Author: Deji Okegbile

ADVENT AND THE CHURCH IN 2023

Jesus said, “I have come as a light to shine in this dark world so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark” – Jn 12:46 Christianity is Christ-centred, guided, and guarded by a Spirit-inspired written Word -The Bible, history (His story), and teachings. In essence, the foundation of Christianity is firm, ‘bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity” (2 Tim 2:19). In one of my books, Stop the Funeral: Reverse Methodists Decline published in 2017, I...

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Advent Concern over the Christian Ministry.

Advent Gospel and Epistles are concerned with the Christian ministry and its great prototype. The ministry of John the Baptist is one of preparation for Jesus’ first coming. The Christian ministry today calls us to prepare the people for Jesus’ Second Coming. Jesus Christ at His first coming sent His messengers to prepare the way before Him. Today, Advent Gospel and Epistles summons us to pray that we minister, and stewards of God’s mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready Jesus’ way, by first turning our hearts to Jesus before turning the hearts of other disobedient to Jesus...

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The Overseas Episcopate: Renewal of Episcopacy for ‘the World as our Parish.’

In the words of Professor Andrew Walls, African churches bring into focus the period when Western Europe was converted to Christianity.’ [1]Among the excesses of globalisation is the tendency to forget history and jump to conclusions shaped by cultural domination, ‘the outer skin of globalisation.’ Globalization represents overlapping trends that arose from the spread of modernity. The rise of modernity that was followed by secularization broke down the theocratic state and set universalizing values. The global trends of capitalism and the worldwide communications revolution shaped by the proliferation of satellite technology point to the world as one single place...

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ADVENT GOSPEL: More than a nice tale.

The existential and missional reality of Advent through the eyes of the Gospels points to the potential and possibility of what the church/kingdom of God is and can be and yet it seems so far away. The promises of Advent Gospel suggests that people are able to give witness to God’s truth in the face of the systems or leadership that try to suppress their truth; that those who believe in the world-changing gospel according to Jesus are able to testify to this gospel even in the face of resistance; that along with many other exhortations, the Good News...

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ADVENT GOSPEL: “Make His Paths Straight” in the Wilderness of our Hearts, Homes, Churches and Nations.

John’s usage of the metaphor of the Christian life as a race to be run calls us to stop bending God’s Word to promote our human adventures. The metaphor calls us to prepare the way of the Lord by making His paths straight (Mk 1:3). When we reject, bend or ignore the Bible as God’s Word, nothing will be revealed, except human imaginations and ideas. Marriage, nations, individuals created and blessed to be centres and climaxes of Gods creativity activity can become a wilderness and a wasteland when the words of God, The Creator is rejected or ignored. Christian...

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