Sermon Notes by Silas

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Only Sacrifice Makes Love Meaningful

( *This post was originally published in 2010)

Reading: Genesis 22:1-18

In this passage we see the only story in the Bible that mirrors the birth and death of Christ. Abraham so loved God that he gave his only son in sacrifice to God (He had another son with Hagar, the Egyptian bond woman, called Ishmael but he had sent them away earlier in Genesis 21).

Saturday, November 22, 2014

A Thanksgiving day Prayer

Silas Eke 22:07 Thanksgiving , 0 Comments

A Thanksgiving Day Prayer by Scott Wesemann

Lord, so often times, as any other day

When we sit down to our meal and pray

We hurry along and make fast the blessing

Thanks, amen. Now please pass the dressing

We're slaves to the olfactory overload

We must rush our prayer before the food gets cold

But Lord, I'd like to take a few minute more

To really give thanks to what I'm thankful for

For my family, my health, a nice soft bed

My friends, my freedom, a roof over my head

I'm thankful right now to be surrounded by those

Whose lives touch me more than they'll ever possibly know

Thankful Lord, that You've blessed me beyond measure

Thankful that in my heart lives life's greatest treasure

That You, dear Jesus, reside in that place

And I'm ever so grateful for Your unending grace

So please, heavenly Father, bless this food You've provided

And bless each and every person invited

Amen!

Sunday, November 09, 2014

And you, Parents,...

Silas Eke 01:30 Ephesians , Parenting 0 Comments

Ephesians 6:4: “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.”

Tuesday, November 04, 2014

The Greatest Gift

Silas Eke 09:09 1 Corinthians , Love 0 Comments

1 Corinthians 13:1 - "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal."

Love is the Oil to lubricate all our spiritual being, and to cause it to run easily – 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love is the Life to rejuvenate, so that everything may blossom fruitfully – John 15:10-16

Love is the Affection to captivate, and to cause us to go with others willingly – Ruth 1:16-17

Love is the Power to consecrate, which causes us to sacrifice ardently – 1 Samuel 18:3-4

Love is the Spring to animate which will cause us to do something for the benefit of others – 1 Chronicles 9:17-19

Love is a Tonic to stimulate, to give wings to our feet in service – John 20:4

Love is the Grace to elevate, to lift us above the plain of self – Galatians 2:20

Sunday, November 02, 2014

The Marriage Machine: Rules that make it work

Silas Eke 01:30 Marriage , 0 Comments

Studying people and their reasons for marriage can be quite intriguing. Have you ever wondered how some couples ever got started? Marriage pairs come in different shapes and combinations: tall and short, outgoing and introverted, smart and absent-minded, plump and thin, attractive and sloppy. The combinations can be equally impressive, oppressive, depressive, encouraging, mind-boggling and simply neat. One important fact is that each pair fashions out a way of life for itself. An outside observer may not be able to understand what they see in each other, but these two folks are drawn together by a magnetic force that defies understanding. They like what they see, how they feel and what they hear from one another. This union of two individuals establishes what I call “the marriage machine”.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

In case stuff happens

Silas Eke 02:15 Christian Life , Short Stories 0 Comments

The story is told of a King who wanted to celebrate the twenty first birthday of his son, the Prince. He printed posters and handbills and invited all who considered themselves his loyal subjects to attend the Birthday party. At the bottom of the posters and bills was printed in very fine print “you must be well dressed”.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

The Second Coming of Christ

Silas Eke 01:30 End times , Matthew 0 Comments

Reading: Matthew 25:31-46

On July 20, 1969, when Astronaut Neil Armstrong walked on the moon President Nixon the then Chief Executive of USA, erroneously said; “Today is the greatest day in man’s history” He was very wrong. Before then one April morning about 2, 000 years ago, a greater event took place – the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yet there is an even greater, grander and more glorious day than the resurrection day, - it is the day of the return to earth again of Jesus Christ. John the Apostle was led to write about it in Revelation 11:15 and 19:11-16.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Demon Possession or Mental Illness?

Esther Eke 01:30 Deliverance , Demon Possession 1 Comments

The bizarre events of the past week got me thinking about this topic.

