
ough Sichem,pl ai
n ofMor eh,
mount ai
nont heeastofBethelandwestofHai .Al
loft hem passedthr
ough
famineandt het emptat
ionofEgyptt oget
her.Butwhent heywerebecoming
popular,
andt heirt
eam wascommandi ngtheatt
enti
onofpeopl e,
ther
ecamea
str
if
ebet weent heher
dsmenofAbr aham andLot.

IfLotwasfocusedontheori
ginalcall
ingofAbr
aham, asamemberoft heteam,
hewoul dnothaveall
owedthesituati
ontogetoutofhand.Heeventuallychose
theplainofJordan.Jor
danheremeansapl aceofvi si
on.El
ishareceivedhis
mant l
eatJor dan,andJesusChr isthadopenheavenatJor dan.Jor danis
alwaysaplaceofvisi
on,bei
tpositi
veornegati
ve.

“Lotl
if
teduphiseyes,andbehol
dallt
heplainofJor dan,t
hati
twaswell
water
ed ever
ywher
e,befor
ethe Lor
d dest
royed Sodom and Gomor
rah…”
Genesi
s13:10.

Allofusknewwhathappenedt ohim attheplainofJordan.Hewascapt ured

toget
herwiththepeopleofSodom andGomor rah.Though,Abraham waged
waragainstt he capt
orstorescue him,he event ual
lylosthis wife and
proper
ti
estotheruinati
onoft
hoseciti
esofsi n.Itmeans,al
lwhathet hought
hehadwhi chmadehi mtoseparat
ehi mselffrom Abraham peri
shedatt he
plai
nofJordan.

Atat i
mei nthehist
or yofourmi nistr
y,somemember swer eatt
ackedbyt he
devi
lwi ththeproblem ofgoi ng into anothervisi
on dif
fer
entf r
om drama
evangeli
sm.Itoowasat tackedbutnotover come,theLordhelpedmethrough.
Ital
lstart
edwithadr eam ofgoi ngt oIl
e-Olujii
nOndoSt at
et ostar
tachurch.
WhenIwokeup, Ij
ustwavedi toffthinki
ngthatitcanneverhappen.

Somedaysaft
er,asIwasr eadi
ngfr
om thebookofJer
emiahdur
ingmyquiet
ti
me,
IgottoJer.17:10andIheardf
rom wi
thi
nmethatthenameoft
heChapel
i
ssoandso.

Fewdayslat
er,arevival
istcamet othechur chofami nist
erfri
endver
ycloset o
myhouse.Beforetheweek- l
ongr evivalended,hecameacr ossthemanuscript
ofoneoft
het i
tl
esIhadwr it
ten.Afterreadingthrough,heenquir
edabouthow
hecoul
dlocateme.Thi spast orfr
iendbr oughthimt omyhouse.Heshar ed
howhewasbl essedt hr
ought hebookandt hroughMountZi onFil
ms.Later
,he
sai
ditwasimpr esseduponhi shear tt
ot el
lmet hatIshouldgoandsetupa

39
churchofmyown.Ithankedhi
m butalsot ol
dhimt
hattheLordcal
ledmeinto
ful
l-
timetowinsoul
sforhimthroughdr ama,andt
hatallot
hergi
ft
sofGodi n
mecanbeusedi nthi
ssamemi ni
stry.TheLordhelpedmet oresi
stthe
contrar
yvi
sion.

Dearreader,
Ithoughtt hiswashappeningtomeal one.Ididnotknowt hatthe
samest orm wasbl owingonsomeot hermember stoo.Abr otheramongus
evenleftourbaseatI le-I
fe,Sout
hwest er
nNi geri
at othenor t
hwi thinthat
peri
odwi t
houtinf
ormi nganyofushi smissiontothenor t
h.Itwasaf terhegot
ther
etheHolySpi r
itspoket ohimtogobackt ohisorigi
nalcalli
ng.IthankGod;
thebrot
herisstil
lverymuchi nthi
sdramami ni
strytoday,doingmi ghtythings
forGod.

Itookt i
met oprayerf
ull
ygobackt othebasis.Iref
lect
edonmycalli
ngsi nceHe
call
edmet of ul
l-
time.Imadesur eIdidnotr ushouttotakeuppastoraljob.I
resi
stedbyt aki
ngmyst and.I
twasaf tersomet i
meIst ar
tedheari
ngf rom
otherst hatsimil
arvisionscameacr osstheirwaysduringthissameper i
od.
Thepl oywast oscatterus.

Weshouldlearnt
oexami
neandrecheckourcall
ingal
ways,l
estsomet
hingor
somebodyelsedi
ver
tusf
rom t
heori
ginalcal
li
ngtheLor
dhasplaceduponour
l
ives.

Paulsai
d,“
ForChr
istsentmenott
obapt
ize,butt
opr
eacht
hegospel
…”ICor
.
1:17.

Baptism isgoodf orthoseChr i

sthassentt obaptize.Evangeli
stReinhard
Bonnke,t heGer manpr eacher,hast woslogans.Theyar e“Afri
cashallbe
saved”and“ ThebloodwashedAf rica”
.Thiswastheori
ginalvi
sionGodgavet o
himi n1973asami ssionaryinLesotho.ThoughaGer man,hemadesur ethe
ori
ginalvi si
on gui
ded him to staywi t
hintheconfi
neofAf ri
ca.Hehar dly
ministeredoutsi
deAfri
ca,becauseheknewhi sboundary.Hehel dhi
sstandt i
ll
heretiredfewyearsagobecauseofol dage.

Knowingmyor igi
nalcal
li
ng,andacknowl edgingithel
pedmet ostay.Lackof
thi
sknowl edgemademanyi nnocentpeopl etosettl
eforothercal
li
ngthatis
notthei
rs.Nocal l
ingi
shigherthantheothers.Thehighestcal
li
ngformylif
eis
theonetheLor dhascall
edmei nto.Upont hatHewouldrewardme.Valueyour
ori
ginalcall
ing.Temptat
ioncoul dcome,st orm couldrage,t
omakeusl ose

40
focus.Wear
etheonethatwillnotyi
eldtothest
orm ofdevi
ati
on.Whoever
givesint
oadi
str
act
ionwi
llf
indhimsel
ftobl
amelat
er.

Whenadr amaoramusi cmi ni

sterenjoyshonouringwor dmi ni
str
ati
on,he
star
tstodigressf
rom t
heorigi
nalcall
inggradual
ly.Hence,asinglepushfr
om
thedevi
lthroughanymeansoranybodycaneasi lymakehi m deviat
e.Bef
or e
heknowsi t,hi
ski
ngUziahwi l
lbebur ni
ngincensemeantonl yforthePri
ests.
Spir
it
uall
epr osyi
salwaystheend- r
esultofsuchintrusi
on.MayGodhel pus,
Amen.

CHAPTERFOUR

WHATI
SYOURDESCRI
PTI
ON?

Peopl
eareeasil
yknownbydescr i
pti
onthanthrought
heirnames.Ident
if
ying
manthroughdescr
ipt
ionhappenedinthescr
ipt
ureanditishappeni
nginthis
cont
emporaryage.

Thi
sdescri
pti
oncouldbeei therposit
iveornegat
ivedependi
ngonwhatt he
per
sonbeingdescri
bedi sint heeyesofthepeople.Thosewhocal ledthe
di
scipl
esChri
sti
ans(Chr
ist-
li
ke)inAntiochwerenotbel
iever
s.So,peoplesee
usanddescr
ibeusaccor
dingt owhattheysee.

Iwil
ltrytoli
mitmydiscussi
onint hischaptertothecont
extofthisbook;thati
s,
thedescript
ionofar
mourbear ers.Haveyout akenyourti
met osi tdownand
considerwhatpeoplesayaboutyourr elati
onshiptoyourleaderandyour
rel
ati
onshiptoyourf
ellowminist
er swithi
nyourchur chormini
stry?Ifyouhave
notpausedabi tt
orecoll
ectyourattit
udeandr esponseofpeople,attheendof
thi
st opi
c,Ibeli
eveyouwi l
lmakeaj ustassessmentvoidofanybi asabout
yourself
.

Fri
end,letuschecksomest er
li
ngexampl estogether
,maybei twouldhelpus
tolocatewher eweareandassi stust orelocateoursel
veswher ewear e
supposet obe.Joshuawasdescr i
bedast hemi ni
ster(at
tendant
)ofMoses
whoal waysf ol
lowshi
mt othemountofGod.Exodus24:13.El i
shawas
ref
err
edt oastheonewhopour edwat eronEli
jah’
shands.2Ki ngs3:11.Davi
d
wasdescr i
bedinISamuel16:18thus:

41
“
Ihaveseen ason ofJesset heBethlehemi
te,t
hati
sskil
lf
uli
n playi
ng
(
musicalinst
rument
s)amight
yval
iantman,andamanofwar
,andprudenti
n
mat
ters,acomelyper
son,
andtheLordi
swi t
hhim”.

JudasIscar
iotwassai dt
obeat hi
ef,whowassteali
ngfrom t
hemoneyputin
hiscust
odyandal sothebetr
ayalofhismaster.ThomasDidymuswasknown
tobeadoubt er,whodoesnoteasilybeli
evebuteasi
lyst
rayawaybecausehe
coul
dnotqui ckl
ycatchupwiththemoveofGod.( John20:19-29)
.Nowonder
,
hisi
mpactwasnotf eltmuchint
heAct sofApostl
es.

Peopl
elikehim sl
owdownt hespeedoft heirmi ni
stri
es.Theymayeventuall
y
l
eavetheirgr
oupsast heycannotquicklydiscernandpl ugintothemoveofthe
Lordinsuchmi ni
str
ies.Whensuchper sonl agbehi nd,andcannotcatchup
wit
hothers,hewil
lhavet ooptoutatl ast
.Wher eas,wit
hpr ayer
sfort
hegrace
tocopeandt r
aini
ngourmi ndstocat chupwi t
heverycur r
entmoveofGodi n
ourmini
stri
es,Godcankeepusi ntactinourvi si
ons.

Event houghtherear
emanymember sofdramagr oupsandchur chwor kers
whol i
vebothaboveboar dandaboveaverageintheiratt
itudesandchar acter
s,
i
tisdi shear
teni
ngtodiscoversomenegativedescript
ionsami dstus,whoar e
assist
antsinallmini
stri
es.Maybe,whenweal ldiscovert hem t
ogether,itwil
l
help us thi
nkdeep,r epentand prof
fernecessarysol utions t
ot hose that
concernus.

Asi sterwasdescr ibedas“Wheel barrow Christ

ian”whocannotdeci deordo
anythingunl essshei spushed.Onebr otherwassai dt obedi sregar
dingt he
i
nstruct ionsofhisleaderonlytodowhathef eelsappropri
ate.Anotherbrother
wasdescr i
bedast hepersonwhogi veshi sl eadertought i
mesal ways.A
cert
ainmemberofadr amagr oupi sunapproachabl et
ohiscol l
eagues.Hewas
i
mper vi oustosuggest ionorcor r
ection.Hecannotf l
ow withot hermember s.
Wheneverhei sgi venanassignmentt operform withanyothermemberofhi s
ministry,hemakessur ethatheedgest hem outandbui l
dhar dwallround
himsel fwhilecarr
yingouthisdut ies.Othermember softhegroupar eafrai
dt o
workwi thhim becausehecannotkeept heuni tyofthespi r
itinthebondof
peace.Wher eas,thebeautyoft eam mi nist
ry,istowor kinhar monyandf low
togetheri npeace.

Icounsel
edabr
othersomet
imesago,whof
oughtwi
thhi
sleadert
otheext
ent

42
ofbei
ng r
emanded i
n pol
icecustody.Whatan evilunderthesun!Some
membersareknownf
oreyeservi
ce,other
sstr
ainthei
rrel
ati
onshi
pwitht
hei
r
l
eader
s.

Asi sterwassai dtobei nfluenci

ngherhusband’ sdeci sion, evencont raryt othe
l
eadi ngofGodatt imes.Anyar mour-bearermustnotpr essur izeGod’ sser vant.
Itcanmakehi m dowhatwi l
lannoyhi sCreator
.Somedeci sionsmaynotl ook
sinful,butasl ongasi tisnott hewillofGodf ort
hatt i
me, onehasmi ssedi t.So,
pressur e can cause hi m t o miss God’ s perf
ectcounsel .A br otherwas
discover edtobemi sr
epr esenti
nghisco- coordi
natorwher everhei ssent .Thi s
i
sbet rayingoft rust
.Yet ,anotherfell
owisknownf orfr audul entpracticesbot h
withinandout sidehisdr amagr oup.Furthermore,acer tai
nsi st
er’
sl ooseand
carefreeat ti
tudemadei nnocentbr other
sandl ater,hergr oupl eader ,commi t
i
mmor ali
ty.Dr amagr oupmember sshoul dbeepi tomeofchast i
ty.Butsome
cravef orharlots’atti
re.Moder ati
onshoul dbeourst andar d.Somemember s
aredescr i
bedasbei ngpr oudwhi l
efewar esaidtobepr ofessi onalsuppl anters.
Thel istisendl ess.

Though,wef i
ndt hesesetsofpeopleinvirtual
lyallthegroupswithinthe
church,t
hekindofwor kwear edoingint
heki ngdom istoodeli
cat
et hanto
harborsuch thi
ngs.AnyChr i
sti
an thatr
efuset o partwit
hthesenegat i
ve
manifest
ati
onsinhisorherl
if
eisplayi
ngwit
hhel l
-fi
re.

MayIsay,att hisj unctur

e,t hatweshoul dr el
easeour selvest oGodwhol ly.
Because,i
fwelett hesear chli
ghtoftheHol ySpi r
itbeam intot heinner
mostof
ourbeing,wewilldiscover,astoundi
nglythehiddent areswhi chtheenemyhad
sowni nt
oourlives.Si nceweknow t hatwithGod,al lthingsar epossibl
e,we
canrelyonthepowerofGodt orainfi
re,br
imst oneandhor ri
bletempestupon
theseedsofbi
tternessandt ouprootthosealreadygermi nated.

Af
terwemighthavepr
ayedt
oGodf
orhel
p,weshoul
dnotf
orgett
opl
ayour
ownpar
ttoo.

ov.25:4says,“
Pr Takeawayt
hedr
ossf
rom t
hesi
lver
,andt
her
eshal
lcome
f
ort
havesself
ort
hef
iner
”.

Wear
etodothetaki
ngawayofthedross.Wehavet
o“wat
chandpr
ay”
.Pr
ay
t
oGodandwatchtosubduet
henegat
ivetr
ait
s.

43
SonsofBel i
al
TheBi bleregardsthosewhobearnegativedescript
ionas“ SonsofBelial
”.That
i
s t o say,al ltheseabovenegat i
veat t
itudes,whi ch br
ing aboutnegative
l
abelingar emani festat
ionsofthespir
itofsonsofBel ial
.Beli
alheremeans
wicked orwor thl
ess.Wher eas,i
tis nott he Lord’s counselforus t o be
worthless.Rather,Hewant sustomai ntainthehi ghestspiri
tualandmor al
worth.Her e-underar emor echar
acter
ist
icsoft hesonsofBel i
alinarmour
beari
ngast heBiblerecordedi
t.

1.Davi
dDescr
ibedThem asThor
nsi
nHi
sFl
esh(
2Samuel23:6-
7)

Adr amagr oupbegani nt heearlyni

neteen-ninet
ies.Thel eaderwasnott oo
educat ed butone oft he member s was hi ghly educated.This member
challengest hedecisionoft heleader
.Hedi sruptedt hegroupsmeet i
ngsand
programmes.Hewasat hornint hefl
eshofhi sleader.Hecausedsl eepless
nightsf orhisleader.Thedest i
niesofmanyofhi scol l
eagueswer etruncated
throughhi sact i
vit
iesint hegroup.Thegr oupwasscat t
eredeventuall
y.The
presenceofasonofBel i
alcausedami ni
strywithfantasti
candgl or
iousfuture
tobeshor t
-li
ved.

Peoplelikethi
sdohi j
ackauthori
tyfr
om theirleaders.Theyareli
kedri
edf i
shes
thatareunbendable.Theleadersofsuchfellowscannotr estonthem because
beforetheleadersknowwhatcoul dbegoi ngon,t heywoul dhaveperpetr
ated
grossevilagainstt
hegroupandi t
sleader.Suchmember sneverseekthegood
oftheirl
eaderbuthisdownfall
.

Therewasanot herfell
owi nadi f
fer
entdramagr oupwhoi sf ondofspr eading
discordbetweent heleader shi
pofthegroupandherf el
lowmember s.Shewi l
l
sayser i
esofthingst hatwer enottr
ueaboutt hel eadershiptot hemember sin
ordertopoll
utet hei
rhear t
sandt odiscouraget hem.Def i
nit
ely,themember sof
suchgr oupwi llfi
ndi tdiffi
cul
ttotrustthel eader shipexceptt her
ei sGod’ s
i
nt er
venti
on.Themember swhower et ol
dt heset hingsoughtt olett
heirleader
knowabouti t,becausei ftheyshouldconceali ttheirdestinyint hegroupi sat
stake.

2.ThesonsofBeli
aldespi
seleader
sandtheleadi
ngofGodi nthei
rli
ves
Theydonotseethi
ngstoappreci
ateint
heli
vesofthei
rleader
sexceptpoi
nti
ng
outthei
rmist
akesandinadequaci
es.ISamuel10:26-27.TheLordsawthese

44
bef
oremaki
nghi
m yourl
eader
.

Mosescouldbeast ammer er
,yetGodchosehi m.Debor
ahwasawoman,stil
l
Goddelight
edinherleadi
ngtheIsraeli
tes.Gi
deonwastheleasti
nhi
sfat
her
’s
houseandhi sfamilywast hepoor estinManasseh,yetGodcall
edhima
mightymanofvalour.ThoughDavidwasashepher dboy,hewasamanaf t
er
God’sheart
.

Petercouldbeanunlearnedf i
sher
man,butuntohi
m di
dJesusChr
isthanded
theleadershi
poftheNewTest amentChur
ch.Donotmakeamountainoutof
molehil
l,appr
eci
ateyourleader.

3.SonsofBel i
alannoyGod’ sservant s
Bret
hren,onceawhi le,t
herearever yfew dramagr oupmember swhowoul d
notwantt oservet heirl
eader
.I nstead,t
heyspeaknegat i
velytoprovokethe
anoi
ntedmanofGod.Suchi ndividualneverseewhatt heLordsees.TheLord
seestheleaderasananoi nt
edval iantmanbutheseeshi m asanordinar
yman
andanovi ce,j
oblessandoppor tunistwhoonl yarr
ogatepowertohi msel
f.He
seeshisleaderassomebodyt hatappearf rom nowhere.

Thepastorofachurchchoseanotherl
eaderforasub-groupi
nhischur
chaf
ter
thefor
meronewast r
ansf
erredinhisplaceofwork.Butitdi
dn’
tgodownwell
withapar t
icul
armemberofthedepartmentwhothoughtsomemember swere
i
nt hegroupbefor
ethenewleaderjoi
nedthem.

Theref
ore,he disregar
ded hi sinstr
ucti
ons and lashed outathi sl eader,
wheneverhi sleadergives instr
ucti
ons on whatt o do ortal
k abouthi s
nonchalantat
tit
udet ot
heact ivi
ti
esintheunit.Alltheeff
ortsofthepastorto
mediatebetweenthetwowasnotf rui
tf
ulunt
ilhewasaskedt ol
eavethegroup.
ThankGodt hatthenewl eaderref
usedtobepr ovokedtomisbehave.Whatt hi
s
brot
herfail
edtoreali
zeisthat,

“
Thereisno aut
hori
tyexceptf
rom God and t
hoset
hatexi
sthavebeen
i
nst
it
utedbyGod”
.Rom 13:1.

Thisbrot
herdi
dnotreal
izet
hatt
hesameBar
nabaswhotookPault
othe
Apost
lesinActs9:27wastheonewhoal
sobecamehi
sassoci
atei
nhis
missi
onaryj
our
ney.

