Author: Deji Okegbile

HOLY SATURDAY: Assurance of Empty Tomb.

Our Lent Retreat and especially between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is not complete without the reality of Holy Saturday in life. Holy Saturday, a one day experience in the church calendar year could be a lifetime, months or years of mourning for those who have suffered the death of a loved one. Holy Saturday is the reality of the tomb experience, the darkness of our life, darkness of a shattering reality that we had no idea what is next. Holy Saturday, assurance of empty tomb prepares us for the dawn of hope and Resurrection in Jesus Christ. Holy...

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Unwashed Feet in the Church: If (Christ does) not wash you, you have no share with (Him).

Theology with unwashed feet is a major challenge in the church. The problem of the church today is the problem of Peter in us, protesting and disallowing Jesus to wash our feet, hence Jesus said, if I do not wash you, you have no share with me (Jn 13:8). The church is in crisis today because many are trying to wash the feet of others when they themselves are protesting and refusing to allow Jesus to wash their feet. Unwashed feet can give you titles and positions in the church and even ‘close proximity to the Saviour’ but ‘without...

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MINISTERS: PULPIT ABOVE THE PEW – Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu

METHODIST CHURCH NIGERIA SOUTHWEST ZONE MINISTERS RETREAT 2021 SAGAMU: MARCH 17-20, 2021 TOPIC; MINISTERS: PULPIT ABOVE THE PEW Resource Person: His Grace the Most Rev. L.S. Ayo Ladigbolu Quotable Quotes: “Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but be an example for the believers in your speech, your conduct, your love, faith, and purity. Do not neglect the Practice these things and devote yourself to them, in order that your progress may be seen by all… Watch yourself and watch your teaching…. (1Timothy 4:12ff). ‘If you are a leader, exert yourself to lead” (Romans...

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Manufacturing Christianity: Temple to “a Marketplace” with ‘the gods that suit us.’

Rowan Williams, a former Archbishop of Canterbury has rightly pointed us to the dangers in manufacturing religion. In one of his sermons on Lent, Archbishop Williams said, in “Every Lent, we ought to be looking at the various ways in which we get involved in manufacturing the gods that suit us.  Every Lent is a time to get that little bit further beyond the idolatry, that constantly keeps us prisoner and draws us back to the old world.  When Jesus has cleared out the temple, when he has thrown out those people involved in manufacturing religion, there he stands...

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COMMANDMENTS SHAPED-TEMPLES: WORSHIP BEYOND “A MARKETPLACE.”

Two thousand years ago Jesus “found in the temple those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves” (Jn 2:14). Reading through the lens and context of today, it is possible to defend those responsible for the merchandise in the temple by claiming that money generated by concessions will be used to fund church activities throughout the year. We rationalise it, because “it is for God,” so it must be all right. Lent warns us to stop doing right things in wrong ways (Jn 2:13-16). The truth is that, the more we fall in love with God, the easier it is...

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