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Disciplined for Service

Silas Eke 00:13 Christian Life , Dealing with Difficulty 0 Comments

Reading: Hebrews 12:3-11

Sunday, October 12, 2014

The Responsibility of Christian Youth

Silas Eke 05:07 Christian Duty , Christian Life 0 Comments

What messages does the Bible have for the Christian Youth? Here are a few passages:

Sunday, October 05, 2014

Lust of the Flesh

Silas Eke 02:47 Ephesians , Flesh 0 Comments

Ephesians 2:1-10

“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them”. NKJV

The Bible talks of the Lust of the Flesh. In this sense, self is in the centre and not Christ. Self therefore makes its self assertion as in Isaiah 14:13-14: “For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ ”

Sunday, September 28, 2014

What does the Bible mean by "Flesh"?

Silas Eke 02:20 Flesh , 0 Comments

This post has absolutely nothing to do with the TV Show "Prison Break" aside from the fact that the show's major plot-line is centered around a massive tattoo carved in... well... flesh!.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Whatever you ask in My name

Silas Eke 03:00 Prayer , 4 Comments

There are some common passages we use in prayer. I shall mention just a few.

Isaiah 45:11; “Thus says the LORD, The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: “Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons; And concerning the work of My hands, you command Me. ””

Matt 7:7-8, 11: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you; For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! ”

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Teach us to pray

Silas Eke 03:00 Prayer , 0 Comments

All religions pray. God and prayer are inseparable. The ideas may be crude and cruel in pagan peoples, but they belong to the universal institutions of the human race. Only human beings pray. The basis of prayer is sonship. It is natural for a child to ask of its father, and it is reasonable for the father to listen to the request of his child. See Matthew 7:7-11, Luke 11: 5-13.

Sunday, September 07, 2014

Nobody's Perfect

Silas Eke 08:00 1 John , Christian Life 0 Comments

First John 1:8-2:2

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

Many Christians live in a state of perpetual fear of being rejected by God because of our sin. We imagine God as a stern headmaster, with a pen and paper in hand, watching every move we make, noting our weaknesses.

Monday, September 01, 2014

4 short stories about Billy Graham

Silas Eke 16:39 Billy Graham , Short Stories 0 Comments

Bundesarchiv, Bild 194-0798-22 / Lachmann, Hans / CC-BY-SA [CC-BY-SA-3.0-de (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons

The Christian cannot do anything without Christ

Billy Graham was preaching, and a chap listened intently and later told Billy: “Do you know why I cannot be a Christian? It is because I fear that when I start, I cannot hold on” To this Billy replied: “Don’t ever forget that!” You can never be able to hold out without Christ!

Sunday, August 31, 2014

There is no denomination in heaven!

Silas Eke 03:00 1 Corinthians , The Church 0 Comments

First Corinthians Chapters 1-4

A Baptist Pastor had a dream and found himself fully dressed with a Bible in hand at the gate of heaven. As he was about to enter, he heard so many people crying and wailing in hell. He went to the gate and met the gate-keeper. He asked the gate-keeper “Who are those crying? Is there a Baptist there?”

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Only Jesus Loves Me Unconditionally

Silas Eke 17:47 Love , Short Stories 0 Comments

The story is told of a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco.

“Mom and dad, I am coming home, but I’ve a favour to ask. I have a friend I’d like to bring home with me.”

Sunday, August 24, 2014

It is well with my Soul

Silas Eke 06:00 Christian Life , Dealing with Difficulty 3 Comments

The song "It Is Well With My Soul" was written by a successful Christian lawyer, Horatio Spafford. His only son died at age 4 in 1870. In 1871, the great Chicago fire wiped out his vast estate made from a successful legal career. In 1873, he sent his wife and four daughters over to Europe on a summer trip on the ill-fated SS Ville du Havre. Since he had a lot of work to do, he planned to follow them later. The ship sank and he lost his four daughters with the wife being the only survivor. She sent him a famous telegram which simply read, "SAVED ALONE...." On his return home, his Law firm was burned down and the insurance refused to pay; they said "It's An Act Of God". He had no money to pay for his house and no work, he also lost his house. Then while sitting and thinking what's happening to him, he wrote the famous hymn - "...whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say - It is well, it is well with my soul."

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Raising Godly Teenagers

Silas Eke 03:00 Christian Life , Ecclesiastes 0 Comments

Ecclesiastes 11:9-10: “Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; Walk in the ways of your heart, And in the sight of your eyes; But know that for all these God will bring you into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, And put away evil from your flesh, for childhood and youth are vanity.”