45
Ihavepersonall
ybenef i
tedimmensel yfr
om t hiscaseofBar nabasandPaul
someyear sagowhenIwasr eli
evedofmypostasl eaderofasub- unitinthis
minist
ryandIwasmadeamemberoft heuni t.Itwassomemont hslaterthat
theLordputmeinanot herplaceofr esponsibil
ityhigherthant hefor
meronei n
anotherarm ofthemi ni
str
ywhi l
eIwasst il
lamemberoft heformer .When
anythi
ngofthisnaturehappens,i fcareisnott aken,onemaynotl earnwhat
theLordwantstopassacr osst ous.TheLor dknowswhoshoul dbei nthi
sor
thatposi
ti
onatagi venperi
od.Humbl eyour selfunderthemi ghtyhandofGod.
Hewi l
lpl
aceyoui ntheri
ghtpl aceattherighttime.

4.SonsofBel
ialar
erebel
li
ousi
nal
lthei
rways

Theyknow how t
odecei
vet
hesi
mpl
eand,t
her
eby,causet
hem t
obr
eakup
fr
om t
hegroup.
“Certai
nmen,thechil
drenofBelialaregoneoutfr
om amongyou,andhave
withdrawnt
heinhabi
tantsoft
heircit
y,sayi
ng,l
etusgoandser
veothergods,
whichyehavenotknown”.Deut13:13.

Abrothercont ri
but edi
mmensel yt
otheexitofnotlessthansevenmember sof
ourminist r
ybef orehealsoleft
.Thougheachofthesepeopl ewhol ethadone
ormor et hingsint hei
rli
vesthatculminat
edtotheirleavingthemi ni
str
y,but
mostoft heset hingscouldhavebeentackl
edprayerful
ly.Theywouldhavestil
l
beenint hemi nistryi
ftheyhadnotmi st
akenl
ychosenawr ongpersonas
counsel
or .

Thisbrotherknew how t obeclosewi t

heachoft hemembers.Hewoul d
presenthimsel
fasi fhewasshowi ng concer
nf orthem morethan other
member scoulddo.So,theyconf
idedinhim.Befor
eei t
hert
heleaderorother
member sknew abouti t,theywould havegonef arinthei
rplan to seek
al
ternat
ivemini
str
yorvisionorambit
ion.

Few br
ethrenwhoopenedupt otheleaderortootherbr
ethr
enwhower
enot
l
ikehim werequi
ckl
yrescuedbackt
ot hei
rvi
sion.

Iti
sgoodtoprayer
full
ystudywhowewoul dshar
eourburdenwi
th,lestwe
conf
idei
nthef
owler.Thati
sthereasonwhyt
heBibl
esays“
myson, i
fsinner
s

46
(sonsofBeli
al)ent
icethee,consentthounot”
.Ther esul
tofconsenti
ngtot hei
r
decept
ionistomaket heper sonconcernedmisstheLord’spl
anf orhisl
if
e.So,
beverycarefulnottot rustyoursel
ftot hewolvesinsheepcl othi
nginyour
group,
becauseyourvisionisyourlif
e.

5.TheyI
nst
igat
eMenofGodagai
nstt
hei
rcol
leaguesandvi
ce-
ver
sa

IthappenedthattheAmal ekit
esat t
ackedZikl
agandt ookawayal lthewives,
thechil
drenandal lthepr opert
iesofDavi dandhi ssoldiers.HeaskedGod
whetherheshouldpur suethem.TheLor dgavet hem ago- aheadtodoso.He
saidtohis800sol diers;letusgoaf t
ertheAmal eki
tessincetheLor dhas
assuredusofvictor
y.But200oft hem excusedt hemselvest ost
aybehindat
BesorRavinebecauset heywer everyexhausted.Ther emaining600soldier
s
wentwithDavidtodefeattheAmal eki
tes.TheLordgavet hem thevi
ctor
y.

Whent heycamebackwi t
ht hei
rwi ves,sonsanddaughtersandallt
heloads
theyrecovered f
rom t
heAmal ekit
es,Davi d want
ed to shar
ethem equall
y
betweenthosewhowentandt herestthatwereunablet
ogobecauseoffat
igue,
butthosetr
oublemaker
ssaid,

“
These200mendidn’
tgowi t
hus.Sowewon’tgivet
hem anyofthethi
ngswe
t
ook.Thesemen(
should)getonl
ythei
rownwivesandchil
dren”
.ISamuel30:
22ETRV.

Anypr ot
estandnegat i
veresponseli
kethisi
sini
micalt
ot heunit
yandinter
est
s
ofthemi nist
ry.I fsuchhappens,theleaderhastouset hewisdom ofGodto
sol
vet hepr oblem andyetl eteverybodybenefi
t.I
fsuchsonsofBel i
alina
ministr
yarei nt hepositi
ontoof f
ersuggesti
onstotheleader
,theycancause
himt ooff
endf aithf
ulmember s.

Inst eadofallowingtheleadertocarryalongtheweakmember sdespit

etheir
frailtyorwhatt hecircumstancesand situati
onsbest
owed on them,such
wi ckedmember swi l
lcapital
izeonsucht hingstoadvi
cetheleaderagainst
thei rcol
leagues.Theydot hissothattheycanonlyenj
oywhattheyshouldall
enj oytogether.

Thereisaninst
ancewhenadr amagroupmemberusedanout
siderwhowasa
fr
iendofthegr ouptot hr
ow-
weighttoconvi
ncehi
sleadert
of avourhi
min
expenseofhiscoll
eagues.

47
Het houghtthatifhedidnotsei zetheoppor t
unit
ytoamasswealth,hemight
notr egai
nit.Aft
ert hesocalled‘opportuni
ty’
,therehavebeensever
albet
ter
blessingsofGodt hatcameintot hegroupwhi chrender
edtheonethebr
other
covetedgreedil
ytojustaminiature.

Boththel eaderandmemberofsuchgr oupshoul

dletthei
rvi
siont
ranscendthe
presenthappeni ngsinthegr oup,f
oranyt
hingthathappensnow isnott he
ult
imat einourl i
ves.Whateverweseenow isjustli
keat i
pofani cebergin
compar ism towhatGodi sabouttodo.Ift
hepresentbecl
oudusoft hefut
ure
wewi llmisbehave.

Itisjustl
iket hepersonGodi ntendst ogivefleetofcarst
oinfi
veyearsti
me,
but,hewasgi venabicyclefi
rst
.Thi sboyactedf ooli
shl
ybyusi
ngthesit
uati
on
surroundi
nghi m atthatti
met obl ockhischancesofget ti
nganythi
ngbetter
thanbicycle.Justknowt hatyourpresentisjustapassagetoaglor
iousfut
ure.
TheLor dintendsthatwemovef rom glor
ytoglor y.

6.SonsofBeli
alf
inditeasyt
or el
igi
ousl
yli
eandbearf
alsewi
tnessagai
nst
thei
rfel
lowmembers.IKi
ng21:10,13.

Asi st
erinadr amagr oupwasi nthehabitoftell
ingtheleaderofhi sdrama
groupnegat i
vet hi
ngsaboutmember softhegroup.Mostespeci al
lywhenshe
i
sai mingtot akeovert heposi
ti
onofthatpart
icularmember .Shedidi tunder
thepretextofletti
ngtheleaderknowwhatwasgoi ngon.Thedevi lusessuch
peopletorundownot her swhoarefai
thf
ull
yservingGodint hei
rgroup.

Fri
ends,donotderogat
eot her
stogainascendancy.Whoevergoesabout
cruci
fyi
ngother
sorpushingother
sdowni nordert
ogettoanysubstant
ive
posit
ionint
hemini
str
ycannevergoscot
-fr
ee.

Peoplehavedonet histomeont wodi ff

erentoccasions.Oneachoft hese
occasi
ons,t
hepersonconcernedwasai mingatt heposi
ti
ontheLordchoseme
tomani ntheministr
ywhi l
eIwasi gnorantofwhatt hepersonwasupt o.In
oneofsuchpart
icularoccurrences,Iwasr el
ievedofmypostast heRegistr
ar
oftheMountZi
oninstitut
eofChr i
sti
anDr ama.ButGodi nter
vened.

Thegoodnewsisthatt
heLor
dvindi
catedme.I
neachoft heseoccur
rences
theLor
dfoughtf
orme.Hemir
acul
ousl
yedgeoutthesesuppl
anter
s.Because

48
t
heyrefusedtorepent
,theLordeject
edt
hem t
oal
low t
hemi
nist
rypr
ogr
ess
wit
houtsuspi
cionormolest
ati
on.

Donotfi
ghtorsupplanttheper
sonGodhasplant
edi
ntoyourgroup;becauseif
youdo,i
tmeansyouar efi
ghti
ngtheLor
d.Noonecanfightt
heLor dandwi n.
ThewordoftheLordforthosei
nmyshoei s

“
TheLor
dshal
lfi
ghtf
oryou,
andyeshal
lhol
dyourpeace”
.Exodus14:14.

7.SonsofBel
ialcausest
ri
feandsepar
ati
oni
nthei
rgr
oupst
hroughgossi
p

Gossi pi
ngwi l
lf uelquar r
ell
ingwher easamanofdi screti
onwi llquenchi t
.
Instead ofbeing peacemaker s,as the Lord wants,there ar
e certai
n unit
member swhof omentt roublesthroughgossipi
ng.Theyei t
hercarryfabr
icated
comment sorsocal l
edtruecomment saboutaf el
lowmembert oanotherand
bringbackt her esponseoft hel at
tertotheformer.Beforeyouknow i t
,there
woul darisebit
ter ness,hatr
edandquar r
ell
ingthatwi l
lspreadlikeawi ldfi
re
amongstt hemini stryorchurch.

Asi st
ercausedt hiskindofconf usioninadr amagr oup.Thet womember s
concernedwentdi ff
erentl
ytothel eadertocompl ai
nonwhatt heysaidsister
soandsohadsai dabouther .Thel eadercal
ledthetwosist
ersandinvit
edthe
thir
dpartythatcarri
edthefabri
catednews.Aboutt wooftheinnercaucuswer e
alsocall
edt opart
icipat
einsettl
ingt hecase.Thesesist
ersexpl
ainedwhatthe
sist
ersaid.Shewasaskedt odefendorr efut
etheall
egati
on.Itwasdiscover
ed
thatshewast heonewhobr oughtupunf oundedrumour.

Evenwhenacasei st
rue,
itisourGod-givenresponsibi
li
tyt
oquenchit.Weare
notexpect
edtofueli
tatall
.Letuslearntocreatepeacefulat
mosphereinour
midst.I
tisthenthespir
itoftheAlmight yGodwi llmoveunhinder
edi nour
group.

Dynami
cLeader
shi
pist
heanswer

Tocurbtheexcessesoft
hesonsofBel ial
,aleadermustbedynamicand
pr
oact
ive.Hemustknow thet i
met obemer ci
fulandthet i
metoenforce
j
udgement.Thet
imetobef
irm mustnotbeusedforl
eni
ency.Hemustbeable

49
t
odiscer
nthetimetolovefr
om thet
imet
oref
rai
nfr
om t
heki
ndofl
ove,
whi
ch
i
tsr
esult
antef
fectl
eadstosent
iment
.

Hemustbet hetypethatspeakst het

rut
hinlove.Andhemustbeont heLord’s
sideatal
lti
mesi r
respecti
veofwhoseoxi sgored.Hemustbeabletoexercise
god’swisdom i
nal lhisendeavourifhewantst osucceed.Ther
easonbeing
thathehasalotofforcestocontendwit
h.

Nowonder ,ApostlePaulgaveal i
stofthepeopl ehewor kedwithinthecourse
ofhismi nist
rythus:FalseApost l
e,fal
set eachers,falsebrethr
en,envious
bret
hren,content
iouswor kers,si
ncereandfaithfulworkers,t
hosewhoadded
tohisaff
li
cti
on,etc.Wit
hal lt
hese,hedidnotrelenttofor
geaheadi nhiscal
ling.
Hesucceeded.Yout oocansucceeddespi teallodds.

Nomembercanst opyourvi
sionifyoudon’t.Al
lyouneedistoappropri
atethe
graceofGodt obewhot heLor dsaidyouar e–LEADER.Actwi t
houtfearor
favourforGodtobackyouupl ikeHebackedupMosesagai nstMari
am and
Aaron.Anddol i
keMosesi nordert osecuretheLord’
ssuppor twhenKor ah,
DathanandAbi r
am chall
engedhisauthorit
y.(Num.16:1-4).Then,Iseeyou
succeedingi
fyoudonotcompr omi seyourcalli
ngbecauseoftheacti
vit
iesof
themember swit
hnegati
vecharacterandcontrarymi
ssioninyourmini
stry.

TheLordhasawor dforthel eaderswhoar einthesit

uati
onsdescri
bedinthi
s
chapt
er.Cont
inueinyourvi sion.Beconsistentl
ystrongandsureinyourfait
h
i
nwhatyour eceivedf r
om t heLor d–DRAMAMI NISTRY.Donotmoveaway
fr
om i
tbecauseofpl easure,pr essur
e,ent
icement,andlackofrapi
dprogress,
i
ntimi
dati
onandst abbingfrom anymember .Nomat t
erwhatconfr
ontsyou,GO
FORWARD.Thatist hemot t
oofconquer ors.Itmustbeourmottotoo.

50
 CHAPTERFI
VE

GETTI
NGTHESPI
RITOFYOURLEADERS

Thecompanyoft hepr ophetsfr

om Jer
icho,whower
ewatchi
ngsaid,“
The
spir
itofEl
ij
ahisrest
ingonEl i
sha.Andt
heywenttomeethi
m andbowedto
thegroundbef
orehim”.2Kings2:15.

Ihaveseencaseswher emember sofmi nist

ri
esar erepl
icaoft heirleadersi
n
words,inoper
ation,inat ti
tudetowardsi ssuesoflif
eandmi nistr
y.Ithappens
tomusi cmini
ster s,pastors,missionari
es,deliver
ancemi ni
sterset c.Drama
minist
ersarenoexcept ion.TheLor dhasmademewi tnesst hi
si nfusi
onin
al
mosteverymi nistryt
hatIhavecomeacr oss.Iusedtowonderwhysoandso
behavesli
kehisl eader.WhenIsaw t hesamei nanothermi nist
ryagai nand
agai
nIbecamei nt er
estedint hereasonwhyi tshouldbeso.

Iwassocur i
oust oknowmor eaboutthi
smystery.ButIdi
dnotknowunt ilt
he
Lordopenedmyeyest ot heabovescript
ure-2Kings2:15.TheLor dmademe
awar et
hatthoseIsaw inot hermini
stri
esandthoseofuswhoar eknitt
edto
ourleader
sar egett
ingintothespiri
tofourleaders.Thet
ruthis,peopl
emay
notknow whenwebegi nt oenterintothespir
itofourleader
,buti twil
lbe
obviousatapart
icul
arlevelofit
sdevelopment
.

Eli
shastart
edhisownf rom humblebeginningofminist
eri
ngt ohismaster.He
wasnott ir
edoff ol
lowingt heGodofEl i
jah;inspi
teoft heweaknessesand
str
engthsofhi smast er,whichwer esogl ari
ngtohi m.Heser vedandal so
caredforhisleaderthrought hi
ckandt hin.Hecouldnoti magineseparati
ng
himselff
orlongwi t
houtseei nghisleader.HissoulpantsforEl
ijah.Hi
sspirit
rubbedconti
nuall
ywi t
ht hespiri
tofhismast er
.

Anointingisaboutrubbing.So,t her
ei snowayEl ij
ahwoul drubhi sspi
ri
t
togetherwit
hthatofhi
sleaderandst i
llmanifesti
nanentir
elydi
ff
erentway.No
wonder ,hebeganhismi racl
esfrom wher ehisleaderendedhis–par ti
ngof
RiverJordan.Thatistosay,i fwegeti nt
ot hespir
itofourleaders,wewil
l
operateonthesamespiri
tualpedestaltheyareoperati
ngon.

I
fthereisamemberwhoseoperat
ionistot
all
ydiffer
entfr
om whatoper
atesi
n
hi
sl eader
’sl
if
e,hecannotexcelmuch int hatmi ni
str
y.Therestsonsof
pr
ophetswhost ayedbehi
ndatBethelandJer i
choandt hosewhostoodto

51
vi
ew the whole scenari
o afarof
fatJor dan coul
d notpr oduce an equal
mani
fest
ationasElisha.Get
ti
ngthespi
ri
tofourmasterproducesimpart
ation.

Thepresentcropsofmember si nthi
smi ni
str
yhavenopr obl
em torepresent
theminist
ryortocarryoutanyassignmentgiventousbyourleaderbecause
theLordishelpingust ounderst
andandi mbibethehear
tbeatofourleader.
OurGodwhoknowst hegreatestimport
anceofthi
s,sai
dinNumber11:16- 17
thus:“
….Iwilltakeofthespir
itwhichisuponthee,andwil
lputituponthem;
andt heyshal
lbeart
heburdenofthepeopl
e(shar
etheresponsi
bil
it
ies)wit
h
thee,thatt
houbearitnotthysel
fal
one”.Thi
sshows,i
mpar t
ati
onf rom t
he
l
eaderi
stomaket
hearmour
-bearerperf
ormt hesamer
esponsi
bil
it
ywi
thease.
Al
so,i
tmeanst
oli
ght
entheburdenoftheleader.

Al otofdut i
esandassi gnment
swi thint
hismi nist
ryarebei ngdelegatedto
eachmemberwi t
hlit
tl
eornosupervision,
though,notthatwear etot
all
yf r
eeof
mist akes.TheLor dhasbeenhelpingust operformt heset oHisglory.The
secreti sthateachofushasputont hecloakofbot hspiri
tualandminister
ial
cultureofourl eader.

Fr
iends,
youcannotl
oseanyt
hingi
fyougett
hespi
ri
tofyourl
eader
,rat
her
,you
ar
egoingtogai
ngreatl
y.

ThingstoGai nare:
a)ItReleasesImpar tat
ion:Thespi ri
tofourleaderwillrel
easet heimpartati
on
wecoul dnotgett hroughanyot hermeans.Beforeweknowi t,wewillj
ustbe
fl
owinginhi sspir
it.Peoplewillbesaying,“
Hei slikehisleader”.“
Hemi nisters
exactl
ylikehisl
eader ”“Ididnotknowhewast heonewhodi scussedwithus;I
thoughtitwashi sleader”.“Wedi dnotmisshi sleaderbecausehemi ni
st ered
thesamewayhi sleaderdoes”et c.

Onseveraloccasi
ons,aft
erf i
nishi
ngdramami nist
rat
ions,theorganizer
sor
peopl
efrom t
heaudiencedocomet oustosay,thepersonwhoact edtheol
d
manplayedthepartexactl
yl i
keEvangeli
stMikeBami l
oye.Wher easitishi
s
deput
ythatact
stheparti
nr ecentti
mes.Thati
swhatIam t al
kingabout.

Theimpar tati
onwillmakethemasterandt
hemembersthinkandactal
ike.
Thiswillbepossibl
eifthemember
sacceptt
odr
inkoutoft
hesamespir
itwit
h
thei
rleader.ICor
.12:13.

52
b)ItProducesMat ur
ity:Maturi
tyisapr oductofacquisi
ti
onofknowledgeina
parti
cularway.Buther ewet al
kofthewaysofGodi ntheareaofourcalli
ng.
Majorit
yoft heseknowl edgeandunder standi
ngwi l
lcomet oust hr
ought he
deali
ngsoftheLor di
nt helif
eofourleader.Asheshar eshi
spersonaldeal
ings
withus,thoseofuswhoal l
ow t
hem tosi nkintoourspir
itwil
lbewiserwhi l
e
thenonchalantonesremai nonthesamespot .

Imentionedear l
ierofamemberwhodi dnotbel ievewhatwef ol
lowed.So, his
visi
onandcal l
ingwasboughtover .Theonl yreasonIcanadducei sthat
,whi le
weassi mil
atedGod’ sdeal
ingswithourpr esidentasheshar edthem withus,
thisbr
otherdidnotal l
owthespiri
tandGod’ sdealingonourl eaderbeinfused
intohi
m.Ther estofuswhor emainedknow,l i
keourl eader,t
hatourvision
mustnotbeexchangedf oranythi
ngwhat soever ,whereas,ababemayf allfor
anyoffer.

