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Dr. Joseph O'Femi Adeosun

If your Christianity is not contagious, be careful, it may be contaminated. As I noticed that some people who claimed to be Christians are living either a stinking life or sinking life, I began to probe further if these people had actually been Christians before. I am not to judge anybody so I cannot judge. Howbeit, some people's Christianity is under a big question mark in view of how they live.

In my interview with many of these folks, I realized that their Christianity had nothing to do with the "Go ye" commission of our Lord Jesus Christ (Mk. 16:15). In that, wise, sinking or stinking Christianity is inevitable.

I used to question why Jesus could allow us to be persecuted or ridiculed by the unbelievers during and because of gospel preaching. I later realized that it is all part of our training to strengthen our Christian standing. Show me a steadfast Christian (I Cor. 15: 58) today, and I will show you a believer who has been steadfast in the course of evangelism since the start of his Christian faith. Hallelujah!!! I want to strongly appeal to my fellow church leaders to take evangelism seriously in our church activities. Let us involve our members (prayerfully) in both mass and personal evangelism. I bleed in my heart every time I meet the baby Christians who have been church members for many years, and they continue to be babies because they are weak. Let them be faced with persecution or trial of faith now, and they will just throw in the towel easily (Mk. 4:1-20).

Sad to say, many of them are from the reputable and big-big churches, yet their Christianity is just full of religiosity. I remember the story of one man, a masquerader whose son had stoned somebody's eye to blindness. When the father was confronted by the neighbors, "Yes, that's my son," the man retorted without any atom of remorse. And immediately the words of our Lord Jesus just flashed into my mind:

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father" (Jn. 14:12).

The masquerader was proud of his son because he knew that he had possessed the same spirit with him. "Then said Jesus to them again, peace be unto you; as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And, when HE had said this, He breathed on them, and saith unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost" (Jn. 20:21-22). Of course, no one can preach the Gospel to win souls without the Holy Spirit. But, have you ever invited and received Him at all? Jesus said, "Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

Water typifies the Word of God and is destined to flow. If it is not allowed to flow, it becomes a stinking collection. No matter how scientifically or otherwise preserved, it has its own limitation to that effect. It becomes worse when the collection openly enjoys the benefits of nature (like man) and is not flowing, with different kinds of flies and reptiles abounding. Similarly, for us the stay fresh we need the Word of God to flow into and through us, because no religion can deliver man from sin and the judgment which comes afterwards, only JESUS, Himself the Word.

When I attended Billy Graham's Amsterdam 2000, I was preaching the Gospel to a man in the area. I later knew that the young man was from the same country as I was but residing in Amsterdam. Then I asked him if he knew of any Nigerian pastor in Amsterdam. "Yes, there is one who organized a program sometime ago." I told him I wanted to meet the pastor as soon as possible.

In a nutshell, I met the pastor, who also took me to meet some other African pastors in Amsterdam. The meeting later developed into a good relationship so that today I have many people of God who want me to visit them repeatedly in Holland. I was blessed and they were blessed as well. Praise the Lord! "He that winneth souls is wise" (Prov. 11:30). Evangelism has rewards, and the confrontations or antagonisms are permitted by God to make us strong believers. Hallelujah!

Beloved, the Word of God is destined to flow through us to the world; otherwise, our lives will be stinking, and then the sinking stage is inevitable. God forbid! What makes man to grow is what he has inside him, and what he has inside him is a reflection of the source of his strength. Again, if your Christianity is not contagious, it may be contaminated. Christianity is not the kind of school day's spirit such as when you know an answer to a question, and you will make it exclusive to yourself to prevent others from outclassing you. In Christianity, you have to share your faith and testimonies with others, so that they may be partakers as well.

A song goes thus: "Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere; go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is Lord." Hallelujah! Evangelism, when faithfully taken to heart, helps keep us in check, thereby reflecting God's character in our lives always (Acts 11:26).

THE DEAD SEA

In my research on the Dead Sea, at a university in South California, I found that it is called the Dead Sea because the mineral (especially salt) content is so high that nothing can live in it. Water flows into it from the Jordan River, but nothing flows out. Water is lost by evaporation, leaving behind mineral deposits. People cannot drink the water. Jesus said, "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost its savour, where with shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men" (Matt. 5:13). From the foregoing, one can know why some "Christians" are either sinking or stinking. Everyone who genuinely confesses the Lord Jesus gets the Holy Deposit outright (Rom. 10:9-10), which he/she is expected to share with others in order to bear fruit (Jn. 15), thereby becoming a fountain through which the rivers of living water are expected to flow all the time (Jn. 7:37-39). Howbeit, if he/she chooses otherwise, he/she will be like the Dead Sea because "water" (the Word of God) flows into him/her and nothing flows out into soul winning. He/She becomes a soul loser instead, as him/she cannot bless people. God forbid!

FELLOW LEADERS

I want to strongly use this medium to appeal to my fellow church leaders: we have to be real builders of the army of God, not benchers. A builder is not a bencher, and vice versa. If a football coach continues to bench a player, one day the footballer will just leave him for another option, where he believes he can shine. Or, for how long shall we make the soldiers remain idle in the barracks? Let us encourage, or make ways for our members to flow to the glory of Christ and not the glory of our denomination.

TESTIMONY

Do you still remember my experience in Holland during Amsterdam 2000 as I was returning one day after dinner to take some rest before the start of the evening program when in the hallway I saw a young black man working, a staffer in the hotel. In my spirit, I heard "go and preach to him." Therefore, I joined him and showed some interest in the work that he was doing, even chatting with him so that he also got carried away. We need the wisdom of God to present the Gospel, which if we ask it HE is always ready to give us (Jam. 3:13-18 and 1:5-8). While this young man was still in the euphoria of meeting a pleasant man, I brought in the Gospel. The man said, "Ha!! I am a Muslim." Then, I made him to understand why he needed Jesus Christ. As I mentioned earlier, it was through this man that I met the pastor who led me to some other pastors. AMEN!

Contact Information:
AMEN Ministries International
(African Mission Evangelism of Nations)

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Topeka, KS 66614
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OTA, Ogun State
Nigeria

(+234) 803-719-4368;
01-812-6752

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