It is the desire of every parent that the children grow up to become God-fearing and respectable members of the society. We would all like our children to grow up in Christ. God also wishes that all children grow up to love Him and know Him; for the Kingdom of Heaven is for them too. God also wants them to grow up in our present society and ‘enjoy’ their lives. But there is this condition attached to the freedom to ‘enjoy’ life- “remember that for all these things, God will bring you to judgment”

Our today’s society is painfully full of negatives which scare parents stiff. How can children grow up in such societies and be good and God-fearing? How can they grow in such societies and still meet with God’s standards and escape condemnation in the judgment? Did God foresee and foreknow this type of society before He enjoined the youth to enjoy himself and yet be prepared for judgment?

Sunday, August 10, 2014

The Gates in the Wall

Silas Eke 03:00 Christian Life , Nehemiah 0 Comments

Reading: Nehemiah 3

Nehemiah wept over the broken wall of Jerusalem (2:1-3) then he called on the people –”Let us rise up and build” (v.18). Now we see in Chapter 3 what they built and how it applies to us today. We shall concentrate on the gates in the wall.

There is no overemphasizing the need for us today to build a spiritual wall around us. Every child of God needs to build a spiritual wall round himself for two reasons:

Sunday, August 03, 2014

The Christian and the End Times

Silas Eke 01:14 End times , judgement 0 Comments

Image: Some rights reserved by Kentucky Photo File

In our last discussion we looked at the events of the end times and the role of the Church. Like we did in that earlier discussion we shall in discussing the Christian and the end times first spend some time on some other aspects of the end times before we look at what the Christian is expected to do.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

The End Times – The Place of the Church

Silas Eke 03:00 End times , Rapture 0 Comments

The whole creation points towards the end times. So, to study the end times covers the entire study of the universe. Every event recorded in the Scripture is a part of fulfillment of the end time. We cannot therefore be able to do justice to the study of the place of the Church without a study of the end times as shown in the Old Testament. We shall leave this to another post. But it will be helpful for everyone to attempt this study on his/her own. In such study you may want to look at:

Friday, July 25, 2014

Obedience

Silas Eke 17:33 Obedience , 2 Comments

The word translated "Obedience" is also translated in the Hebrew text as "to hear", "to listen reverently" and in the Greek text as "to put one’s trust in", "to harken submissively", "to listen to", "to obey" and "to follow".

The Bible is conspicuous in its many graphic depictions of the responses of men to the words and will of God. Responses that are avowably favourable to such a degree that one is persuaded to act are called “hearing”; believing or more simply “obeying”.Other responses that are apathetic or disregard God’s word are characterized as rebellion, unbelief or disobedience. Obedience can either be external or more informally, internal.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

God of Justice

Silas Eke 03:16 Justice , Revelation 0 Comments

Revelation 16:4-7

Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters saying: “You are righteous, O Lord, the One who is and who was and who is to be, because You have judged these things. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due.” And I heard another from the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.” NKJV

Moses after walking with God for a number of years asked God "Please let me meet You; introduce Yourself to me". God did! How would God introduce Himself if you meet Him on the road? Let us use this introduction to begin our short study of an aspect of God’s character – God’s justice.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

How can I know my prayers are answered?

Silas Eke 01:47 Prayer , 0 Comments

I once heard someone say, “I am absolutely sure that all my prayers are answered!” I have also heard someone say: “We have no way of knowing – all we can do is to pray. It is God who decides whether to answer or not". The one borders on presumption and the other on ignorance.

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Who is an Elder?

Silas Eke 02:00 1 Timothy , Leadership 0 Comments

First Timothy 3:1-13

“This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behaviour, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. For those who have served well as deacons, obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.” NKJV

Sunday, June 22, 2014

We are Human Beings, not Human Doings

Esther Eke 02:00 Christian Life , Inspirational 0 Comments

Someone forwarded this to me and I thought it would make a great Sunday afternoon blog post. This has probably been republished a thousand times... so what is one more posting going to hurt? The subject matter is the purpose of life and I think the verse in Ecclesiastes shown above pretty much sums it. Anyway, Here is what Rick Warren has to say:

Sunday, June 15, 2014

The Art of Praying with Authority (First bind ... then spoil)

Silas Eke 00:00 Leadership , Luke 0 Comments

Background image courtesy www.pachd.com

Matthew 12:28-29; Luke 11:21-22

“But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house” (NKJV)

“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armour in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.” (NKJV)

Sunday, June 08, 2014

The Weapons for Spiritual Victory

Silas Eke 00:00 Leadership , Revelation 0 Comments

Revelation 12:7-11

“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time." NKJV

The Devil is the Christian leader’s greatest foe. He the devil wields a vast power in the world. It is necessary therefore that the Christian leader should pay enough attention to the activities and methods of the devil. We allow him to outwit us in strategy and outmanoeuvre us in tactics largely because of our ignorance of his devices. Too much goes by default because we are not alive to his insidious activity.