Idi
scoveredt
hatifwearef
lowingi
nhisspi
ri
t,weshal
lbenef
itf
rom mostofthe
deal
ingstheLordwil
lbedi
shingoutf
orhisperf
ect
ionandforhisspi
ri
tualand
mini
ster
ialmatur
it
y.

El
ishawasver ythir
styandhungr ytoassimi l
ateeverymovei nthelif
eofEli
jah.
Thisbroughtundi sputablepr omot i
on unto him.Allther emaining sonsof
prophetcal
ledhimt heirfatherbecauset heyknewhehadbeenpr omot edtoa
l
evelofmat ur
it
yhighert hantheirs,t
hought heyweref or
merlycoll
eagues.Most
ofthespir
it
uallevelstheLor dmademet obei ngiving,mini
steri
alconsist
ency,
underst
andingofmycal l
inget c.aretraceabletomyl eader.Though,space
maynotper mitmet ostateoccasi ons.

c)ItGuar anteesstabili
ty:Thespir
itofourl eaderguarant
eesstabi
li
tyofour
l
ives.Insteadoffumbling,wobbl
ingandst umbl i
ng,i
fweacknowledgethespir
it
ofourl eaders,itstabil
izesourli
vesphysi call
y,spir
it
uall
yandmi ni
ster
iall
y.
Theirexper i
enceswi l
lhel ptogiveusst abledir
ecti
on.PaulandTi mothy’
s
rel
ati
onshi pisaclassicalexample.Ifyoust udy1and2Ti mothy,youwil
lget
theclearerpict
ureofwhatIam talki
ngabout .

Whent heLordwascall
ingSamuel,heranfr
om hisroom toProphetEl
itwi
ce.
Hadi tbeingheknew whattodo,hewoul dhavest ayedinhisbedroom to
recei
vefrom God.I
fnotforhi
smast er’
sint
ervent
ion,hecoul
dhavel eftt
hat
vici
nit
yandbewanderi
ngabout,seeki
ngforwhowascal l
inghi
m.

53
In1995,af termywi f
eat t
endedTheMountZi onI nsti
tuteofChri
sti
anDr ama,
shesai dshewant edt ocr osstof ul
l-
timeint hismi nist
ry.Iwashappy.We
thankedtheLor di
npr ayerandcommi t
tedeverythi
ngt oGod.Whenwet oldour
President,hej ustaskedaquest i
onf rom mywi f
e.Whensheanswer ed,our
belovedleadersai dtheanswerwasaconf i
rmat i
ont ohi m.Hetheref
oretold
hernott obot hert
ocomeonf ul
l-t
ime.Hesaidi nasmuchasshesuppor tsme
andmycal ling,bothofusar edoingthewor ktoget her.I
twaslaterIsaw the
wisdom ofGodt hatprevai
led.

Ther
ewereinst
ancesIknew concer
ningmyf el
low bret
hreninthemini
str
y
wherei
twasourPr
esi
dentwhoshedlightonsomedarkenedsit
uat
ions.

Thegraceofl
eadershi
pisal
waysthereforthosewhocaret
ot apfrom i
t.Those
whodonotcar etogetthespi
ri
tofthei
rleaderinvari
ousminist
ri
esarepr one
torunfr
om pi
ll
artopoletogett
hebearing,whichcoul
dhavebeengot tenwith
easeift
heyhaddonewhattheyweresupposedt odo.

Anybodywhodoesnotgett hespi r
itofhisleaderisboundt oruni nt
ogr oss
errorandgr opei nthi
ckdarkness.Ifyoudon’twantthedevi lt
olureyouaway,
acceptt heleadershipofyourleader.Seewhathesees.Buyhi svi sion.Selli
t
not.Lett hezealofhi svisionconsumeyou.Donotl etanyot hervi si
onor
aspirati
ondi ssoci
ateyoufrom yourleader
’svisi
on.Acquaintyour
sel fwithyour
l
eader .Rejectanygoldencalfthatwouldmakeyouanenemyt otheseemi ngly
tabletsofstonehei scar
ryi
ng.

Icherishtheadviceofmyl
eader.Eventhough,itdoesnotcar r
yacommandi ng
tone,sti
ll
,Iknowitist
hemindofGodf orme.Het hatisj
ustgoingtowarfort
he
fi
rsttime mustnotdespi se t
he veteran’
s advi ce,orelse he wi
lldespi
se
valuablei
nstruct
ions,
whi
chcouldmakehi m vi
ctorious.

d)Promoti
oni sGuaranteed:Pr omoti
onisver
ycrucialt
ousinourmi ni
str
y,but
nopromotioncomesover night.Promoti
onisalwayssystemat
icandgradual.I
t
i
sf ormember s who acquaintt hemsel
ves wit
ht he spi
ri
toft hei
rleaders
consi
stent
ly.

Joshuaser
vedMosesfai
thf
ull
yforalmostfor
tyyear
s.Therewereti
meswhen
hewouldbeatthemiddl
eofthemount ai
nwhi l
ehisleaderwasonthetopof
themountai
n.Hewasnei t
herwi t
ht hecongregat
ionatt hebott
om ofthe
mountai
nnorwithMosesont hemount ai
ntop.Yet,hecaughtthevi
sionof

54
Moses–possessi
ngt
hePr
omi
sedLand.

ByGod’
sstandar
d,non-
elsecoul
dbemar
kedoutf
orgr
eat
nessexceptJoshua.
TheLor
dsaid,

“Hewhotendsthefi
gt r
eewilleati
tsf
rui
t:andhewhocar
esf
orhi
smast
er
wil
lbehonour
ed”.Pr
ov.27:18NASB

ItwasonrecordthatEl
ishaservedProphetEl
ij
ahforgoodtenyears(906BC–
896BC)bef or
eEl i
jah wast r
anslat
ed.Hewasnotdet erred byanyoft he
negat
ivechall
engeshemet .Atlast,whenpropermanifestat
ionbegan,the
remai
ningsonsofpr ophet
ssaw t hepromoti
on;theycouldnotdoot her
wise
butboweddownt othegroundforEli
sha.

Ifwetr
ulygetthespi
ri
tofourl
eader
,it
shonourwi
llcomei
ndi
sput
abl
yatt
he
appr
opri
ateti
me.

e)ItmakesMi ni
ster
ialworkeasy:Dur i
ngt hedar kestperi
odofourmi nistr
y,
ther
ewasabj ectpovert
yi ntermsofwhatt oeatandwhatt owear.Some
bret
hrenamonguswer esayingi tabout,thati twasonl ythemember swho
weresuf f
eri
ngandt hatourPresidentandhi sf amilymember swer eenj
oying.
Allwhatwesai dtoconvincethem,t hatitcannotbesoandt hatt
hedevilwas
onlyfeedi
ngthem withli
es,yi
eldednof r
uit.I
tallfel
tont hei
rdeafears.

Butther estofusknewourcal lingandremember edhowt heLor dcal

ledus.We
knewt hatfaithf
uli
sHet hatcal l
eduswhoi sabl etokeepal lwekeepwi thhim
–ourl ives,welfar
e,famil
yandf ut
ureincl
usive.Webel i
evedi nthatGodwho
call
edusi nspiteofthelacks.Weal soknew thatourl eaderi saGod- f
earing
manwhocannotdosuchat hing.I
fyoudon’ttrustyourleader ,
iti
stheeasiest
premisef ort
hef at
herofl
iest odestabi
li
zeyourmi ni
stry.Andi fhecan’t
,hecan
useittosnat chawayyourvision.Don’tfor
getthathest eals,
kill
sanddestroys.

Youdon’ thavetositonthefence.Youmayf alloutbef

oreyouknowit
.Getinto
thespiri
tofyourl eadert
ofeelhishear t
beat
.Thiswi l
lgetyoui
ntobeingful
ly
persuadedofyourl eader
’smotives,evenwhenyoudonotknowt hereasonfor
somet hi
ngst hathappeninyourgr oup.

Amongt hetwel
veApostl
es,nonewasclosert
otheLor
dJesusChristthan
John.Herest
sonthebosom oft
heLor
d.Nowonderhewasabl
etogetdeeper

55
secret
softheKingdom anddeepestsecret
sabouthi
sMast
ert
hanallt
herest.
OtherApost
lesgotsomesecret
saboutt heLor
dJesusandt
heKi
ngdom ofGod,
butnotasmuchasJohndi d.

ThelovehehadforJesusmadehi m out
ranPet ertothetomb.Hewast heonly
onewhor ecogni
zedthatitwastheLordtalki
ngt othem attheseaofTiber
ius
(John21:7).Ent
erintothespi
ri
tofyourleader.Youwi llf
indi
teasytodot he
ri
ghtthi
ngattherightti
me;andgetthebestfrom yourleadert
oenableyoudo
thebestf
orJesus.

Thisgetti
ngi nt
egrat
edint
oourl eaders’heart
beatisi
nphases.Ihavenot
arr
ived.Ialsobeli
eveGodforaddit
ionalgracetogetmoreofhi
svi
sionsand
aspir
ati
ons.

f)ItRemovesAni mosi
ty:I
fyouareverycl
oset oyourleader,hismi ni
ster
ial
l
ifest
ylewi l
ltur
nyourli
feandmini
str
yaroundf orgood.Yourcl osenesswi l
l
posit
ivel
yaf f
ectyousomuchthatyouwil
ltrusthim andvis-
à- vi
smakehi m
tr
ustyout oo.

Therefore,st
rongdi sl
ikewhichhear -sayfr
om evi lmenandwomen, wit
hinand
outsi
det hegroupcoul dcausewi l
lnothaveef f
ectonyourr el
ati
onshipbecause
bothofyoumusthaveknowneachot heri nside-out
.Ifnotf orourst r
ong
cl
oseness,whi chr esult
edtost rongtrust
,thosemember swhobr oughtwrong
i
nformat i
on on the wel fare ofourPr esidentand hi sf amil
y could have
succeeded.Ihavet akent i
met ost udyhimt odiscoverhisopenness,simpli
cit
y,
andhi scompl et
er eli
anceonGod,hi scaringf oreverymemberofMountZi on
Family,hisfi
nancialhandli
nget c.

So,If
inditdi
ff
icul
ttobeli
eveanynegat
ivereportabouthi
m.Myconf
idencei
n
hi
sleader
shipiswaxingst
rongaseachoccasionprovesmeri
ght
.

CHAPTERSI
X

HOW TOGETTHESPI
RITOFOURLEADERS

Somepeoplewouldhavebeenwonderi
ngastheyreadt
hischapterbysaying,
how canIknow t
heprocessandpri
nci
plesofget
ti
ngthespir
itofmyl eader.

56
Forsuchl
ongi
ngsoul
s,t
her
estoft
hischapt
eri
sdevot
edt
oyou.

Appreci
ateyourLeader
:Thisi
sthefi
rststept
ogetint
othespiri
tofourl
eader
andtobepossessedbyt hesamespiri
t.I
fwedonotseet hegoodsideofour
l
eaders,wewi l
lbegintobehavingproblemsinourGodor dainedmini
stry.
Appr
eciatet
hegoodqualit
iesi
nyourl
eaderandlett
heLordperf
ectther
est.

Tr
easur
eAppr enti
ceship:IfJesusChr
istcoul
dwasht
hefeetofHisdi
scipl
es
whowerenothi sleaders,Icounti
tashonourtodoanyt
hingformyleader.
Howaboutyou?

Concer
ningappr
ent
iceshi
p,t
heSpi
ri
tofGodsays,

“Ser
vants,obeyi
nallt
hingsyourmast ersaccordingt
othef
lesh,notwitheye
-ser
vice,as men-pl
easers,buti n si
ngleness ofhear
t,f
earing God:And
whatsoeveryedo,doi
thearti
ly,astotheLordandnotuntomen” .(Col
.3:22-
23)

Makeapprent
iceshi
poneoft hemosti mport
antChri
sti
anvir
tuesofyourli
fe.
Remember,hewhocar esforhisleadershal
lbehonoured.ThewordCARES
heremeansservi
ces.Ser
veyourleaderasifyouar
etheonlypersonavai
lable
toser
vehim.

Unquest i
onableObedienceisRequired:Ibelievet
her eismor
et hanonewayt o
solveever yprobl
em.Hence,whenmyl eaderaskedmet odoanyt hingina
parti
cularway,mostoft hetimesIcar ryi toutwithoutmakinganal t
ernat
ive
suggestion.ExceptIobser
vet hatther
ei saspeci alneedforsuchsuggesti
on
andt hatpreval
entatmosphereallowsit;Iobeymyl eaderonthesimplebeli
ef
thatthatishowGodl eadshi
m ont hepar t
icularmatter.

Ilear
ntt hi
sfrom theLordJesusChr i
st.Though,HewasGod,yetHedi dnot
cli
ngtoitasar ight
,butlai
ditasi
deandhumbl edhi msel
ftodoeveryt
hingGod
theFatheraskedhimt odo.Itist
hiski
ndofobedi enceandloyal
tyt
hatcanget
usint
ot hespiri
tofourleader
.

Makehim yourment or:AdvancedLearnerDictionarydefinedament oras

“wi
seandtrustedadviserandhel perofani nexperiencedperson”.Wethe
membersofthi
sministr
yconfideinourleaderandcher i
shhisadvicegr
eat
ly.
Thati
swhywedol ethim knowwhat everweintendt odobef or
ewedr awany

57
concl
usi
on.I
fhesaysno,hisnoisourno.TheLor
dhasbeenusi
ngt
hatt
o
saveusf
rom ser
iesofi
mpendi
ngdanger
s.

Therewasatimeaf amilyi
nt hisministr
ywantedtohi
retheser
viceofahouse
-gi
rl
.Theyhavepr ayedaboutitandt herewasnocautionatal
l.Theywentt o
ourpresi
denttoinform hi
m aboutt heneedtohaveahel per
.Af teral
lthei
r
expl
anati
ons,ourPresi
denttoldthem thathi
ri
ngtheser
viceofahousemai dis
notthesol
uti
onfornow.Heaskedt hem tost
opeverypr
ocessont hat.

Thef amil
yaccept
ed.Theywentbacktoprayont henecessarysol
ution.I
twas
thent heLordopenedt hei
reyesont hesolut
ionthatdoesnotr equir
ethe
serviceofanyhousemai d.TheLordalsolett
hem saw t hatthesaidhouse
mai dthatwoul
dbehiredwaspossessed.

Thesimpleobedi
enceofthesaidfami
lyt
ot headvi
ceofourl
eaderaver
tedthe
i
nnocentemploymentofanagentofdar kness.Wehavetoconf i
deinour
l
eaders.Thi
swi l
lenabl
et hem r
ubmindwi thusandi mpar
tvir
tuesintoour
l
ives.

Makingourleadersourment orwi
lll
etthem pourt
heirhear
ts,t
heirspir
it
sand
experi
encesallouti
ntous.IoweallIam t
odaytoshapingandreshapingoft
he
HolySpir
itt
hroughmyl eader
.

Summar i
ly,get
ti
ngthespiri
tofourl eaderent ai
lsbel
ievinginhisGod,loving
hi
m andbel i
evi
nghisfamil
ydearly.I
tal soincludesgettingver
yclosetohimt o
l
earnofhi m,servi
nghi m wholeheartedly,totalsubmi ssi
on,unquesti
onable
obedience and making him ourment or
.In doi ng these,we wil
ll i
ve our
minister
ialli
fewit
heasei fweallow thespi ri
tofourl eadertobeinfusedinto
ours.

CHAPTERSEVEN

THEGREATESTVI
RTUE…SUBMI
SSI
ON

“
Besubmi
ssivet
oeveryhumaninst
it
uti
on(
ever
yinst
it
uti
onor
dai
nedf
ormen)
f
ort
heLor
d’ssake”IPet
er2:13RBV

ThenIwasaci
vilser
vanti
ntheei
ght
ies,Iwaspr
ivi
ledgedt
owor
katt
he

58
AcademicsDepar
tmentoftheOsunSt
ateColl
egeofEducati
on,I
lesa,Ni
ger
ia.I
t
wasthenIlear
ntabi
glessononwhatsubmissi
onmeansi neducati
onalci
rcl
e.

Beittheirsemesterorfi
nalexamination,
from themomentt hestudent ssubmit
thei
ranswersheet s,itceasest o betheir
s.Thepaper st hen becomet he
properti
esofthei nst
it
uti
on.Inbr i
ngingtheabovecont exttooursi tuati
onas
member sofgroups,submissionnow meanst ot
alhandingoverorcompl ete
surrenderi
ngofpower ,aut
horityorpossessioni nagreaterauthori
ty.Inother
words, i
tmeansal l
owingoneselft
obeundert hecontr
olofanotherper son.

Amasaiexpr
essedt
hisbet
terwhenhesai
d,

“
Wear
eyour
s,ODavi
d;andwi
thyou,
OsonofJesse!
”IChr
oni
cles12:18.

I
tshowswi ll
inglysurr
enderi
ngallatthefootofthecross.Itmeansnoot her
thi
ngt hangivingintoourleader’
scontr
olforthesakeoft heLord.Weshould
not,foranyr eason,hol
d backourl i
ves,ti
mes,pr oper
tiesetc.Weshoul d
prepare,atal
lt i
mes,togoallthewaywithourleadersintheministr
ytheLord
hascal l
edusi nto.

Totalsubmissi
onisthegr eat
estcur r
encyanymembercanspendi nGod’ s
servi
ce.I
tisthebestvi
rtueanyf ol
lowercanhavef orpeacefulmi ni
steri
alli
fe.
Hence,wemustdetermineandr eadil
yrel
easeourselvestobel ed.Submi ssi
on
fr
om thehearti
sasignofhumili
ty.Theproudinhear twil
lneversubmi t.

“Wear eyours”or“Iam yours”i

sanexpr essi
onofthosewhoknowt hatthei
r
al
legiancetothei
rl eaderi
snon- negot
iabl
e.Lear
nt orenew youral
legi
ance
dail
yt othel
eaderGodhasgi ventoyou.Ithel
psustoknitwi
ththem andthei
r
aspir
ationsi
nthewor kofGod.

Cruci
fyEgo:Egoi sanenemyofsubmi ssi
on,becausewhileegoi scar
nal
,
submissi
onisspiri
tual
.Itwil
lmakeusgiveseemi
nglylegi
ti
matereasonswhy
weshouldnotsubmi t
.Selfi
sbehi
ndever
yego.Infact
,fl
eshdoesnotli
ketobe
undercont
rolofanybody.

Whoeverwant stosucceedi nhisminister

iall
if
emustknow t hategoand
submissi
onarecontrar
ytoeachotheri
nt hei
roperat
ions.Thedeepknowledge
ofthi
swar f
arewilll
etthepeopl
econcernknow how t ofi
ghttostayafl
oatin
thi
sminist
eri
alsea.

59
Asecrettobel
ear nt
:Manymember si
nmini
str
iesarenotpri
vil
egedl
ikeEl
isha
wholearntt
helessonearl
yenoughinhi
smini
ster
iall
if
e.Becauseheknewt hi
s
secr
et,hewasabletosay,t
oEli
jah,

“
Myf
ather
!Myf
ather
!Thechar
iotofI
sraelandi
tshor
semen!
”2Ki
ngs2:12.

Wheni tcomest ol eaderver

susmemberr elat
ionshi
p,forgetaboutwhatyou
thi
nkyouar eorwhatpeopl ethinkyouar e.Concentrat
eonwhatt heLor
d
thi
nks aboutyou- a memberofso and so mi ni
str
y.On t he otherhand,
annihi
lat
e everyt
hing thatis cal
led sel
f.Be itself
-aggrandizement,fami
ly
background,sel
f-at
tainmentetc.

Eli
shasaid“ myf ather
’tohi sl
eaderwithoutanyt r
aceofreluctance.Regardi
ng
yourleaderasaf athermakesr esi
stancer emote.Iobser
vedt hisatt
it
udeinthe
li
vesofchur chdr amagr oupmember si nAbeokutaandsai dtomysel f,“
Whao!
Thereisnol imittothesuccessoft hisgroupiftheyshouldcont i
nuelikethi
s”.
Thisisasecr ettobel earntandbel earntfastbyeverymemberwhowant s
progr
essf orbothhi mselfandhisgroup.