Sunday, June 01, 2014

Conditions for Spiritual Leadership

Silas Eke 00:00 Leadership , Luke 0 Comments

Luke 22:24-27:” Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. And He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called 'benefactors.' But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves”. (NKJV)

We must admit that our society today is in dire need of leaders. This is not news. It has been the case through the centuries whether in secular or sacred realms. In the Scriptures, God is frequently represented as searching for a man of a certain type. In First Samuel 13:14 –it was for “a man after His own heart”. In Jeremiah 4:25 – it was dismay when God said “I beheld and lo there was no man”. In Jeremiah 5:1 It was for a man “that executes judgment, that seeks the truth so that God would pardon” In Ezekiel 22:30 – it was for a man that would “stand in the gap”. When God discovers a man who conforms to His spiritual requirements, despite their obvious limitations, and short-comings there is no limit to what He will do for and through them.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

The Person, the Power and the Purpose

Silas Eke 00:00 Christian Life , Philippians 0 Comments

Philippians 3:7-15
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you

We can see the personal aspect of Christian maturity as we examine Paul’s life ambition in Philippians 3:5-15. These eleven verses can be described as his personal testimony to his relationship with the risen Lord Jesus Christ. In Philippians 1:21 he wrote: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” In these few verses we are considering, he expands that concept and spells out for us the details involved in such a dedication.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

The Devil Defames but God Sustains

Silas Eke 00:00 Christian Life , Ezra 0 Comments

We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth

Ezra 4:1-24; Ezra 5

Background Story: Zedekiah, Judah’s last king was carried away into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BC. The city of Jerusalem was destroyed and the Temple burnt in 586 BC (2 Kings 24). Many citizens of Judah along with Daniel and Ezekiel were also carried to Babylon. In 539 BC Babylon fell to the invading armies of the Medes and Persians led by Cyrus the Great. The Babylonian king at that time, Belshazzar, was executed (Daniel 5). Cyrus then placed his able Army General, Darius the Mede, as king over the city of Babylon. During Cyrus’ first year reigning, he issued a decree which permitted the Jews to return and rebuild their Temple at Jerusalem. Both Jeremiah and Isaiah had predicted the length of the captivity and that Cyrus would issue the decree letting the Jews go home some 170 years before.

In 535 BC under Zerubbabel the construction of the Temple began; but for some time the work was halted by various satanic activities. It is on the satanic activities that we shall focus our attention today.

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Jesus and the Needy

Silas Eke 06:00 bible characters , Blind Bartimeaus 0 Comments

Luke 18:35-43
Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging. And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant. So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he cried out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him, saying, “What do you want Me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.” Then Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.”(NKJV)

Sunday, May 04, 2014

My Help Comes only from The Lord

Silas Eke 00:00 Christian Life , Deliverance 2 Comments

Psalm 121:1-8

“I will lift up my eyes to the hills — from whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.” NKJV

You can only know the true belief of a man during the time of crisis. Pressure proves the difference between iron and steel. When we come under pressure we either snap, break, bend, or prove our quality by standing the pressure.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Here Am I, Send Me

Silas Eke 00:00 Isaiah , Service 0 Comments

Isaiah 6:1-8
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!" And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts." Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged." Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."

Isaiah Chapter 6 follows closely behind Chapter 5. In Chapter 5 the sad condition of things described existed in King Uzziah’s reign. In that Chapter, Jehovah God has given to Isaiah the Song of the Beloved. What happened to the beloved Vineyard is true both in the life of an individual and a Nation. God had given the beloved vineyard all the protection and advantages and chances it deserved and required for effective service but it had yielded unworthy and worthless fruit. When God looked for grapes it yielded wild fruits and when God looked for justice, it gave oppression and deprivation. So God had to give the desired and most appropriate reward: death.

That was the situation of Israel during the reign of King Uzziah. Now King Uzziah is dead and Israel is celebrating the fourteenth Jubilee since Israel occupied the land of Canaan. Isaiah, the prophet, a man who has maintained an unhindered relationship with God, was given a vision of the Lord’s glory in contrast to the nation’s shame.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Wellington Defeated...