Tot
alSubmi
ssi
oni
sTot
alDedi
cat
ion:Nomemberi
sexpect
edt
ohaveany
reservati
on.Wehavet obeloyalandbet ot
all
ydedicatedtoourl
eaderandhis
l
eader shi
p.Hisli
kesshoul
dbeourl ikesandhisdisl
ikeswemustdoawaywi t
h.
Weshoul ddeter
minet odoever yt
hingtosat i
sfythem.Though,wear enot
perfect,
butourmindsetwil
lassistustoperf
orm excell
ent
ly.

EveryBibl
eschol
arisfamili
arwit
hthestoryofthethr
eemightymenofDavid
whobr okethr
oughthehostofthePhili
sti
nestofet
chwateroutoft
hewellof
Bethl
ehem,becausethei
rleaderwasthir
sty(l
ongi
ng)todri
nkthi
sverywater
.
(2Samuel23:15-17)
.

Justimaginet hreesol diersbreaki

ngthroughther ankofat roopof3,000or
mor esol
dierst oandf ro,becausewhatt hei
rleaderdesireddemandedsuch
endangeri
ngoft hei
rlivesi nt
hismanner.Ifi
twereyou, wi
llyoutakesuchrisk?
Thesesoldierswer enotr egardedasmightymenunt ilt
heytookthathazar
dous
tri
p.TheLor dcanmakeusmi ght
y,wi
thoutnecessaril
ybeingal eaderifwe
fol
lowhispr i
nciplesforgr eat
ness.

I
ntheNewTest
ament
,Paulal
sosai
dconcer
ningPr
isci
ll
aandAqui
lat
hus,

60
“Myfell
ow worker
swho risked t
hei
rli
vesf
ormeand t
hechur
ch oft
he
Gent
il
es”.Romans16:3-
4.

Thesear
ethet
ypeofmember
stobecel
ebr
ated.

Wemustl earnnottoturndownt herequestofourleaderbecauseofanyt hing.

Thesethr
eesoldiersofDavidwerenotevensent .Theyover-heardt
heirleader
andtookitupont hemselvestosati
sfythedesi
reofhi sheart.Godexpect sus
tomakeour sel
vesavailabletoserveourleadersatal lt
imesandunderany
condi
ti
ont hati
snotsinful.Besoldouttoyourleader.TheLor dwil
lnotfor get
yourl
abouroflove.

Bei
ngRepr
imanded:Godchast
isesChr
ist
iansi
nlove,sodoourl
eader
s.We
maynotknowf ullywhytheyrepr
imandedusattimes,butwehavet obearin
mi ndthatwearebeingrebukedoutofl
ove,
forourgood.Myleaderismygodl y
par entinthevi
siont heLordhascalledmet o.So,underst
andingparental
discipl
inei
nthelightofHeb12:5-8andRomans13:2- 5wil
lhelpusgreatl
yto
receivesameinloveandingoodfait
h.

Iknowofi nstanceswhenmypr esidentorhiswi f

er ebukedmeandIknewt hat
whatIdidwasnotbad, f
rom myownper specti
ve.Yet,eacht
imeIwasrebuked,
Imadesur eitisacceptedwi t
ht hethoughtoft akingtimetofindoutf
rom the
HolySpiri
t,whatt heLordwant edt oteachme.Onever yoccasi
on,Il
ear
ntat
l
eastal esson.Thesel essonshel pedmet obeabet t
erChri
sti
anandpress
fur
thert
owar dsthestat
eofmi nisteri
almat uri
ty.

Evennow,Ibeli
evethereisnolevelonecangett
oandsayheorshedoesnot
needchast
isement,exceptthepersonwant
stobeaminist
eri
albast
ardi
nhis
orherGod-gi
venmi ni
stry.

Submi
ssi
oni
snotAut
omat
ic:Event
hough,submi
ssi
onwi
llmakeusenj
oy
armour
-bear
ingt
otheful
lness,
iti
snecessar
yformet
osayt
hatsubmi
ssi
oni
s
notaut
omati
c.Wearenorobotsaf
teral
l.

Butwear emenandwomenofchoice:Hencewehavetodetermi
netosubmi t
.
LikeIsai
dearl
ier
,theLor
dgavemeimmedi atel
yaf
termyconver
sion,t
hetwo
thingsIhat
edwhenIwasanunbel iever– dramaandwriti
nggift
s– yet,I
determi
nedtoobeywhenmyPresi
dentturneddownmyrequestt
opublisht
he

61
bookst
heLor
ddi
rect
edmet
owr
it
e.

Isubmit
tednotbecausesubmissi
oni saut
omat i
c,butbecauseIunder st
ood
t
hattheSpir
it
sofPr ophet
saresubjectt
oPr ophets.Sear
chthescript
uresto
medit
atemoreontheporti
onst
hatteachonsubmi ssi
ontoourleader
s.

Prayt
hegr acetosubmiti
ntoyourli
feasIprayediti
ntomine.Whenwepr ay,
theLordwi l
lcl
oakuswi ththegracetosubmi t
.Because,obedi
encetoour
l
eaderscannotbecarr
iedoutbyourpowerorbyourmightbutbyGod’sSpi
ri
t.

Whent heSpi ri
tofGodcameuponAmasai ,whowaschi efofthecaptains,he
for
gotal lhewasandhumbl edhimselftosay,“Weareyours…”IChr o.12:18.
Wehavet otrai
nourspi
rit
stosubmi t
.Developinganat
ti
tudeofsubmi ssionis
ataskt hatmustbedone.Itisathingweshoul dworkoutjustaswor kingout
oursalvationwithf
earandtrembli
ng.Exami neyour
sel
fdail
ywhet heryouar e
sti
llsubmi t
ti
ngtoyourl
eader.Fr
iend,co-operatewi
thGodandi tshallbewell
wit
hyou.

CHAPTEREI
GHT

THEBANEOFCRI
SISI
NMI
NISTRI
ES…COMMI
TMENT

Whydowefal
lpreytodist
ract
ions?Whydowegi veintotemptat
ions?Whatdo
wet hi
nki
sresponsibl
efortotaldeviati
onofmi ni
str
ymember sfrom t
heir
cal
li
ng?Whyi
shol i
nessseemsf ar
-fet
ched?Lackofcommi t
menti stheroot
cause.

Paulsai
d,“Thi
sonethi
ngIdo”.Thati
sthesi
mplestmeaningofcommi
tment
,
bei
ngfocusedonal
litt
akest
omakeyourmini
str
yflour
ish.

Ourcommi tmentt othecour seofourgroupandvi si

onwil
lenableusendure
anythi
ngtosust ai
nthevi si
on.Theconcer nfort
hework,forourleaderand
col
leagueswilltakepre-eminenceinwhat everwedo.Thi
swillal
soguideusto
maker i
ghtdecisionateverycruci
aljunct
ionofourli
ves.

Asister
,whoi si
nthedramagr oupofachurch,
isf
ondl
ycal
led“
MamaDr ama”
byherel der
sandpastors.Theyknowherfocuswheni
tcomestoact
ivi
ti
esin
thechurch.

62
SinceIhavediscover
edthatmycal l
ingisintodr ama.Ichoosefri
endswi t
hmy
call
ingi
nvi ew.Whoeverdoesnotbuymyvi sionorsaygoodt hingsaboutmy
vi
sioncannotenjoymycompani onship.Iknowhowt otacti
call
ykeepdi st
ance
tosuchpeopl e.Lear
nt odisengageyour selffr
om anybodyoranyt hingt hat
standstotakeyouawayfrom your‘onethi
ng’ .

Mydramavisi
onisbright
ertomet hananyot
hervi
sionoraspi
rat
ion.Dr
amai s
t
he“onethingIdo”.Anythi
ngthatdoesnotfal
lwi
thinChri
sti
andramai snot
God’
swil
lformyli
fe.

Itst
il
lbaff
lesmanypeopl
ethatwe,membersofMountZi
onFai
thMini
str
ies,
do
notalwayshonourpersonalpreachi
ngengagement
s.Iti
sbecausewear e
commi t
tedtothi
sdr
amacalli
ng.

Fri
end,makeyour selfent
irel
yavail
abl
etoyourvi
sionandther
ewillbenor oom
fordi
stracti
on.Uriahdisplayedwhatcommitmentshouldbeinther ealsense
ofit
.Ifwet akealessonfrom hiscommit
ment,i
twillgi
veusaninsightint
oone
ofthemaj orqual
iti
estokeepusi nmini
str
y.

Consi
derUr
iah’
srepl
ytoKi
ngDavi
d’squest
ion.Hesai
d,

“Thear k,andIsraelandJudah,abi deintents;andmyLor dJoab,andt he

servantsofmyl ord(t
her estwar r
ior
s),ar
eencampedi ntheopenfields;shal
l
Ithengoi nt
omi nehouse,t oeatandt odri
nk,andtoli
ewithmywi fe?Ast hou
l
iveth,andasthysoullivethIwillnotdothist
hing”.2Samuel11:11.

Thisisahei
ghtofcommi tment.Duri
ngthecourseofwrit
ingt hisbook,t
heLord
remindedmeoft hi
sincidence.WhenIopenedi tandr ead,Iwasabl et osee
thatthecauseofcr i
sisanddai lyreducti
onofmember shipinourvar i
ous
groupsandmi nistr
iesislackofcommi t
ment.Wear enotr eadytogivealli
t
takestosalvageourcal l
ing.Manydr amaandmusi cgr oupsar epackingup
thesedaysbecausecommi t
tedmember sarenotavai
lable.

Musi
c minist
ry,in Niger
ia,i
s seriousl
y suff
eri
ng f
rom non-commit
ted
member
ship.Themember sdon’tseethei
rrolesascal
li
ng;r
ather
,theyf
eel
t
hei
rski
ll
sareforhi
ghestbi
dder
s.

BecausePaulwascommi
tt
edt
othecour
seoft
hegospel
,hewasabl
etosay

63
l
oudandcl earthatnothi
ngcansepar atehimf r
om theloveofChr i
st.Si
nce
Chri
standHi sgospelisinsepar
able,Ibeli
eveheissayi
ngaswel l,“
Whoshall
separ
at emef r
om theloveofthegospel?”Thisishisvi
sion.Topreachtothe
Genti
les.So,wetoomusthavest r
ongaf f
ini
tytoourGodgivenvi
sion.

Uri
ahevenr efusedtogoi ntohishouse,togoandmeethi swifehel ef
tfordays
ormont hs,becausehewasengr ossedwithoneoft hereasonshewasenl i
sted
i
ntot hearmy.Hedi dnotal l
ow anythi
ngoranybodyt odistr
acthi m.Hewas
str
aightf
orwar dinhisappr oacht oi
ssuesconcerninghisleader,evenwhenhi s
l
eader( Joab)was nott here.Anyone who i s notcommi tt
ed cannotbe
dependedupon.Hewi l
lbeunst abl
easwat er.Anythi
ngcansweephi m orher
away.Theref ore,l
etyourvisi
onoccupyamaj orplaceinyourli
febecausei fyou
do,tr
ivi
almat t
erswillnotcatchyouratt
enti
on.

CHAPTERNI
NE

LEARNTOLETGO

Wear enotcal
ledi
ntot
hemini
str
ytobeidle.Ever
ybodywhoispr
ivi
legedt
obe
cal
ledofGodmustprepar
etoworkwi
thallhisorhermight
.

Eccl
esiast
es9:10says,“
what
everyourhandf
indst
odo,doi
twi
thal
lyour
might”
.

TheLor
dal
socommandsusi
nCol
ossi
ans3:23t
hus,

“
What
everyourt
ask,
wor
khear
ti
ly,
asser
vingt
heLor
dandnotmen”RSV.

Whenwear egi
venanyassi gnmentinourgr oup,wemustensureabsol ute
commitmenttoit
.Ourr esponsibi
li
tyi
st oworkti
rel
essl
ytoaccompli
shsuch
assi
gnments.Oursi stowor kasi fthati
st heonlyassi
gnmentwewoul d
perf
ormintheministr
y.Thatis,weshouldconcentr
atef
ull
yonthatpart
icular
thi
ngweareaskedt odo.

“I
fthereisanyonet hi
ngmor eIhavelear
nedwhichismor eimport
antt han
anythi
ngelse”
,saidEugeneGrace,whomadeoverami l
li
onayearaspr esi
dent
ofBethl
ehem SteelCompany,“andwhi
chIpracti
ceever
ydayunderanyandal l
ci
rcumstances,iti
sconcentr
ationi
ntheparti
cul
arjobIhaveinhand”.Thisis

64
oneofthesecret
swemustadher
etoifwewantt
osucceedi
nanyt
hingwedo.
Spi
ri
tualassi
gnment
sar
enoexcepti
on.

Carr
youtever ytaskgi
vent oyoui nyourgroupwi t
hallal
acri
tyitdeserves.
Suchdutiesshouldberegardedasourownpar tofmakinggoodandgl ori
ous
thi
ngshappeni nourmi ni
stry.Donotjustdoanythi
ng.Rat
her,dothet hi
ngs
youareaskedtodo.Allwhatwi llbr
ingpromot
iontoourmini
strymustbeour
pri
ori
ty.

Remember,al
ways,yourbeinginateam mini
stryisnotarightbutapr
ivi
lege.
Thiswil
lenhanceyourwor ki
nghar
moni ousl
ywi t
hot herpeopl
eintheteam.
Don’tdoanyt
hingt
opl easeyour
sel
falone;i
nstead,st
rivet
odowhatwi l
lkeep
theunit
yoft hespi
ritinthebondofpeace,becauseuni tedwestandand
divi
dedwefal
l.

Somear mour-bear
ersfi
ndi teasi
er,int
hispartoft
heworld,t
oworki
nour
var
iousmi ni
str
iesli
kejackalthantopartwit
ht heassi
gnment
sgi
ventous
whenthereisneedtobereli
evedofthem.

Iadviseyoucarr
youtallt
heassignment
sgi
ventoyouwi t
hallyourhear
t,but
preparetoleaveitforot
her
si fneedbe.Donotclingtot hatjobasyour
personalpr
opert
y.Learnt
oletgo.Donotletyourunitbe‘anogoar ea’for
others.

Nevermaket hatdepartmentyouar eyourpersonalpossession.Itisnotyour s

aft
erall
.Youar eonlytherebygrace.Otherpeopl
ecoul dbeputt heretomorrow
byGod.Thati stosay,everydepartmentinourministr
yorchur chst i
llremains
openedtoever ybonafidemember .Iam sayinginessencet hattheLor dcan
moveyouf r
om t hatparti
cul
arassignmentordepar t
mentandgi veitt
oanot her
memberatwi ll.Thi
smayhasnot hingtodowi thineff
ici
ency,nonperformance
orother
wise.TheLor dmaywantyout ohaveaf eelofanotherdepar t
mentor
unit
.

Byhi sgrace,Ihaveservedinvar iousareasofTheMountZi onFait

hMinistr
ies
Int
’l
.Between1987,whenIj oinedt hemi ni
str
y,andt hetimeIam writ
ingthis
book,Ihaveser vedeit
herasdi rectorormemberi nthefoll
owinguni
tsoft he
ministr
yatonet imeort heot her.TheseincludeFieldTechnicalCr
ew,Pri
nting
andPubl icat
ions,Li
brary,TractandLi terat
ure,CorrespondenceCounseli
ng,
ThePr oducti
onandMar ket
ingoft heMinistr
y’smaterial
sandast heRegist
rar

65
ofMountZi
onI
nst
it
uteofChr
ist
ianDr
amaAr
ts.

Iam notmentioningt
heseforanyshowoffpurpose.But
,toshowhowtheLord
hasbeendirectingmyleadertomovemef rom oneassignmentt
otheother
accor
dingt
ot hemoveofGodi nourmini
stry.

Mat ur
it
ymakesuskeepopenmi nd,whereas,babesseethosewhosupposet o
take overf r
om them as intr
uders and threattot hei
rsur vi
valin such
department.Theydoresistt
ransi
ti
onvehement l
y.Thisresi
stancemani f
ests
through act
ions,r
eact
ions ornon- cooper
ation on t
he partoft he person
concerned.

Whoeverclingsundul
ytoagi venar
eaofhismini
str
ybyrefusi
ngtol etgo
cannotbeaseasonedmi nist
erofGod.Wemusthaveexper
iencesinmany
areasrel
ati
ngtoourmini
str
ybefor
ewecanqual
if
yasaver
sati
leandseasoned
minist
ers.

Duri
ngthi
send- t
ime,wemustbebr oad-
mi ndedi fwedesi
rerapi
dprogressin
ourmini
str
y.Wher eas,cl
ingi
ngtoanassignmentwhenweshoul dhavelefti
t
forot
hersret
ardst heprogressofourmi ni
stry;but,mostimpor
tant
ly,itcan
haveanegati
veeffectontheveryper
sonconcer ned.

Wedonothavet obemyopi c.Myopi awi l

lonlymakeusal ocalchampi on,
whi chdoesnotaugurwel lforourminister
ialint
erests.Letother
sr el
ieveyouof
theheavyr esponsibil
it
yyoucar ryalone.Thegoodnewsi s,whatyouar edoing
cansuccessf ul
lybedonebyanot herperson.Itdoesnothavet obeexact l
ythe
wayyouar edoingi t
.Ot herpeople’
swayofdoi ngi tcouldevenbebet t
erthan
your s.Wecan’tknow t hisunlessweal l
ow them tocar ryouttheassi gnment
freely,wi
thoutgagging.

Noonei si ndi
spensable.Doyourbestwhi l
ebeingalertt
ocat chupwi t
ht he
trendoftheSpir
itofGodt orel
ocat
eyouifHewi l
ls.Workasifyouwillnotleave
thedepartmentort hatassi
gnmenttil
lChr
istcomes,butprepareinyourhear t
toleaveitt
odayi fneedbe.Thiswil
lkeepusabreastoftheconfusi
on, sur
pr i
se
andsenseofr ejecti
on,whichsatanmaywantt oatt
ackuswi t
hi fwear e
reli
evedofourdut ysuddenl
y.

TheLor
dint
endst
otakeusfrom phaset
ophaseinourcall
ing;butt
herear
e
l
evel
swecangett
o,ei
therasagrouporasi
ndivi
dualandpi
tchourtenti
fwe

66
sowish.Theinherentdangerofthisisthatwewi l
lsti
llbebusydoi
ngwhatwe
know whil
ethepillaroffi
reoftheHol ySpiritwouldhavemovedt oahigher
l
evelorhigherphaseorhi gherassignment .Learni
ngt oletgomakesour
promoti
onrapid.I
talsolet
sourmi nist
eri
alli
febecomever yi
nter
est
ing.

TheLordcanuseourleader,anybodyorevenanyt
hingtochangeourcour
se
wit
hinourGod-
givenvi
sion.Beprepar
edtocatcht
hefli
ghtmyfri
end.

CHAPTERTEN

REASONSFORI
NTERCEDI
NGFORLEADERS1

Haveyouevertakenti
metositdowntodiscovert
hereasonswhyPaulasa
l
eaderhadtosay,‘ Pr
ayforus”(Col
.4:3)andal soenjoinedbel
iever
sto
i
nter
cedef
orallt
hoseinaut
hor
ity?(
ITi
mothy2:1-2)

Befor
eApostlePaulcoul dmakesuchpassi onat
eappealf
orbot hhimselfand
otherpeopl
ei naut hor
ity,theremustbever yimport
antreasonsbehindi t
.
Anybodywhoi sconver santwi thPaul
’swriti
ngswouldknow thatapartfrom
tackl
ingtheimmedi atepr obl
emsongr ound,healsoevolveshisprinciples
from theOld Testamentwr i
ti
ngs.This,theLord wil
lshow usasr egar ds
prayi
ngforourleadersaswepr ogr
essinthi
schapter
.

Fi
rstandfor
emost,wehavetoknowthatourleader
scannotf
acethedail
ywars
andchall
engesal
oneasanindivi
dual
.Theyneedourassist
ance.Butt
hemajor
waywecancomet othei
raidisbyint
ercedi
ngforthem.