Silas Eke 01:10 Easter , Short Stories 0 Comments

There is this story about the Duke of Wellington, commander of the Anglo-allied army, and Napoleon Bonaparte, the French Army General. Once they were both locked up in battle. Napoleon had vowed to take over Britain. The citizens of Great Britain did not know how the battle would go; but their leader, the Duke of Wellington, promised to send them a smoke signal right after the battle. They had no radio nor walkie-talkie in those days.

Right after the battle, the smoke signal went up. It read: “Wellington defeated ...” and suddenly a cloud covered the surface of the area and so the only message they could get that night was ambiguous.

Friday, April 18, 2014

New life from dry bones

Silas Eke 01:00 Easter , Ezekiel 0 Comments

Ezekiel 37:1-6
“The hand of the LORD came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lord GOD, You know.” Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.”’” NKJV

In a time of death, desolation, smashed hopes, bitter defeats, and emotional and physical slavery and misery, God spoke through the prophet Ezekiel; “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.”(Verses 5-6)

Sunday, April 13, 2014

How do we manage success?

Silas Eke 00:00 Christian Life , Genesis 0 Comments

Image courtesy of ddpavumba at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Genesis 9:20-29

“After the Flood, Noah became a farmer and planted a vineyard. One day he became drunk on some wine he had made and lay naked in his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and went outside and told his brothers. Shem and Japheth took a robe, held it over their shoulders, walked backward into the tent, and covered their father's naked body. As they did this, they looked As they did this, they looked the other way so they wouldn't see him naked. When Noah woke up from his drunken stupor, learned what Ham, his youngest son, had done. Then he cursed the descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham: "A curse on the Canaanites! May they be the lowest of servants to the descendants of Shem and Japheth." Then Noah said, "May Shem be blessed by the LORD my God; and may Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge the territory of Japheth, and may he share the prosperity of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant." Noah lived another 350 years after the Flood. He was 950 years old when he died.”(NLT)

Most often after a great event like a successful crusade, an outreach for the Lord or even a great battle against the devil – what most Christian often refer to as a “Mountain Top Experience” – there is usually a very low experience.

Let us take the case of Noah

What Noah went through in the flood was an exceptional experience. When he came down to repopulate the world with his three sons, he must have been, to say the least, excited and elated. God blessed him and blessed his farm work. The Bible says “God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, "Multiply and fill the earth.” Genesis 9:1

Sunday, April 06, 2014

God keeps His promises

Silas Eke 01:17 Noah , Promises 0 Comments

Last week we looked at the world in which Noah lived and how Noah refused to be sucked into the corruption, wickedness and evil that surrounded him. He lived a righteous life and God testified about him. This is the history of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless man living on earth at the time. He consistently followed God's will and enjoyed a close relationship with him. This relationship made God talk to Noah about what He was about to do. God said to Noah "Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing. Everything on earth will die!" Noah believed God and “did everything exactly as God had commanded him.” Did God bring the flood upon the whole world? Yes, He did and all people on earth perished except the family of Noah that was in the ark.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

4 things to learn from the story of Noah

Silas Eke 00:00 bible characters , Genesis 0 Comments

Genesis 6

The story of Noah is one of the first heart-warming and frightening stories in the Bible. It is frightening because the Bible says “Now the LORD observed the extent of the people's wickedness, and he saw that all their thoughts were consistently and totally evil. So the LORD was sorry he had ever made them. It broke his heart”. On the other hand it was heartwarming because the Bible also recorded “But Noah found favor with the LORD. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless man living on earth at the time. He consistently followed God's will and enjoyed a close relationship with him.” In a world that was full of evil and corruption to the extent that it broke God’s heart, there was a single man who lived so righteously that he found favour with God. He consistently followed God's will and enjoyed a close relationship with him. What a testimony that was!

Sunday, March 23, 2014

We Need Each Other

Silas Eke 05:23 Christian Life , Romans 1 Comments

Reading: Romans 12:1-21

Last week, we discussed the Christian’s life in relation to God – A life of total consecration: a life that demands your all as the only reasonable service to God. God wants a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable. He does not want a dead sacrifice, nor does He require a defiled offering.

Do not be conformed

The world conforms; puts you into its mould, but life dedicated to God is transformed, renewed, made good and acceptable. Conformation is outward and does not in any way affect the inner-self. There are many in the Church who are only trying to conform – they dress like Christians, talk like Christians, behave like Christians, learn their vocabularies, but their inside is the old antithesis of the Christian life. Transformation reaches deeper. The work is done inside and made manifest in the outside. The radiance is inside and reaches to the outside

Sunday, March 16, 2014

What Are You Giving to God, Sacrifice or Offering?

Silas Eke 00:00 Genesis , Giving 0 Comments

Reading: Genesis 22:1-18

The story is told of the pig and the chicken that went to the Church and heard of the Pastor’s birthday anniversary celebration. They offered to be part of the birthday celebration by making their contributions to his breakfast. The chicken suggested that they give the Pastor a good breakfast of bacon and eggs. The pig turned to the chicken and said “You are asking me to make a total sacrifice while you give a donation.” A breakfast of bacon and eggs is a total sacrifice for the pig but an offering by the chicken. Every Christian is either making a sacrifice or a donation.

Sunday, March 09, 2014

Christian Humility

Silas Eke 08:33 Christian Life , Humility 0 Comments

Philippians 2: 5-11
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Humility is unique to Biblical faith. It is only Christianity that regard humility as a virtue; others either do not accord it a position of honour or utterly fail to recognize it. Christian humility can be defined as the bent-knee instance of awed and grateful awareness that existence is a gift of grace, and mercy beyond our understanding. Humility can be seen in Abraham as he describes himself as “dust and ashes” (Genesis 18:27); in Paul as he writes to the Church in Corinth in First Corinthians 4:6-7: “Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other. For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” (NKJV) - all we are is a gift from God. Humility is the sinner’s acknowledgment of his sins and unfitness for God’s mercy as we see in Isaiah “Woe is me -... unclean lips (Isaiah 6:5) We see this again in Paul in First Corinthians 15:9; Ephesians 3:18; First Timothy 1:15.

Sunday, March 02, 2014

Naaman

Silas Eke 06:00 2 Kings , bible characters 0 Comments

Photo courtesy Peta Hopkins (License)

Second Kings 5:1-15

Naaman – means Pleasant!

He was a highly successful Commander-in-chief of the Syrian army under King Benhadad, King of Damascus, and a sworn enemy of Israel. He was a great man with his master, and honourable and mighty in valour. But Naaman had a number of problems:

Naaman was in a very High Position

You might ask how is that a problem? Yes, sometimes your position turns out to be a problem to you. You have to live up to that position. Moreover, your position brings you in contact with people; for Naaman, one of such people is an unnamed Jewish slave girl who served as his house maid. Some of us here have such girls in our homes. How often do we listen to their kitchen talks about us? That kitchen talk led to one of the greatest miracles in the Old Testament.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

The Cross of Jesus Christ in the Christian’s Life

Silas Eke 06:00 Christian Life , Mark 0 Comments

Image courtesy of Sira Anamwong / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Mark 8:34-38

“When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

Romans 6:7-14

“For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” (NKJV)

The geographical heart of London is Charing Cross. All distances are measured from this landmark which is simply referred to as “the Cross”. A small boy, lost in the London fog, was unable to find his way home even with the help of a police man. Finally, he said, “if you will take me to the Cross, I think I can find my way home from there.”

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Return to Your First Love

Silas Eke 06:48 Love , Renewal 0 Comments

Love sweet Love by ~Lethiel on deviantART

Revelation 2:1-7:

“To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lamp stands: “I know your works, your labour, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have laboured for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lamp stand from its place — unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. “He, who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’ (NKJV)

Sunday, February 09, 2014

The Christian Attitude to Divorce And Separation

Silas Eke 07:00 Divorce , Marriage 0 Comments

Flickr by Jennifer Pahlka

There are many wrong attitudes in the conservative Churches about divorce and divorcees. From the way that some treat divorced persons, you would think that they had committed the unpardonable sin. Let us make it clear, that those who wrongly (sinfully) obtain a divorce must not be excused for what they have done; it is sin. But precisely because it is sin, it is forgivable. The sin of divorcing one’s mate on unbiblical grounds is bad, not only because of the misery it occasions, but especially because it is an offence against a holy God. But it is not so indelibly imprinted in the life of the sinner that it cannot be washed away by Christ’s blood.

Sunday, February 02, 2014

Every Marriage is Made to Succeed

Silas Eke 01:07 Genesis , Marriage 0 Comments

Courtesy Flickr by Dare Adegbaju

Genesis 2:15-25
Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. NKJV