I
ntercessionsimplymeanssomeonemaki nguptheedgeorstandi
ngint he
gapforanot herpersonoranat
tor
neyoradvocatei
ntheheavenlycour
troom.
Prayi
ngf orourleadersi
sanactofint
ercessi
on.

Prayi
ngforourl
eader
sinourdif
fer
entchur
chesandmi
nist
ri
esi
ssynonymous
to‘l
if
ti
ngupthehandsofourownMoses’.

TheLor dopenedmyeyest othecompul si

onofprayingformyl eadersi
nce
abouttwentyt hreeyearsago.So,It aughtmywifeandchildrentomakesur e
theydonotpr ayatanyt ime,bei tinourf ami
lydevoti
onort hei
rvari
ous
i
ndividualpr
ivatecl oset
s,wit
houtincl
udingmypresi
dentandhi sfami l
yint
heir
prayerpoint
s.Al lofushaveimbibedtheideatopr
ayformypr esident.I
tworks.

67
Thef ol
lowi ngnineteen( 19)r easonswillenabl
eust oknowt heimport
anceof
i
ntercedingf orourleader s.Itwillal
soletusknowt heareaswewoul dhaveto
touchwhenpr ayingfort hem.Thr eegroupswi l
lbeaffectedbyourpr ayers.
Theyar et heeffectonl eaders,onmember sandont hemi nistr
yasawhol e.It
willbetreatedundert heset hreeheadings:

EFFECTONLEADERS

a)Leader sareinposit
ionofgreaterr esponsibil
it
ies:
Each leader,being t
he overal
lco- ordinatorofhi s mini
str
y,has a l otof
responsibi
li
ti
estoshoulder.Hiswor kloadi senormous.Hewi llthi
nkandpr ay
ont hemi ni
str
yandvar iousassignment st hatneedt obecar r
iedout.Hewi l
l
alsothi
nkandpr ayforthemi ni
strymember sandt heirfami
li
esbeforethi
nking
ofhimsel f
.Thereasoni sthathei st heshepher doft hegr
oup.Ther ef
ore,he
maynothaveenought i
met oprayf orhimsel f.

Becauseoft
heseenormoustasksbeforehim,heneedswisdom, cour
age,
extr
a
-ordi
naryst
rengt
h and desir
ed f
lexi
bil
it
y.Joshua and King Solomon wer
e
bestowedwi
ththesequal
it
iesandtheyperfor
medcredit
ably.

Nol eaderistoosuperiororspi
ri
tualt
obepr ayedf
orbyhismembers.I
nfact
,
hisownpr ayersalonemaynotbesuf fi
cientt
ocombattheseri
esofwar
sthat
facehim dail
y.Hence,heneedstobeli
fteduntoGodinourpr
ayer
s.

Iam awar eofti

meswhenaboutt enver yimpor
tantassi
gnment
sfacedmy
Presi
dent.Oneachoccasi
on,i
ttakestheinter
vent
ionoftheHol
ySpir
itf
orhi
m
toco-or
dinat
ethem al
lconcur
rent
lywithoutanyhi
tch.

Ourprayer
ssof
tenthegroundf
orourleader
st operf
orm.Isai
ah11:2-
4isa
goodporti
onwi
thwhichwecander
ivesuchprayerpoi
nts.

b)Leader
sneedopendoor
sfort
hegr
oup’
smessages:

“Don’tf
orgett
oprayforustoo,t
hatGodwil
lgiveusmanychances( open
doors)t
opreacht
hegoodnewsofChri
stf
orwhichIam i
njai
l”
.Co.4:3LB.

Nomatterhowpower f
ulthemessagesyourgrouphavemaybe,ifther
ear eno
opendoors,nobodywil
lknowtheimportanceofwhatyouhave.Itwil
ljustbe

68
l
ikeapr egnantwomanwhocoul dnotgi vebir
thf
orseveralyear
sdespit
ethe
factthatherbellyprotr
udes.Manywi l
lmi st
akeitf
orsickness.Nobodycan
appreciatesuchconcepti
onunt
ilshedel
iversacomplet
ebouncingbaby.

Manymessageswentt ot hegr
avewit
hthevisi
oner
sbecauset her
ewereno
opendoor
sforthei
rmessages.Iti
sanevi
lthi
ngtooperateami nist
ryundera
cl
osedheaven.Thebreakthr
oughofanymini
str
yorministerdependslargel
y
onopendoors.Theref
ore,tomakeful
lpr
oofofourminist
ries,weneedopen
door
s.

Iknew ofadr amagroupint heei

ghtiest hathadsomepower fulfull
-l
ength
playsbutcouldnotoperat
e,bothwit
hint heirchur
chandoutsideit,becauseof
closeddoors.Thedr
amagr oupeventuall
ydi ed.Li
ft
ingupourleadersuntoGod
foropened doorswilllettheLordi ntervenebyopeni ng t
hedoor s,which
nobodycanshut .

c)Leader
sneedt
orecei
vemyst
eri
esf
ort
hepeopl
eandnotst
ori
es:

Weshoul dhavet i
mest opr ayt oGodt omakeHi smyst er
iesknownt oour
l
eader.Heneedst oreceiveexact ly,themindofGodf orthepeople.Recei vi
ng
themindofGodf orthepeopl einvolvestr
avail
ingasoflabourinbirth.So,our
prayer
swi l
lhelphimtoobt ainunadul ter
atedmessages,becauset hekindof
messagest hatwil
lturnpeopl e’
sl i
vesaroundf orgoodmustnotj ustbet he
wordofGodbutt hewor dfrom God.Al so,i
tisnotenoughtoreceivemyst eri
es
from t
heLor d.Weneedut t
er ancet oconveyitinsuchmannert hatwi l
lbenefit
ouraudience.

WhenIsayut t
erance,Idonotmeanel oquence,butImeant hemessages
drenchedbyt hepowerofGod.Thesamewor dcanbesai dbyt wodi f
ferent
peopleandyetpr oducediff
erentef
fect
s.Thel evelofgraceoneachmi nister
willr
efl
ectthei mpr essionhi
smessagewi l
lhaveont heaudi
ence.Ihavehear d
peopletesti
fyi
ngt hat ,
oneofourdramamessageswer est
agedbysomedr ama
groupsondi f
ferentoccasions,butt
her esult
swer enotthesameaswhenwe
stagedit.

Iwastold,someyearsagoaboutt wopeopl
ewhor eci
tedPsalm 23“ TheLor
d
i
smyShepher d…”i
napar t
icul
archur
ch.Thefi
rstbrot
herreci
teditel
oquentl
y.
Peopl
ejubilat
edandclappedforhi
m.Thesecondbrotherr
ecit
edit,buthewas

69
notas fl
uentas the f
ormer .Bef or
e he fi
nished hi
sreci
tat
ion,the whole
congr
egati
onhadburstintot ears.Thisi
sbecauset heHolySpiri
tbackedup
theut
ter
ancesofthelatt
ert hant hatoft
hef ormer.WeneedGod’ sanoint
ing
andcl
ari
tyofmessage.Colossians4:4explainsthi
sverywel
l.

“Pr
aythatIwillbebol
denought
otel
litf
reel
yandf
ull
y,andmakei
tpl
ain,as
ofcour
se,Ishould”
.

Satancancapit
ali
zeonl
ackofclari
tyofmessagetomakepeopl
ear gueonnon
-essent
ial
sand ther
ebylosevitalgospeltr
uthsmeantforthei rl
ives.Our
l
eadersneedthi
smor et
hanus.Letusprayutt
erancei
ntot
heirl
ives,i
tworks.

d)Adver
sar
iesconf
rontl
eadersandthei
rmini
str
ies:
ThewordofGodinICori
nthi
ans16:9says,

“Foragreatdoorandef
fect
uali
sopenedunt
ome,andt
her
ear
emany
adver
sar
ies”
.

What evermaybet heachi

evementofanymi ni
str
y,shecannotgrow tothe
extentthatitwil
lnotbenecessar
yagainforthememberstopr ayforthei
r
l
eader s.Evenwhenther
eareopendoors,
thel
eaderandhi
sgroupwi l
lhaveto
contendwi thadver
sari
esbef
orethei
rmessagescouldgetaccesstoallthe
placestheLordhasearmar
kfori
t.

SomeChr i
stianst odaygetinvolvedinatr
ociti
esofvariouskinds.Thisr anges
from immor alit
yandwi t
chcraf
tt oembezzlementandsoon.I tiscertainthey
wi l
lnotwantt obeexposedbyt hesearchl
ightofthemessageGodgi vest oour
mi ni
str
y.Theywi lltrytoopposeusvehement ly.Ourleadersareal wayst he
targetofsuchat tack.Also,
fewot her
sarenotpr eachi
ngt hewholetruth.When
theyareawar eoft hekindofmessaget heLor dgaveus, t
heywillst
andagai nst
ourmi nist
ration.Theyar etheZedekiahofourdays.Theycandoanyt hingto
standagainstt hetruth.

“Zedekiah… smot
eMi cai
ahuponthecheek,andsaid,whichwaywentt
he
spir
itoftheLordf
rom metospeakunt
othee?”IKi
ngs22:24.

Inst
eadofthem toamendt heirwaysandgetontrackagain,
theywil
lnotwant
toretracet
heirsteps;buttheywi l
lbeallouttofightagai
nstthetrut
hand
againstthecarr
ieroft hetruth.Star
kunbeli
eversarenott heprobl
emsof

70
mi
nist
ri
esandmi
nist
ers.Wemeetst
if
fopposi
ti
onsi
nthemi
dstofbel
iever
s.

Ifyourmi ni
str
yhasl if
etransf
ormingmessages,youwi l
lseet heunbel i
evers
whowi l
lbesaying,“Welldone”,“weareenj
oyingyourpr ogramme” ,“whenar e
you goi ng to present another drama?” etc. But half-baked believers,
compr omisi
ngchi ldrenofGodandbacksl i
derswi llsayser iesofnegat i
ve
thi
ngsaboutyourgr oupandi tsmessages.Wehavewi t
nessedal otofsuch
thi
ngsi nthi
smi ni
st r
y.Suchwor dsar
eenought oweakent hehandsofl eaders
iftheyarenotbei ngl i
ft
edupdai lyi
nprayers.Thi
swi llsil
encet heSanbal l
at
andt heTobiahofourdays.

Adramami ni
strywasinvitedtopr esentaplayinonechur chsomeyear sago.
Whent heygotthere,
beforethemi nistr
ation,
thePastorofthechurchcalledthe
l
eaderoft hedramami nistrytohisof f
ice.Heaskedt hetypeofmessaget hey
i
ntended to present
.He sai d,“ WhyIam aski ng i
st hatwe do f eed our
congregati
onher ewithmi lkandhoney” .I
tissuret hatsuchshepher dwi l
l
opposemeatand bonecr acki
ng messages.Hewi llwanthi sf l
ockt o be
contentedwit
honl ythepr inci
plesoft hedoct r
ineofChr istwit
houtgoi ngto
maturit
y.Suchshepherdswhoar et hegenerati
onofDiotrephessti
llexi
stinthe
ChurchofGod.I I
IJohn9- 10.

Thereareadversar
iesbot
hwithi
nandoutsi
deyourcongr
egat
ion.Theirmai
n
tar
getisyourleaderandthemini
str
ywhi
cht heLor
dcommitt
edt ohishand.
Theref
ore,
heneedsourprayer
s.

Wemustr eali
zethathellisl
etlooset
oclosethechancest omini
steragainst
groupleaders,becausesatanknowsthatthemoret her
eareopendoor sfora
l
eaderandhi smi ni
stry,
themorepeopl
ewillbedel
iveredfr
om hi
scaptivi
tyand
thegreat
erthespi r
it
ualpromoti
onofsuchaleader
.

Psal
m 74:5sai
d,“
Amani
sasf
amousashel
if
tsupaxesupont
het
hickt
rees”
.

Cutt
ingthicktreeswithaxesisjusttheperf
ectill
ustr
ati
onofopendoors.But
thedevilwilldoeveryt
hingtolettheaxesgetl ostorgetbl
unt.Hecaneven
deceivethosewhoar eignor
anttowr estt
heiraxesfrom t
hem l
ikehet
ookt he
governmentoft hewholeworl
dfrom Adam andEve.Luke4:6.

Sincether
eisnopr omotionwithoutovercomingchal
lenges,wemustknow
thatsat
anisaf
terourleaderandhisministr
y.Heiseverreadytoputgat
esof

71
brassandbar sofi r
onont hewayt oourmi ni
steri
alsuccess.Wear enot
wrestli
ngwi thfl
eshandbl ood,butwewr est
leagainstprinci
pali
ti
es,power
s,
therulersofdarknessoft hisworldandthespiri
tualwickednessinplacesof
authorit
y.Theref
ore,int
ervenebyst ayi
nginthegapf oryourleaderandGod
willf
ightforhi
m.

e)Leader
sneeddail
yguidancetomaint
ainpromotion:
Promoti
on,i
fnotwellmanaged,canbecomesnar esrat
hert
hanbl
essi
ngit
supposestobe.I
tcanbet heeasi
estperi
odf orsatant
ocat
chupwiththe
l
eaderbymakinghi
mt ocrossovert
otheforbi
ddenareas.

WhenKi ngUzzi ahhadnotbeenpr omoted,itwasonr ecor

dt hathedi dthat
whichwasr ightint hesi
ghtoftheLor d…andhesoughtGodi nthedaysof
Zechari
ah,whohadunder standi
ngi nthevi si
onsofGod;andasl ongashe
soughttheLord,Godmadehi mt oprosper.( 2Chro.26:4-5).Everybodysaw
him asacool -headandeasygoi ngking.Hewasni cet oallandsundr y.The
Lordaswel lasmenappr ovedhi m awor thyking.But,shor t
lyafterhewas
promoted,hebecameanot herman.Hef orgothishumblebegi nning.Hedidnot
remembert hatGodonl ychosehi m tobeki ngwhi l
esomebodyel sewas
appoint
edtobepr i
est.

Evilspir
itsworkedonhim.Thehostofdar knessplant
edtheseedofpri
dein
him.Sat ansubtl
ymadehim beli
evethathissuccessquali
fi
edhimforal
lar
eas
oflif
eandmi nist
ry.Thepr
inceoftheairi
nstigat
edhimtothinkofhi
msel
fmore
thanwhathewas.Forwhati nf
erencecanweadducet oakingwhowasnota
priestbutwentaheadtoperf
ormt hedutyofburningi
ncenseint
hetempl
e?

HewhoencouragedDavidt
onumbertheI
srael
it
esal
soi
nsti
gatedUzzi
ah,t
he
ki
ngt
operfor
mt hedut
yofapri .“
est Butwhenhewasstrong,hi
sheartwas
l
if
teduptohi
sdestr
uct
ion:f
ort
ransgressedagai
nstt
heLordhisGod,and
wenti
ntot
het
empleoft
heLordt
obur nincenseupont
heal
tarofi
ncense”
.2
Chro.26:16.Whenami ni
str
yissucceeding,i
tist
hensheneedsext ra-or
dinary
guidanceoftheHolySpi
ri
ttoletherbeoncoursealways.Theleaderespecial
ly,
needsext r
acarelesthetakesanundueadvant ageoft heanointi
ngandt he
ministr
y’spromot
ionforli
censet ojustdabbl
eintoanythingthatcomeshi s
way, i
nthenameofdoingGod’ swork.

Sat
ancanadvi
ceasi
ncer
emi
nist
ert
ocr
ossf
rom hi
sor
igi
nalcal
li
ngt
oanot
her
,

72
orst
ill
,combinesomeot hervisionthatarenotmeantforhi m.IfnotforGod’s
gui
dance,wewoul dbeoperatingoutsideGod’sperf
ectcall
ingforourmi ni
stry.
Suchcrossi
ngi nt
oanotherper son’
scalli
ngcausesspiri
tualleprosy.I
tmakes
oneloseboththevisi
onor i
ginallymeantforhim andthenewonet heperson
i
gnorantl
ycrossedto.

Ourleaderscanbef ocusedevenwhent heLordi

spr omot i
ngt hem,i fwecan
sacri
fi
ceourpleasur etopr ayforthem.Theyneedourpr ayersbot hdayand
night
.Wehavet ostandi nthegapf orthem.Theeviloftheday, theLor dJesus
saidisenoughforit.So, wemustnotnegl ectt
hemi ni
ster
ialcultureofpraying
forourl
eaderwithoutceasing.Thiswil
lalsohelpt
hem toconst antlyremember
thei
rhumblebeginning.

“
Godf
orbi
dthatIshoul
dsi
nagai
nstt
heLor
dinceasi
ngt
opr
ayf
oryou”
.I
Sam.12:
23

f
)Leader
sdof
aceconst
antpr
essur
e:

Leadersar emen,notangel s.So,pr essur

ecanf orcet hem toeithermi sbehave
orgoagai nstthewi l
lofGodsomet imes.Thiscompel lingforcecall
edpr essure
couldbeasar esultofvariousassi gnmentsthel eaderhast ofulfi
llwithina
shortestper i
od.I tcould as wel lbe because ofunf ait
hful
ness ofsome
member s ornegat i
ve si
tuations thatstares athi m oruphi lltasks he is
confrontedwi t
h.Extraprayersar eneededf orourl eaderswhenweseet hem
tensedup.I fyoudon’tknowt hepr ayerpoints,
prayi nt hespir
it
.TheSpi r
ithas
unli
mi t
edvocabul ari
estointercedeforourleadersinsuchat imeast his.

‘
Afri
ca2001’,anI nt
ernat
ionalMi ni
ster
s’andChur
chLeaders’Pr
ayersand
Leadershi
pConfer
enceheldatPor t
-Harcour
twasasal
ientcaser
elevantt
o
thi
sissueofpr
essurei
nmi nist
ry.

Wewer eatt heconferenceasguestmi nistersal ongsi

demanywor dministers
acrosst hegl obe.Mypr esi
denthadbeenf ollowingt hefervencyandt errif
ic
anointi
ngwi t
hwhi cht hespeaker swer
edel iveringtheirGodgi venmessages
si
ncet hepr ogrammest art
edt hr
eedaysear l
ier.Ashewasobser vingthetrend
ofthings,hekeptondesi r
ingsuchmani festationinourdr amami ni
strati
on
whichwast ot akeplaceint heeveni
ngoft hi
spar t
icul
arday.Hewast heref
or e
prayerf
ullysear chi
ngt hemi ndofGodast owhi chofourt hr
ee- stageplayswe
preparedfort heprogrammeshoul dbepresentedf ormaximum r esult.

73
Thesit
uationoverwhelmedhim.Hismoodchanged.Hewast ensedasar esult
oftheexpectat
ionthatwashangedonthemini
strat
ion.Thepeopl
edidnotj ust
needawor dofGodbutawor dfr
om Godthatf
iti
ntothesit
uati
onofthei
rlives.
Hence,nothi
ngelseinter
est
edhim apar
tfr
om t
hatdramami ni
str
ati
on.

So,afterthemor ni
ngsession,wewentbacktot hehotelt
opackourcostumes.
Whenoneofuswant edtoreceivesomet
hingfrom hi
mi nhisroom henoti
ced
thetensiononhi m.Thoseofuswhonot i
cedthisbegantoli
fthim upuntoGod
i
nourhear ts.Though,wedi dnotknowt hereasonforsuchreacti
onthen.No
l
eadercandowi thoutpressurebutthepr
ayer
soft hememberscancushionit.

Thedr amami nistrat

iont hateveni
ngwasf ant
astic.Whenwecamebackf r
om
thevenuet othehot el,het henexplainedthereasonf ort hetensionsoaked
aft
ernoon.Yourl eader’spressuremaybedi ff
erentfrom mine.Itwast hewifeof
Samsonwhopr essur i
zedhi mt odi
sclosethesecr etofhispower .Wher eas,i
t
wast hepreval
entci rcumst ancesar
oundSaulatt hebat tl
ef iel
dthatmadehi m
tof umble.The wr ong deci si
on terminat
ed his mi ni
stry.He r ecall
ed his
pressurethus:

“BecauseIsawthatpeoplewerescatt
eredf
rom meandthatt
houcamestnot
withi
nt hedaysappointed,and thatthePhil
ist
inesgat
hered t
hemsel
ves
t
ogetheratMichmash”ISamuel13”11.

Ifhisf
oll
owerstookti
met oprayforhi
m whent hi
spr essurecamet ohim,t he
Lordwouldhaveshedl i
ghtonhi swaysandt hetermi nati
onofhi skingship
couldhavebeenavert
ed.I nst
ead,t
hosewhoshoul dr allyroundt oprayforhim
desert
edhim.Isthi
snott hepict
ureofwhatmanyofusdot oday?Manyar eso
cri
ti
calaboutthei
rpastors,headofdepartmentsandl eaders.Itisimmat uri
ty
thatmakespeopledothis.Donotbecri
tical
,fr
iend,butbecar i
ngt oyourleader.

Everymemberofanygr oupshoul
drealizet
hatourmaindutyi
stopr
ayf
orour
l
eader swit
houtceasi
ng.Thatisourprimaryassi
gnment.Al
lot
her
sst
em outof
thi
sdut y.Wereyouawar ethatDanieldidnotdoital
one?Hehadtheprayer
backingofhiscompanions.

“
ThenDani elwenttohishouseandmadet hethingknownt oHanani
ah,
Mishael,and Azar
iah,hi
scompani ons;thattheywould desi
re( pr
ayf
or)
merciesoftheGodofheavenconcer
ningthissecr
et”
.Dani
el2:17-18.

74
Canyoui maginetheki
ndofpressureonhim?Tot
ellt
hekingthedream andi
ts
i
nterpret
ati
oni snojoke!Butwiththeprayer
softhesaints,hedidnotonly
know thedream anditsmeaning,butal
sowhatthekingthoughtinhi
sheart
beforeheslept
.

Withthepr ayerbackingoft hemember sofeachchurchorgr oup,t

heleader
wil
lknow al otofsecrets,fr
om thet hr
oneofheavenandusei ttoaff
ecthis
gener
ationf orGod.Also,hewi l
lknow whent ogoforward,whentowai tand
whent oeit
hert ur
ntot her i
ghtorlef
t;dependi
ngonwhatt heHolySpir
itwants
hi
mt odoateachpar ticularti
me.Ifyoupray,theLor
dwillspeakoncebutyour
l
eaderwi l
lhearittwi
cet hat“thi
sistheway, walkyei
nit
”.

g)Leader
sar
epr
onet
otempt
ati
ons:

Thedevilencompassesl eader swit

hal lmannersoft emptati
ons.Het empt s
somei nthear eaper t
aini
ngt omoney,womenandwi el
dingpowerandcont rol
anyhow.Itisnotenought othi nkourleadercannotdot hi
sorthat,wemustl i
ft
him upinprayer s.Thescripturesays,“thedeadisbet t
erthanthelivi
ng” .This
i
sbecauset herei snomor et emptati
onsf orthedead,butont heli
ving,satan
sti
llhashope.Al lheisafterist ohackdownt heleader.Heknowst hatifhe
winstheleaderhehaswont hebattl
eovert heminist
ry.Hence,ourleadersar e
hispri
ncipaltargets.

Abraham thef
atheroffai
thwasnoti mmunet otemptati
on,Davidthemanaf ter
God’s heartwas notexoner ated fr
om i t
.Solomon wi t
h al lhi
s wisdom,
knowledgeandunder st
andi ngf el
lpreytosatan’
stemptati
on.Itshowsthatour
powerandourpr esentrightst andi
ngwi thGodi snotaguar ant
eeforust o
overcomesatan’
st emptation.Hence, ifwelovetheconti
nuit
yofourmi nist
ry’s
vi
sion,wemustseepr ayingf orourleadersasacompul si
onandnotobl i
gatory.
Forthehostofdarknessknowt hissecret:

“
Smi
tet
heshepher
d,andt
hesheepshal
lbescat
ter
ed”
.Zah.13:7b.

Aclassi
calcasewaswhenSyriawagedwaragai
nstIsr
ael
.Theki
ngofSyri
a
gavehiswarrior
sspeci
fi
cinst
ruct
ion,whi
chIbel
ievesat
anusesthesame
methodnow.

“
Nowt
heki
ngofSyr
iahadcommandedt
hecapt
ainsoft
hechar
iot
sthatwer
e

75
wit
hhim,saying,f
ightyenotwi
thsmal
lorgr
eat
,saveonl
ywi
th(
except
)the
ki
ngofIsr
ael”2Chro.18:30

Doesthisseem famil
iarwit
hthekindofwarthedevi
lunl
eashesagainstthe
l
eadersofthegospelatthi
send-t
ime?Ther
efor
e,t
heneedt
oi nt
ercedeforhi
m
canneverbeover-emphasi
zed.

h)I
ll
usi
onandDel
usi
onsur
roundl
eader
s

“
Thyhabi
tat
ioni
sint
hemi
dstofdecei
t”
,sayst
heLor
d”.(
Jer
emi
ah9:6)

Cir
cumstancesandsi t
uations,whichmakel eadersfindthemselvesi ntaki
ng
somevitaldecisi
on,pervadeever ymini
str
y.Thati swhyr el
iabl
el eadersdo
comebackt osay,Iam sorry,Ihavemadeami stake,aft
erhehast akencertai
n
wrongdecisi
ons.Thisi
sbecauseweal lknowi npartsandpr ophesyinparts.

Ifthedeci si
onsofourl eadersarewat eredwi t
hpr ayers,itwil
ldispelevery
elementofi l
lusi
onanddel usionthatstandasf orge,togivehim cl
ari
tyofmi nd
totakerightdecisi
on.Weshoul dconstantlyprayspi r
it
ualil
luminat
ionintotheir
l
ives.Ithelpsinnosmal lmeasuretounder standthemi ndofGodoni ssues.No
mat t
erhowgr ossdarknesssur r
oundst hem,wi t
ht heprayersofthemember s,
theli
ghtofGodshal lshineforthandill
umi natet
heirpaths.

Camouf
lage

Someyear sago,abr otherattendedTheMountZi onI nstit

uteofChr i
stian
Drama.TheLor dfi
redhim wi t
hser iesofteachi
ngsdur ingt hecourse.Shortly,
aft
erthecour se,heresignedhisappoi ntmentinOsunSt ate.Hewentst r
aight
toImost at
etost ar
thisdr amami nistr
y.Onget t
ingthere,peopleappliedtojoin
the minist
ry.He i nt
erviewed them.He event ual
ly admi tt
ed the fi
rstfive
member s.Allofthem presentedthemsel vesasgenui neChr isti
ans.Theyeven
showedevidenceofmember shi
pofgoodPent ecostalChurches.

Yet,t
woofthem wer
eagentsofdarkness.I
twaswhenpr ayer
swereintensi
fi
ed
i
nt hegr
oup,ashewast aughtint
heI nst
it
ute,t
hatthesetwomember sbegan
tomanif
est
.Theyconfessedthatt
heyhadknownofhi scomingsi
xmont hsto
theti
mehear r
ivedi
nthecit
y.Whereas,hewenttotheeastandarr
ivedthecit
y

76
t
womont hsaf t
erhel ef
ttheInsti
tute.Theydidcamouflage,butGodf i
shed
t
hem out
.Prayersexposehostofdarkness’camouf
lageandintent
ions.

Thisremindsmeoft heI srael

it
esencounterwitht heGi beonitesshortl
yafter
theyenteredthePr omi sedLand.TheGi beonitesdi sgui sed.Theymadet he
peopleoftheLordbel ievethattheycamef r
om af arcount r y.Thedeceitwasso
plannedinawayt hatnobodycoul ddetectthei
rpl oyexceptGodr eveal
sit
.But,
Hewi l
lonlyrevealitifwedar etoaskinprayers.Ifwest udyt hisi
nJoshua9:8
-15,wewi l
lseet heevi lint
akingspir
it
ualandmi nisterialst epswi t
houtaski
ng
from t
heLord.

Howcananybodyknowt hatheisbeingdeceivediftheLorddoesnotrevealit
?
This can onl
y be known by divine r
evelati
on.Spi r
it
ualdiscer
nmenti s
necessaryf
orthi
skindofdeceit
.ItwasaftertheIsrael
it
esenteredi
ntot r
eaty
theygottoknowthattheGibeoni
tesweretheirneighbourswhodweltint hei
r
midst.Ther
ewasnothi
ngtheycoulddoagain.

Likei twast hen,soi tisnow.Asourmi ni

stryprogresses,apartfrom agentof
dar knessthatcoul dbeassi gnedtoj oi
nthegr oupfort otaldest
ructionofthe
group,t her
ear ebr ethrenandmi ni
sterswhosel i
veshavebeencont aminat
ed.
Theywoul dwantt oi dent
if
ywithus.Wemaynotbeawar eofwhatt heyhave
done,buti fweshoul dhaveanyt hi
ngt odowi t
ht hem,itcouldscut t
leallwhat
theLor dhashel pedust oachieveandt runcateourmi nist
ry.Wel iveinthe
mi dstofdecei teverydaybecauset hewholewor ldisundert heruleoft heevi
l
one.Jer .9:6,IJohn5:19.

Aroundusar ef akebeli
evers,fakemi ni
ster
sandhostofdar knessinhuman
f
orm.Theywi llbringsuggesti
onst oourleaders.IttakestheSpiri
tofGodand
theprayer
soft hesaintstothwar tt
heiref
fort
,revealthei
rmot i
vesormakethe
l
eaderdiscer
nwhi chsuggesti
onar eofGodandwhi chareofthedevil
.

“Butevi
lmenandseducers(
impost
ors)shal
lwaxwor
seandwor
se,
decei
ving
andbeingdecei
ved’2Ti
m.3:13.

Prayi
ngforourleadersiscompulsor
ynowt hantheti
meoftheear l
ychurch.I
t
i
sdangeroust ofal
lintothewait
inghandsoft hosewhodisgui set hemsel
ves
asfri
endswhent heyareactuall
yfoes.Theybegui l
eandentrapt heirvi
cti
ms.
Theymaket hehandsofsuchmi nist
rytighttoobeyGodful
ly.Theycanr et
ard
theprogr
essofami nist
ryorevendestroytheministr
ycompletely.Weneedt o

77
al
waysconsultt
heLor dinprayer
si fwedon’twanttobecaptur
edbyt
he
decei
ver
s,whohaveul
teri
ormoti
vesforanyt
hingt
heydoorsay.

i
)Leader
sar
etar
get
sofevi
lcounsel
orsandcol
labor
ator
s

“Fi
nally,bret
hren,pr
ayforus,t
hatthewordoftheLor
dmayhavef r
eecour se
andbegl ori
fi
ed,evenasitiswithyou:andthatwemaybedel i
veredfrom
unreasonableandwi ckedmen:forallmenhavenotf ai
th”
. 2Thes.3:1- 2,
Rom.15:30-
31.

Honestl
yspeaki ng,seeingt hefruitf
ulnessoft heminist
ryGodhascommi t
ted
toourhandsmakessomei ndi
vidualsj eal
ous.Theywi shtobei nourshoe.
Thatistosay,theywi shtobei nt hemi nist
ryandintheverypositi
ontheLord
hasplacedus.I nsteadofbei ngchal l
engedt oseekthef aceofGodinorderto
domor ef ortheirCr eator
,theybecomeenvi ous.Theseki ndsofpeopleare
mor edangeroust hanwecant hinkof .Theycangot oanyext enttospoi
lthe
group,t
arnishther eputati
onoft heleaderorevencollaboratewit
htheenemies
ofthegrouptoat t
acki t.

Suchf ell
owmi ghthavebeeni ntheminist
rybefor
eorbesomeonewhomoved
closertot hegr oupt ogathersomevi t
alinf
ormat i
on.Theyareeverr eadyt o
releasetheinformat i
ontoanybodywhocanhel pt hem car
ryoutthewi ckedact
theywi sht ounl eashont hemi ni
str
y.Suchwi ckedmencoul dreleasesuch
i
nf ormati
ont ot heiraccompli
ceinform ofcounsel.Thei
rcounselsareal ways
preciseanddi rectt otheweakpointofthegroupt heywishtoattack.I tcould
aswel lbet owar dst heweakpoi ntoftheleaderoft hegroup.Theyar et he
Ahi t
hophelofourdays.

Itt
ookpr ayer
st omoveGodt ot urnt
hecounselofAhitophelintof
ool
ishness.
Prayforyourl eaders.Manyprayerpointscoul
dber ai
sedonsuchi ssues.
Experi
enceshowst hatsuchcol
labor
atorscoul
dbei nsistergroupwithi
nthe
churchori nsist
ermi ni
str
youtsidepurvi
ew.Inwhicheverstate,t
heyarethe
peoplewhoenvyt hesuccessofourgroup.

Inst
ead oftarrying befor
eGod t orecei
vethesecr etthatcan maket hem
succeedli
kethegr ouporministr
ysoandsoorpat ientl
ywaiti
ngf ort
hetimeof
thei
rownpr omot ion,t
heywoul dresul
tint
omalici
ousandnef ari
ousacts.Such
peopledonotknow t hatanyonewhopul lsdownanot herperson,hi
msel fwil
l
sinkint
oobl i
vion.Paulcovetedt heprayersofbeli
everstogethi m del
ivered

78
fr
om suchevi
lpeople.Ourl
eadersneedmoreprayer
sont
hissubj
ectt
hanPaul
becauseweareli
vingatthet
ailendofthi
send-
time.

CHAPTERELEVEN

REASONSFORI
NTERCEDI
NGFORLEADERSI
I

EFFECTONMEMBERS

“Prayinthi
swayforki
ngsandal lother
swhoareinauthor
it
yoverus,orarei
n
placesofhighresponsi
bil
it
y,sot hatwecanl i
veinpeace,andqui et
ness,
spendingourt
imeinGodlylivi
ngandt hinki
ngmuchabouttheLor
d”.ITim.2:
2LB

Thef ul
fi
ll
mentorot herwiseofourcal l
ingandvi sionistiedt oourleader.
Furt
hermor e,ourmakingi tinthemi ni
str
yGodcal ledusintoort hemi ni
str
y
Godiscal l
ingust oisboundt ohow farwecanpr ayforourleader
s.Thisis
becauseourl eaders’actions,r
eact
ionsandwaysofl ifewilldet
ermine,t
oa
l
argerextent,whatourfutureinthemini
strywi
llbe.

Ihaveseenasi ncere,hardworkingandcommi ttedbr otherfrustrat

edoutofa
mi ni
str
ybyhi sleader .Eversincehehadl eftthemi nistry,hislifehasnever
beenwhati tshouldbe.Yet ,hi
sexitfr om thatmi ni
strywasnothi sfault
.Some
peopleleftt
hei
rlocalchur chasar esul toffrustr
at i
onori ntimidati
on;theyhave
notgott hei
rbearingbecauset hei
rl eavingt hatchur chi sl i
kewhenaf ishi s
takenoutoft hewat er.Theirleader'sappr oacht oi ssuesconcer ningt hem
forcedthesecommi t
tedmember soutoft hei rl
ocat i
on.I tconsequent lymade
them missthei
rallocation.Hence,prayi ngforourl eaderhasal otofmer it
st hat
i
fweknowt hem, i
twi l
lprobablyenergizeust opr ayferventlyforthem.

Thefi
rstf
ouradvant
ageswewi
llder
ivef
rom t
imet
oti
measwepr
ayf
orour
l
eader
sareviz:

Li
vingi
npeace
Li
vingi
nquiet
ness
Spendi
ngourti
meinGodl
ylivi
ng
Bei
ngablet
othinkmuchaboutGod

79
Thesear etheef
fectsofGod-feari
ngl eader
sont hei
rmember s.Iti
sprayerthat
cansoftent heheartofleaders,makest hei
rhear t
simpenetrateforthedevil
,
makest hepronouncementsofhostofdar knessofnon- eff
ectoverthem,
destr
oyst hemonitori
nggadget sofsatanandletthefearofGoddomi nat
etheir
enti
reli
fe.

Prayeri
sthepri
mar
ything,notsecondar
yassignment.Iti
sthemosteffecti
ve
weapontocombattheenemiesofourprogress,f
oritisthespi
ri
tualexerci
se
thedevi
ldr
eads.

a) Li
vingi
npeace

Peaceheremeansal if
ewi t
houttensionorquarrel;ali
fewi thful
lsecur
it
yoflif
e
and propert
yand wi t
h settl
ed mind.A lif
ewi t
hr estt hati sborneoutof
assuranceandcer t
ainty.Thestabil
it
yofami nistryorchur chandt hepeacein
i
t,whi ch i
st he productoft ravai
li
ng forleader s wil
lcr eatethe enabl
ing
envi
ronmentt omakeusgoal lthewaywi t
hGodi nthemini str
y.

Peacest rengthenstheinnermant odomor eforGod.Anywherether

eispeace,
thepeopl ei nthef ol
dwi llworkt i
rel
essl
ywi t
houtanydistr
acti
on.Whereas,
workinginanenvi ronmentwher epeacedoesnotexisti
slikepaddli
ngacanoe
againstthef l
owoft heriver
.Itmakest heworkofGodbecomet ensi
onsoaked,
tedi
ous and bor i
ng.Itwear ies one tothe poi
ntofqui t
ti
ng the mi
nist
ry.
Environmentofhost i
lit
ywi llmakeoner econsi
derthoset hi
ngsoneonce
beli
eved.

Whi l
esomemi ni
strymember swishthatChristshoul
dnotcomenowt oenable
them fini
shwhatt heyaredoingforGodandevendomor e,thoseintur
bulent
ministri
eswi llbepr ayi
ngt hatChristshouldcomequi cklyt ocatchupt he
saints.Ther easoni sthatt
heyar eenduringt hei
rministerialli
vesinst
eadof
enjoyingit
.Ifwemakei tapointofdutyt
opr ayforourleaders,

“TheLor
dwi l
lgivestrengthunto(us)hi
speopl
e;t
heLor
dwi
llbl
ess(
us)hi
s
peopl
ewithpeace”.Psalm 29:11.

b)Li
vingi
nQui
etness

Onecannotexpl
aint
hisst
ateoflivi
ngwithoutsayi
ngi
tisl
ivi
nginast
atef
ree
f
rom t
roubl
eandwi t
houtanxi
ety.Also,i
tmeansnotdoingthi
ngsr
ashl
yasa

80
resultofdisturbances.I
fwedonotseeanyj ust
if
iabl
ereasontoprayforour
leadersandconsequent l
y,r
efusetoprayf
orthem,wemustpr epar
efortr
oubl
e,
anxiety,di
sturbancesandrashbehaviuor
s,whichcouldmarort ermi
nateour
visi
on.Theseshal lnotbeourlot
sinJesusname.

Ourvisionmustjustcont
inue,so, what
everittakestosustai
nitiswor t
hallour
att
ention.Wemustpayt hesacr i
fi
cesitdemands.Hence,pr ayercannotbe
neglectedi
nthiswise.Infact,thissubjectisprimusinterpares(fi
rstamong
equals)whenitcomest odoingt hethi
ngst hatcanmakeusf ulf
il
lourmission
onear t
h.

Ili
kenl i
vinginquiet
nesstoachi l
dwhoi sweanedf r
om suckingbreast.Hewi l
l
becont ended;hewi l
lnomor ebebeggi ngt osuckbreast
.Anymemberi nthis
statewillnotcl
amourf ort
hings.Heknowst hatt
hingsri
ghtlybelongi
ngt ohim
willbegiventohim attheappropri
atetime.Thekindofenvironmentcreatedby
theleaderwi l
leit
herbuil
dsuchconf i
denceorbr eedunnecessaryanxiety.But
theonusl i
esonust ocallGodf orshapi ngandr eshapingofhi sthoughts,
atti
tudesandchar act
ersthatwil
lbr i
ngthespiri
tofquiet
nessi nt
oourmi nistr
y.
TheLor di smor eint
erest
edi nthismor ethanwedo.Hence,Hei seagert o
answerusi fonlywecanpr ay.IPeter3:4;2Thes.3:12.

c)I
tmakesusspendt
imei
nGodl
yli
ving

SinceourGodi shol
y,anyment ioni
ngofgodl yl
ivi
ngwi l
lremindusofhol y
l
iving.Italsomeansl
if
ethatdoesnotindul
gei nsi
ns.Therel
ati
onshipbetween
l
eader sandmember sisami racl
eofGodt ojoint
hem toget
her.Theref
ore,t
he
unifi
cationandit
smutualbenefi
tscannotl
eaveoutprayer
s.

Ibelievet hatourregularpr ayersformypr esidenthel

pust okni twit
hhi m.I t
consequent l
y,hel
psust oflow int hesamespi ri
tanddevelopsi milaratt
itude
towar dsissuesofl i
feandmi ni
stry.Ifhehasabadat ti
tudetoi ssues,i
tismost
l
ikelyt hatwewoul dbei nf
luencedt oo.Likebegetl i
kes.Whenyoucont i
nuet o
prayf oryourPast orandl eader,thef earofGod,t heri
ghteousnessofGod,t he
l
oveofGodandf aithf
ulnessshal lpr ogressivel
ydevelopi ntheirli
vesandt hi
s
willposi t
ivel
yaffectyou.Al ltheseat t
ri
butesshal lbegintor efl
ectinyourl if
e
too.

Theatt
it
udeoft
heleaderofaminist
rycanmaket hememberstoei
therli
ve
godl
yoroff
endGod.Becauset
heleaderwi
eldssuchatremendousi
nfl
uence

81
ont
hemember
s.

“Whentheri
ghteousarei
nauthor
ity,t
hepeopl
er ej
oice:butwhent
hewi
cked
bear
ethrul
e,t
hepeoplemour
n( gr
oan)”Pr
ov.29:2.

Afai
thfull
eaderisboundt odevel
opmaj orl
yf ai
thfulmembers,becausehe
l
eadsandothersfoll
owhim.WhenPeterl
eftcari
ngf orthesheepoft
heLordto
goafishi
ng,otherdi
sci
plesf
oll
owedhim.Ourl eadersinfl
uenceusmor et
han
howwet hi
nktheydo.

Myleader’sapproachtoli
fehasreal
lyaff
ectedusinthismini
str
y.Het akesli
fe
sosi
mpl e.Hebelievest
hatwhatevercomest ohi
shandsar enothi
sperse, but
apassaget hroughwhicht hosethi
ngswoul dbeblessingsuntoothers.This
hasgreatl
ychangedouror i
entat
ionandhelpsourapproachtoGod’sblessi
ng.

Letus,t
heref
ore,conti
nuetopr
ayfort
hem;becauseprayerhel
psthananyof
uscaneverimagi ne.OurGodi
sablet
odoexceedingl
y,abundant
lyaboveal
l
thatweaskorthink.

Prayforyourl
eader,
brot
her.Prayforyourleader,
sist
er.Teachot
her
stofol
low
suit
.Ifyoudothese,
youwillr
eali
zeshortlythati
tiseasiert
odothewil
lofGod
onear t
hasiti
sinheaventhanhowyout hi
nkitisnow.

d)Thi
nki
ngmuchaboutt
heLor
d

Ourleaderi sthedet erminingf actorf ortheext enttowhi chwewi llknow the

Lord.Thel evelofspi r
it
ualgr owt handcont inuouspur suanceoft hevisionin
anyChr ist
ianci r
cleisdet ermi nedbyt hespir i
tualknowl edgeoft hel eader.
Becauseasal eader,hehast or eceivef r
om Godandpassi tacrosst ohi s
member s.ByHi sgrace, manyofushavedevel opedi nourvar i
ouschur chesto
thelevelofSundayschoolt eacher s,Sundayschoolsuper int
endent,Deacons,
Deaconess,Housecel lleaderset c,bef or
eweent eredintof ul
l-t
ime.Whenone
ofust oldhisGener alOver seerofhi scalli
ngt of ul
l-t
imei n1989,hi sGener al
Overseersaidhewant edthebr othert ogot oPast oralSchoolandcomebackt o
pastortheheadquar t
erchur ch.

Despi
teallt
hesegrowth,wheneverwegat herformeeti
ngs,andmypresident
begi
nstoexpoundthescri
ptures,i
tisasiftheBibl
ewear ereadi
ngi
sdif
ferent
fr
om his.This makes us desir
ef orregularmeeti
ngs.Anybody who had

82
attendedTheMountZi onInsti
tut
ewi l
lhaveani deaofwhatIam t al
kingabout ;
becausedur ingapr ogrammewecal led‘HolyGhostBr eakfast’
,suchmyst eri
es
docomeoutt hroughhi m.Ourpaststudentsuset osay,thisisanaspectoft he
Instit
uteyoucannotf ul
lyexplai
ntopeopl e.Seeingisbeli
eving.Allthesemake
uspr ayforhi m mor eforknowledge,wi sdom,under standing and express
ent r
anceintot hethroneoft heAlmighty.Yourpr ayerswil
lhel pyourleaderto
ber eceptivethanwhatwoul dhappeni fyoul eavehi mt opaddl ehiscanoe
alone.Itisgoodt odoal lt
het hi
ngst hatwillencourageourl eader
s,butifwe
failtoprayforthem,wehavenotdoneanyt hi
ng.

Manymyst eri
esmyl eaderdishesouttousfrom bot
ht hescript
uresandGod’s
deal
ing inrel
ati
on to ourcal l
ing cannotbereceived ful
lyfrom anyother
quart
ers.Godgavehi mt hemanualoft hemini
stryasal eader.Ii
magineifhe
didnotrecei
veallthesemyst eri
es,maybewewoul dnothavebeenwher ewe
aret
oday.Thesecretisthathecovet sourpr
ayer
sandwemember sandal
lour
fami
lymember stooaredut yboundt oprayf
orhi
m.

IowethethingsIknownowt
ohim.Hei
mpartedt
hesevi
rt
ues,whichcannotbe
quanti
fi
ed,i
ntoeachofus.Thati
stosay,weal
soenjoythedividendofour
prayer
sforhim.

e)Leader
sasumbr
ell
a

Theleaderofanymini
str
yisthespi
ri
tualheadoftheminist
ry.Soal
soi
sthe
past
orofyourchur
ch.Hence,
heisli
keanumbr el
laandallot
hermember
sare
underneat
h.

Theref
ore,i
ftheumbrel
laisper
for
ated,rai
nwi l
lbeatt
hemembers.Weshould
makesur eweexploreeverymeansthatwi l
lguideourl
eader
sagainstbei
ng
poroustotheant
icsoft
hedevil
.And,theonlythi
ngIknowwecandoi stopr
ay
forhi
m.

WhenSaulwasdef eatedonbat t
lefi
eld,itwasnotonl yhimt hatwaskill
ed,
manyI sraeli
tessoldi
ersalsodiedwi t
hhim.So, i
fanygroupleaderdoesathing
thatwillkeepawayt hepresenceofGodf rom thegroup,hismember swi l
l
suff
erforit.Theleaderi st
hemai ngat etoyourgroup.Eachofthemember sis
adoori ntot hemansi onofthegr oup.Ifthemai ngateisoverpowered,the
enemiescaneasi lybreakthroughthedoor s.

83
Itt
ooksevendaysf orIsr
aeli
testosubduethewallandthemaingat eofJeri
cho
buttookt hem l
essthanadayt ooverrunthewholecitybybreakingint
oevery
doori nthatcit
yandspoi l
ingtheinhabit
antsthereof
.Thiscall
sf orwisdom.
Prayf ort
heumbr el
la.Prayforthemai ngate.Theresul
tanteff
ectistomake
youliveaquietandpeaceableli
fe.

f
)Ther
eli
esourbl
essi
ng

Thebl essi
ngofGodt oeachminist
ryisfrom above;itcomesdownf rom Hi s
throneinheaven.TheLordrequi
resthatbefor
eHesendsdownt heseblessings,
weshoul daskHimt odoitforus.(Eze.36:37) .Theref
ore,whenyoupr ay
blessingsint
oyourmi ni
str
y,youmustnotf orgettoprayiti
ntotheli
feofyour
l
eadert oo.Because,asyouprayforGod’sblessingonhi m,youareindirectl
y
prayingiti
ntoyourownlif
e.

Someyear sago,mypr esi

dentusedt ocarryreamsofpaperonhisheadt ot
he
press.Youcani magi nethel evelofhisblessi
ngandour sthen.Butnow,he
cannotdoi t.Notbecausehedoesnotwantt odoso,butbecauset her
eisno
causef orit,si
ncether earevehi cl
esi nthemi ni
str
ytoconveysuchl oads.
Wher eas,asatthetimehewascar ryi
ngthosethings,t
her
ewasnomoneyt o
evenhi r
ecommer ci
alvehiclesforthepurpose.

Though,hewasper f
ormi
nghisdut
ieswithjoyatthet
imeIam ref
err
ingto,
we
weredeepl
ytouched.So,
weprayedearnestl
yforGodt
oblesshim.AstheLord
i
sgraduall
yblessi
nghim,weareal
sotappingthefl
owofi
ttoo.

Whenwepr ayandblessingcomesfr
om Godt oourmi nist
ry,itcannotbypass
ourleaderandcomet ous.No,Godhasnotpl annedi tliket hatfr
om t he
begi
nning.I
tisnotHisdivineor
der
.Theblessinghast oflow from theleader
downt othemember s.Assoonasourl eaderisget ti
ngbl essedspiritual
ly,
materi
all
yandfi
nanci
ally,t
hesameatmospherewillopendoor sofblessingfor
themembersintur
n.

Psal
m 133:1-
3saysdwel
li
ngi
nuni
ty

“I
sliket
hepreci
ousoint
mentupontheheadthatr
andownuponthebear
d,
evenAar
on’
sbeard:t
hatwentdownt
otheski
rt
sofhisgar
ment
s”.

Theoi
ntmentonAar
ondi
dnotf
low upbutdown.Theheadi
sthehead.My

84
l
eaderist
heheadofmymi ni
str
y.So,
theleaderi
sli
ketheheadofAaronandal
l
ot
hermember saretheremaini
ngpartsofthebody.Prayf
oryourleader
.You
wil
lreapi
tinduecourse.

g)I
tfost
ersuni
tyandpr
ogr
ess

Thespir
itofpr
ayer
sbuil
dsandmendst hef enceofanymi ni
str
ywher eitis
givenpr
ior
it
y.Whenthemember spr
ayfortheirleaderandtheleaderdot he
sameforhi
smembers,i
tsol
idi
fi
esandconcr
etizesthefenceofthegroup.

Thisprincipleal
sohelpsustorest
oreanygr oupwhosef enceiscoll
apsing
backont rack.I
tendearsmembersoft hesamemi nist
ryt oeachot her
.It
enhancest heloveofGodtobeshedabr oadinourhear
t.Itgenerat
esr i
ght
understandingofot
herbel
ovedmini
ster
sinourgroupandco- mini
ster
si nour
churches.

Whenanyofusi sgivenanassignment,ifi
tistheonethatrequi r
esmorehands,
wedon’ twaitt
obet oldbef
orewer al
lyroundthebrethr
ent hatisinchargeofit.
Allwear eint
erestedinist omakesur ewehel pourbr otherorsisterto
successfull
yaccompl i
shhisorherassi gnment.Ibelievet hiscoll
aborati
ve
approachi spossibleandeasiertodobecauseourpr ayer sforourleaders
whichgr aduat
edt othehabitofprayi
ngf oreachotherhasmadeusl oveone
anotherasourownsoul .

Unityandpr ogressisautomati
cint hegr oupthatpraysfortheirl
eaders.There
willbesporadiclif
ti
ngwhi chwi
llbeunst oppableforanybody.Thel if
ti
ngwi l
lbe
soamazi ngt hatnobodycandescribehowi tcomes.InthatPsal m 133:3,
there,
theLordment ionedtwomount ainst hataresi gni
fi
cant– Her monandZi on.
MountHer monwasasacr edmount aininSyr i
a.Mosti mportantl
y,itwast he
highestmount aininthatcountry.Thisdepi ctspromotionandl i
fti
ngofyour
group.Also,MountZi oni saplaceofdel i
verance,hol
inessandpossessi ng
possessions.

Butal
lthesewi
llcomel
iket
hedewf
rom t
het
opandf
lowdown,

“AsthedewofHer mon,andast hedewthatdescendeduponthemountai

ns
ofZion;forther
et heLor
dcommandedt heblessi
ng,evenl
if
eforever
more
(cont
inui
tyinli
feandmini
str
y)”Psal
m 133:3.

85
Anymi nist
rywher etheat ti
tudeofpr ayi
ngfortheleaderandprayi
ngf
oreach
otheriscult
ivated,wi
lljustdiscoverthatbot
ht hel
eaderandthemembersare
knit
tedtogetherl i
ket heumbi l
icalcordistot hef oet
usinthewombofa
pregnantwoman.Though,t hiskindofpr ayerisdemanding,it’
swort
hits
demand.Payt hepri
cet oreceivethereward.

h)I
tmakesobedi
enceeasy

Aconfidencenaturall
ydevelopsinthehear
tofanymemberwhopraysforhi
s
l
eader.Hewi l
lber estassur
edt hatGodanswer
shispr
ayer
s,andt
hattheone
heprayedforhisleaderisnoexcepti
on.

Fort hi
sr eason,itmakesusbel ieved t
hatwhat everourl eaderdoesand
whicheverinstructi
onhegi vesmustbet heanswert oourpr ayers.Though
thesemaynotbet hewaywewanti t
.Aft
erall,
iti
snotal lGod’sanswert oour
personalprayersthati
saccordingtohowwewantt hem.Knowi ngt hisf
actwil
l
enhanceoureasyobedi encetoourleader.Thequestionofcrit
icizi
nghim wil
l
hardlyari
sef r
om ourhear t
s.Thereasonforsuchist hat,t
heper sonyoudon’t
prayfor,
youcr i
tici
ze.

i
)Leader
s’deci
sionsaf
fectmember
s

Humannat ur epreferstocorrectorcri
ti
cizel eadersthanprayingf ort hem.
Manygr oupmember sfal
lint
ot hi
ssamecat egory.Theyareguilt
yoft hesame
off
ence.Theef f
ectofsuchneglectisf
arreachingonusasmember st hanwhat
wecanbear .CouldtheIsr
aeli
teshaveimagi nedt hatt
hebitt
erpillofasi ngl
e
deci
sionoftheirleaderwouldcausethedeathofsevent ythousand( 70,000)of
God’speople?

“
AndSat
anst
oodupagai
nstI
srael
,andpr
ovokedDavi
dtonumberI
srael
”.
IChr
oni
cles21:1.

Sataninsti
gatedDavi dtonumberI sr
ael
;hewasi nactualsense,ai
mingt o
destr
oyI sr
ael
.Whoknowswhet heranyofyourleader
’sdeci
sionisaimingat
att
ackingandr uini
ngyouasamemberoft hegroup?KingDavid’sdecisi
on
hadanuni magi nabl
enegati
ver esultonthepeopletheLordmadehi mt o
govern.Theaftermathef
fecti
srecordedinIChr
o.21:14-15:

“
So,t
heLor
dsentpest
il
enceuponI
srael
:andt
her
efel
lofI
sraelsevent
y

86
t
housandmen”
.

I
fthedeci
sionwasaposi
ti
veone,
itcoul
daswel
lhaveaf
fect
edt
hem posi
ti
vel
y.

OurGodi sthesame, yesterday,t

odayandf orever.Heusesthesameyardsti
ck
ontheleader’
sdecisions,whi chhassomet hingst odowithhisdomai
n.Since
weareundert hedomai nofourmi ni
str
y’leader,letususeourremotecontr
ol
tocontrolourdestinyt hroughhim.Aspr ayerhel pshimt omakether i
ght
deci
sion,i
tchannel
st hecour seofourli
vesr i
ghtly.

j
)Ef
fectont
heMi
nist
ry

Thesuscept ibi
li
tyofaministr
y,totheleadinganddi ct
ateoft
heHolySpiri
t,has
somet hing t
o do withthechancet hel eaderand t hemember screatefor
prayersandvar i
ousspiri
tualpreparati
ons.Prayingforourleadersdevelops
ourinteresttoprayfort
hemi nist
ry;whichalsoincreasesourconcent
rati
onon
thevisionoft heminist
ryandsensi t
ivit
yt owhateveri si
nthenextagendaof
theSpiritofGodforthegroup.

Idiscoveredthatt herat
eatwhi cht heLor dpromot esthismini
stryi srapid.But
Ial so discovered thatas a r esultofHi s gr ace on the mini
st ry,we ar e
challengedbyver ymanyt hi
ngs, l
ikeKingSol omonadvi sedustol ear nlessons
andbechal l
engedf rom theli
vesandact ivit
iesofants,spider
s,l
ocust s,li
zards,
eagles,snakes, et
c.Het eachesust hroughvar iousmeans.Somet hingswhi ch
ordinari
lywi l
lmeannot hingt osomepeopl e,whent heypasst hr oughi tor
exper i
enceit,shouldmeanal ott ous.

A classicalexampl eist hewayt hepr oduct

ion ofthesecul ardramatists
chal
lengedmypr esi
dentasf arbackas1985.Wher evertheirposter
swer e
pasted,hewoul dstandbef or
ei tandbetell
ingGodthat“Lor
d, enoughofthese
occult
icf i
lmsandbl asphemingoft henameoft heLivi
ngGodt hroughsecular
fi
lms”.Hewasgr eatl
yjeal
ousf orGod.

Itwasduri
ngt hisper i
odt heLor dgavehim ananal ogyofDavi
dandGol i
ath.
TheLordl
ikenedt hefortydayst hegiantusedtoblasphemetheLor
dofhostto
aboutf
ort
yyear st heYor ubaseculardramatist
shavebeenbot honstageand
i
nmovie.Hesai ddr amami ni
stersar
elikeDavidthatmustf
aceGoli
ath.

Thoughsomeoft
hesecul
ardr
amat
ist
swer
eshoot
ingoncel
lul
oidt
hen,my

87
belovedpresidentnevercompar edhimselfwi
tht hem.Rather,l
ikeDavid,he
si
zedt hem andwhatt heywer edoingwit
hwhatt heLordcoulddot hr
oughhim.
We, i
nturn,werechallengedbywhatt heyweredoing.Wewer enotdemorali
zed
byt heirachievement.Whi l
et heywer eshooti
ngwi thcine-camera,wet oo
start
edwithourst onesandsling,whichishomevideo.

Befor
etheNigeri
anSecularMovieProducer
schangedtohomevideoin1993,
wehavebeenpr oducingourGodgivenmessagesinhomevideosinceMarch
1990.Webeganwi t
h" TheUnpr
ofi
tabl
eServant
",f
oll
owedby"Begi
nningofThe
End"inNovemberofthesameyear.

Fri
end,don’ tbeinti
midatedbyt heextentofot her
s’acti
ng,technical
it
yand
message.Butl etyourleadertar
rybeforeGodf ortheunadult
eratedmessage
theLor dwant stopasst othewor ldthroughyourmi ni
str
y,whi l
eal lthei
r
member scont i
nuetoli
fthim upinthei
rprayers.MoveatGod’space.Hei sthe
onet hatwi l
lmoveyouf r
om phaset ophaseandf rom onedi mensiont o
anotherti
llyoureachyourdesti
nati
on.

Donotsay,“Icannotdoanyt hi
ng.IknowGodspoket ome, butIjustdon’tsee
howi ti
spossibl
et ofulf
il
lmyvisionandaspirati
onsinthemi ni
stry".TheLord
saidweshouldstartonst agebefor
egoingintofil
m shoot
ing.Whenheshar ed
thi
swi t
hus,itf i
redourspi ri
ttowor krel
entlessl
yforGodonst agebefore
graduat
ingt
ofilmmaki ng.Thezealwasspectacular
.

Yousee, t
hedeci
sionthatwil
lmoveyourministr
yforwardwillcomefr
om your
l
eader.Andifyoufai
ltoprayforhi
m,therevelat
ionthatwil
lblowuphi sspi
ri
t
wil
lnotbe t her
e.Yourguess on whatwi llbe the consequence ofsuch
negl
igenceisasgoodasmi ne.

Anotherexampl eist hatourf ait

h-oper
atedl i
festyl
eandgi vinglif
ear et
he
productofthechallengeswer ecei
vedfrom themi ni
ster
iall
if
eofmenofGod
l
ikeKenneth Hagin,Or alRoberts,Kenneth Copeland,etc.Ithasso much
aff
ectedourmi ni
steri
all i
fest
yletotheextentthattherei
shar dlyanyt
hingt
he
Lordhasdirect
edust ogi vewhichwehadnotgi ven.

Thereareal otwecancit
easexampl estoGod’sglor
yandtotheedif
icat
ionof
thereaderofthi
sbook.I
tisnotatall
,foranyshowoff
.Theonl
yoneIwi l
lcit
eis
whenwehadonl yonebuswhi chwewer eusi
ngt otr
avelaboutforstage
dramaandot herworkofthemi ni
str
y,theLordtoldustosow ittoanother

88
mi
nist
ry.Wecompl
ied.

Formor ethant hr
eeyear safteri
t,wewer ehi r
ingvehicl
estocarryust o
minist
rat
ionvenues.Weal sousedcommer ci
alvehicl
esf
oreveryot
herjour
ney
weembar kedon.Therewer efewchil
drenofGodwhosai d,“Ar
eyousur eGod
tol
dyout osowt hevehi
cle?Becauseforthepasttwoorthreeyear
s,youhave
notbeenrewarded”.

Weshoul dknow thatthewayofGodi snotgiveandtake.Thereisalwaysa

ti
met owaitandat i
met omoveatt heLord’
space.Whenami ni
strydiscer
ns
thecounselofGod,shewi l
lnotr
ush.Also,
suchti
meast hi
smaybet hetimeof
so-cal
led“shame”f orthemi ni
str
y.Butt hescr
ipt
uretel
lsmet hatforyour
shameyoushal lhavedoublehonour.

Whenwemakei tourdut ytoprayforourl eader

,othermember sandt he
minist
ryasawhol e,i
twil
lact
ivat
eusandpr epareusforwhattheLordwi
lldo.
Therewi l
laswellbeconduciveatmosphereandexpresspassageforGodt o
walkthroughourmini
str
ywithoutanyhindr
ancetowhatHeisgoingtodo.

IfHeisallowedt owor kwi t

hust hroughprayersandobedi ence,ourmi nist
ry
wil
lwitnessastoundinggr owth,whichotherminist
ri
eswi llseeandt hinkthat
Godispar ti
al.Conversel
y,ifwedonott akeituponoursel vestopr ayf orour
l
eader,ourmi nist
ryorgroupmayr emaindor mantandi nact i
ve.Wher eas,the
Lordhasgivenusavi brantmi ni
str
y;butwehavet otr
iggeriti nprayers.

CHAPTERTWELVE

ARMOUR-
BEARER’
SHORI
ZONTALRELATI
ONSHI
P

TheLor dhashelpedust husfartounfold,

toacer tai
nextent,whatweneedto
know onourver ti
calrel
ationshi
pwi thourl eaders.Thishasmadeust ouch
variousobli
gat
ionsandr esponsibi
li
ti
eswehavet owardsthem.Butthisbook
willbeshortofbeingabal ancedwrit
e-upifIdonotdevot eatleastachapt
er
onourr el
ati
onshipwit
hot hermember soft hegr ouporot hermembersinour
localchur
chdepartments.

Whet
herwel
ikei
tornot
,wecomei
ncont
actwi
thourcol
leaguesi
nourgr
oups

89
whil
edischar
gingourdut
iest
hanwedowi thourleadersandpastors.Our
cl
osenessmakesusfami
li
arwi
tht
hef
ail
ingsandweaknessesofoneanother
.

Rel
ati
ngwi
thourgr
oupmember
s

A commonpr overbsays,“famil
iar
it
ybr eedscontempt”
.Thisholdswayi n
manygr oupsandmi nist
ri
esthesedays;however,i
fweimbibegodl
ycult
ureof
rel
ationshipasitistaughtbytheHolyBible,t
hispr
overbwil
lnotbetr
ueinour
sit
uat i
ons.Hereunderar etheBibli
calteachi
ngsonr el
ati
onshi
pinChrist
ian
cir
cle.

“
Submi
tt
ingyour
sel
fonet
oanot
heri
nthef
earofGod”
.Eph.5:21.

“Li
kewi se,yeyounger
,submityour sel
vesuntot
heel der
.Yea,al
lofyoube
subjectonetoanother,andbeclothedwithhumi
li
ty:f
orGodresi
stthepr
oud,
andgi vethgr
acetothehumble”.IPeter5:5

“Beki
ndlyaf
fect
iononet
oanot
herwi
thbr
other
lyl
ove,i
nhonourpr
efer
ri
ngon
anot
her”
.Romans12:10.

“Letnot
hingbedonethroughstr
if
eorvainglor
y;butinl
owl
inessofmi
nd,l
et
eachesteem ot
herbet
tert
hanthemsel
ves”.Phi
l.2:3.

Dearf r
iend,regardot hersinyourgr oupordepar t
mentasser vantsofGod,
i
rrespectiveofyourfell
ow’sage,status,backgroundorspirit
uall
evel.Brotherl
y
l
ove thatspr ings outofhumi li
ty,wher ei tis al
lowed to operate,br i
ngs
harmoni ousrelati
onshipint
ot hemi nist
ry;butpride,str
if
eandvai nglory,on
theotherhand,gener atesfr
ict
ion,confusionandquar rel
li
ng.Thereisstrength
i
nuni t
y.Conver sel
y,disuni
tymakest hegr oupporoustodevil’
sattack.

Asasonofaf armer,Ihaveseen,onseveraloccasions,how t
ermi t
esmade
extensi
vet unnelsthroughthest
ruct
ureofmai zestem toweakent hem.Since
theinsectsmadenoopeni ngtotheout
side,
bef or
ewenot icedt
heirinvasi
on,i
t
usedt obet oolate.Thedamagesar ealwaysi r
reparabl
e.Termitesdamage
woodenf urnitur
einthesamemanner .

Satanandhiscohortatt
ackunit
yandloveinmini
str
iesjustl
iketer
mi t
eseat
thestal
kofmaizefrom t
heinsi
de.I
tisver
ydif
fi
cul
tforthedevilt
oattackour
groupsfr
om out
sideandwin,butwhent
heunit
yandloveinthegroupiseaten

90
up;t
heyarer
eplacedwit
hpride,hatr
edanddisuni
ty.Theresul
tantef
fectisthat
,
j
ustali
tt
lest
orm wil
lmakethegr oupfal
lfl
atl
ikeapackofcards.Therefore,l
et
l
oveandhumili
tyunit
eyourgroup.Iti
snotonlynecessar
ybutcompul sory.

Wehavet oalsobearwi t
honeanothersincetheHolySpi r
itissti
llworkingon
ourfel
lowstoo.Thi
scal lsf
orendurance.Peopl
edof orcef
ul l
yremovespecks
fr
om theeyeoftheircoll
eaguewhil
et heythemsel
veshavel ogsintheireyes.
Thethingswecancor recti
nlove;l
etuscor r
ectandleavet heresttotheabl e
handsoftheHolySpir
itwhowilldotheperf
ecti
on.

Davidpickedfivesmoot hst onesi

ntheval l
eyofElar.Ther
ewer emanyst ones
att hevall
ey.Hepi ckedt hosethatallowedt hemselvestobepol i
shedby
grindi
ngeachot heraser osi
oncarri
edthem along.Astheendurancecontinued,
outoft hefi
vest ones,therewasoneal l
owedi t
selftobereducedt othesize
thatcouldpenetrat
etheonl yholeavai
lableontheforeheadofGoli
ath.

Weshouldalsoknowthataswebearwi
thourfel
lowsi
nthemini
str
y,i
tisdoi
ng
theworkofpoli
shingandsmoot
hinginourli
ves.Themoreweallow t
hist
he
bett
erwebecomei nl
if
eandmini
str
y.

Donotdespiseyourfel
lowbr
otherorsi
sterbecauseyouhaveagiftt
heydonot
have.Thereisnoonewhodoesnotr eceiveatleastagif
tfr
om God.Yourown
gi
ftmaybeconspi cuouswhi
leminemaybehi dden.Inal
l,l
etusf
eartheGiver
whowi l
lrewardever
yoneofus.

Remembert hecaseoft hePhar i

seeandt hePubl icaninLuke18:9- 14.The
for
merpr oved hemai ntai
ned holiness,fasti
ng and pai d hi
st i
thes.Allhe
mentionedweregoodser vi
ces,buti nthecour seofdoi ngthem,prideenter
ed
hisli
fe,whi
chmadehi m despi sethePublican.Thi sspiri
tcontaminatedand
destr
oyedhisservi
cesbef oreGod.TheBi bler ecordsthatthePubl i
canwent
downt ohishousej usti
fi
edr atherthanthePhar iseewhopr esentedhimself
sancti
moniousl
y.Forust obej ust
if
iedbeforeGod, wemustendeavourt oser
ve
Him withal
lhumil
it
y.

Rel
ati
ngwi
thSub-
Uni
tLeader
s

Aseachgr oupormini
str
ydevelops,
somedepart
mentswi l
lhavetobecreat
ed.
Thisdecentr
ali
zat
ionofassi
gnmentswil
lhel
ptheminist
rytobemor eef
fect
ive
themor e.Whenthesub-unit
sordepart
mentsarecreated,speci
fi
cmember s

91
wil
lbeassignedtomanthoseposts.I
tgivesever
yassignmenttheat
tent
ioni
t
deser
ves.Hence,member
softhegroupwi l
lnotbejackofal
ltr
adeandnobody
wil
lbeoveruti
li
zedwhi
leother
sarebeingidl
e.

Someoft hesesub- unitsarealwaysshor t

-li
vedast heirassi
gnmentsf i
nishes;
others willlastfort he restoft he mi nist
ry’sl i
fe span.I
n each oft hese
assignment s,unit
sordepar tments,t herewi llalwaysbeamemberoft he
ministr
yt ol ead.Ther ef
ore,ourhor izontalobligat
ioni stoall
ow whoeveri s
saddledwi ththetaskofl eadi
ngtol ead.Wear etogivesuchsub- uni
tleaderall
thespiri
tualandmor alsupportnecessar ytomakehi m succeed

Experiencesshowt hatinsteadofcooper
ati
ngwiththeunit
-leader,somer eact
negativel
yt ohisorherl eadershi
porcompl i
cat
eissuesforhi m orher.Thi s
oughtnott obeso.Gi vehonourt owhom honourisdue.TheLor dwhochose
thatbrotherorsist
erratherthanyouorIt
oleadthedepar
tmentknowswhatHe
i
sdoi ng.Hewi l
lappointyouorIt oleadanot
heruni
t,whichHewi l
lgiveust he
gracet ofuncti
onbest .Heknowsyourf rameandknowsmi netoo.Hei sour
Maker .

Anybody who f i
nds itdiff
icul
tto obey whoeverGod chose t olead an
assignmentnow,wi llharvestsame soonest.Thereis no pointhij
acking
authorit
yfrom ouruni
t-l
eader.Heistheleaderandwear emember satt hat
pointint i
me.Complywi thhisdir
ecti
ve.Respectbeget
sr espect
.Respectis
reci
procal.Whenyour espectyourfel
low mini
sterwholeadsyouatagi ven
ti
me,i tmeansyouappr eci
ateGodandHi schoice.Ital
someansyouaccept
suchleadershi
p.

SuchacceptanceofGod’schoicei
sanevidenceofhumi l
it
y.Andwhoever
f
oll
owswithoutfr
ict
ioncr
eat
esforhi
msel
fast
andingi
ntegr
it
y.

Iti
snotacr imetogi vewhoeveri ssaddledwithar esponsi
bil
it
ytoleadan
assi
gnmentsuggestionifweseeanyr easonforit
.But ,heisnotboundtotake
i
thook,l
ineandsinker.SincetheLordhasputhimint hatposit
ion,
thesub-
unit
l
eaderi
sexpectedtopr ayerf
ull
ythi
nkfart
herthanothers.

Evenwhenoursuggest i
onseemsbetterthanhisdecisi
on,inordertoavoi d
clashes,west
il
lhavet
oabidebyhi
sinstr
ucti
on.Though,Ihavenotarr
ived,but
theLor dhel
pedmet olear
nthisr
uleearlyinmymi nist
eri
alli
fe.I
thasbeen
helpingmet ocomportmysel
fwit
hinmymi ni
str
yandnott obet oof or
war d

92
whenauni
tinwhi
chIam nott
hel
eaderi
srel
ati
ngwi
thout
sider
s.

Thereisthi
sproblem ofseeingourover
alll
eaderastheper sonwear eli
ablet
o
obey.Whereas,forpeace,love,uni
tyandt r
anquil
it
ysakei nthegroup,some
otherpeopl
ewi t
hinourgr oupwil
lhavetoleadwhilewet akeinstr
ucti
onsfrom
them as ifthose unitleaders ar
e ouroverallleader
.Under standi
ng thi
s
minist
eri
alrul
ewi l
lletus

“St
ri
veforpeacewit
hal
lmen,andhol
inesswi
thoutwhi
chnoonewi
llseet
he
Lor
d”.Heb.12:14.

Satanusest hisareaof t
ent odestabi
li
zethel ike-mi ndednessanduni tyof
dramagr oupsanddepar tment si
nourl ocalchur ches.Heknowst hatifhe
cannotsucceedtodisrupt,t
runcat
eorsevereourver t
icalr el
ati
onshipwithour
overal
lleader
,hecanat t
ackt hegr
oupthrought hishor izontalr
elat
ionshi
p.We
shouldknowhi sdevi
cesandcheckmat ehim accordingly.

TheLordwil
lteachyoumoreont
het
opi
cswedi
scussedi
nthi
sbookasyou
tar
rybef
oreHi
mt olear
nofHi
m.

93
 CHAPTERTHI
RTEEN

GODATWORK

“ThereasonMoseswoul dleadt
hepeopl
eoutoft
hewilder
nessi
sbecausehe
hadbeent her
efortyyear
s.Youcannotl
eadthepeopl
esomewhereyouhave
notbeenyoursel
f”
,saysaPastor
.

Gl
or ybetoGodf
orhelpi
ngyout ost
udyt
hisbookt
husf
ar,
butbef
oreyoudr
op
i
t,Ihavepar
ti
ngwordsforyou.

Iam t oletyouknow t
hatthi sisnotawr it
ingofanaut hor
ityintheareaof
armour -
beari
ng.EventhoughIam anar mour-
bearertoo,theHolySpiri
tis
wor ki
ngonme.Iam ver ymuchi nt heschooloftheHolySpi r
it
.Hehasnot
fi
nisheddealingwi
thmei nt hisarea.TheLordissti
llr
evisi
ngandr e-
edit
ing
mei nordertomakemeconf ormt otheimageofHisDearSon.

Therearei nadequaci estheHolySpiri

topenmyeyest ooneaft
ert
heot her
.AsI
overcomeonet hroughpr ayer
sandwat chfulness,Hepointsmyat tenti
onto
anotherIhavet obat t
letoovercome.Furthermor e,Ifi
ndalwaysthatasIdo
thesethingsinmyl i
ttl
eway,Hemakesmeseet heneedt odomor eeveryday.
Thenear erthepr iestoftheOldTestamentdr ewt otheHolyofHoli
es,themore
theydiscoveredt heirfaul
ts.

WhatIam t r
yingtosayi sthatasyoutacklet
heareastr
eatedi
nthisvolume
prayerf
ull
ywi thwatchf
ulness,t
heSpir
itofGodwil
lbepoi
nti
ngyouratt
ent
ionto
additi
onalthingsyouhavet odoandmanyt hi
ngsyouhavetogetri
dofasan
armour -
bearer.

Ifyoustudyt helifeofthesevenchurchesinRevel
ati
on,chapters2and3,you
willnot
icethatdespi tethegoodat tr
ibut
estheyhad,theHol ySpi ri
tsti
llhad
somet hingsagai nsteachofthem;theLordtol
dthem torepent.Whatt heHoly
Spiri
tmaypoi ntyourattent
iontomaybequi tedif
fer
entfr
om mi ne.Butf ol
low
Hisinstr
ucti
ons, Heknowst hebestandplannedthebestforourlives.Whoever
fol
lowsHi m shallnevermisstheway.

Theref
ore,t
hiswr
iti
ngisnotanexhaust
ivepanaceaonthist
opic.Ionl
ywr ote
thosethi
ngsIbel
ievet
heHolySpir
itwantedmetoshare.Beopenedtoreceive

94
fr
om heavenfur
thert
hingst
oknow onar
mour
-bear
ing.Hence,Ij
oinApost
le
Johntosay,

“
Butt
hesear
ewr
it
tent
hatyemi
ghtbel
ieve”
.John20:31.

Andinbeli
evi
ng,youwil
ldrawneart
oGodi
nyourser
vicewi
thoutr
est
ri
cti
on.
Pl
ease,
studyJob22:21-30.

Ipr
ayforever
yr eaderthegr
acetor et
ainandmakej
udi
cioususeofthe
f
undament
alpr
incipl
estheLordrel
easetousinthi
sbookinJesusname,
Amen.

95
 ABOUTTHEBOOK

ARMOUR-
BEARERSI
NMI
NISTRY

Theaut horlooksatarmour -beari

ngintheli
ghtofscri
ptur
e.Manyposit
ive
suggesti
onsandusef uladvicesont hi
sl i
fel
ongcommi t
ment,basedonhis
personalexperi
encesofabovet hr
eedecadesi
nmini
str
ies,ar
eonthepagesof
thebook.

Heproff
erssolut
ionstosuchquest
ionsas“How doIrelatewithmyl eader
wit
houtf
ricti
on?WhatdoIdotomakemycoll
eaguesberootedinthei
rcall
ing?
HowdoIst aytof
ulf
il
lmydest
inyasamemberofmygroup?Et c.

Thisbookcat er
sf orbot h emergentand seasoned ministr
ymembersand
workersi
nvar
iouschur ches.Leaderst
oowi l
lfi
ndanti
dotest osomemini
ster
ial
chal
lengesconfronti
ngt hem.Thebooki swhol l
ypracticalinit
sapproach,
comprehensi
veintreatmentandcompl et
elyrel
iabl
e.

ABOUTTHEAUTHOR

Evang.EbenezerBayoAbr aham i
sanevangel i
calChristi
andr amami nist
erin
MountZi onFaithMinistr
ies,I
badan,Niger
ia;andanoi ntedfree-l
ancewr it
er,
Savedin1983andcal ledofGodi ntof
ull
-ti
memi ni
stryin1989,hehaswr it
ten
manyar t
icles.Amongt hebookshewr oteareIfeAisetan,Isetimof unose,
SatansStrategi
esExposed,Whatt oknowaboutGod,Chr i
standRel i
gion,The
Heart-
cryofGodandGodsAssi gnmentandYou,Ar mourBear ersInMi ni
str
y',
'
BeofGoodCheer '

Hei sapr eacherandt eacherofthegospel

.Hehasmini
ster
edinvari
ous
conferences,convent
ions,retr
eat
s and revi
valpr
ogr
amsboth wi
thi
n and
outsideNigeri
a.

AsaChr ist
ianmoviewr i
ter,act
orandproducer
,hehasthefol
lowingtasat
January2017."AccursedChildr
en"
,"OutoftheHook"
,"Or
igi
nalPlan,
""Open
Alt
ar"and"Lif
eExchange."

He has ser
ved i
n var
ious capaci
ti
es i
nthe mi
nist
ryi
ncl
udi
ng bei
ng t
he

96
Regi
str
arofTheMountZi
onI
nst
it
uteofChr
ist
ianDr
amaf
rom 1991t
il
ldat
e.

Outoftheabundanceofexper i
enceinmini
str
ies,hehasbr
oughtf
ort
hthi
s
wri
te-
upfort
hespiri
tualdevel
opmentoft
hebodyofChrist
.

Hei
smar
ri
edt
oEst
herandbl
essedwi
thchi
ldr
en.

97