What God is doing through ONE MAN in the UKRAINE

Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:05:10 -0700 (PDT)

Hi,
I know a couple of you may have already heard about Pastor Sunday Adelaja and the ministry God has placed in his heart in the Ukraine (Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for all Nations) but for those of you that haven't heard, I just thought I should share a little of his testimony with you. I have actually had the opportunity to interact with Pastor Sunday (have also read a couple of his books and biography) and to tell you the truth, I have never met a pastor as humble as him and yet still carry an outstanding anointing of God upon his life (similar to the kind of anointing you read about in the book of Acts) and allowing God to use him to tear down the walls of religion and at the same time and at the same time STAND OUT as God's authority in the land that God has called him to serve. Part of his ministry is also raising LEADERS in the body of Christ that will stand out and take territories for God's kingdom and he also partnered with the Christian Men's Network (ministry was founded by the Late Edwin Louis Cole -author of maximized manhood. Please check out their website: http://www.cmnworld.com/
when you have the chance) with a vision to teach men how to be the MEN that God has called them to be and not what the wordly system (through the cunning craftiness of the devil and the forces of darkness) has dictated for men to be to the extent that most men have lost their identity and it has lead to the identity crisis we see world wide today (little wonder we have so many men in prison today and many others that don't even know who they or what they have been called to be. It is well and we can only get better). Based on a statement Edwin Louis Cole once made (and it is even stated in the bible ) 'Manhood' and 'Christ-likeness' are one and the same.


And lastly, God is using him to raise men and women in the kingdom with a MILLIONAIRE'S MINDSET and WEALTH mentality but with a basic understand that God has called us to be wealthy for the propagation of the kingdom and the gospel and that we are FINANCIAL STEWARDS of God upon this earth. Like Faith is the legal tender of the kingdom, money is the legal tender in the earth and is definitely needed for the propagation of the kingdom. Remember that it is those in this world that have the most money that are practically dictating the laws of the land (A very good example is what we see happening the United State where some people are trying to remove anything that has to do with God from the US constitution and are yet wondering why the level of moral decadence has sky rocketed. God help us all). Unfortunately POWER has a way of corrupting (I guess that is why we are told that it is the 'love of money' that is the root of all evil) and God expects us to learn to be faithful in the little he has given us before he gives us more (just a little food for thought).


I just thought I should share this with you just as an example that though the world may be getting darker and darker, this is when our lights should shine brighter and brighter for the world to see the true source of light through us and in us. This is also an encouragement that God is not looking for 'perfect' vessels but 'willing' and 'obedient' vessels (if you read his biography and his testimony, you will understand what I am talking about) that will stand up and DARE TO BE DIFFERENT. I get really excited when I hear how God is doing great and marvelous through Men and Women of God so please bare with me. It is really amazing and outstanding what God is doing with and through Pastor Sunday Adelaja in the Ukraine and world wide and a lot of ministries (even here in the United States) are really getting connected to him to learn what made him STAND OUT even in this time and season.


If you will like to read more about his ministry and connect with this ministry to learn from them, please check out the link below. I promised you will be really encouraged especially for those who have a leading in your heart that God is calling you to the Five-Fold Ministry. We have all been called to one form of ministry or the other and we all have a unique call of God upon our lives. It is in getting closer to God, downloading his unconditional love for you into your heart (that void in your heart can only be filled by God's love and presence), and allowing his word to be your only standard with the help of the holy spirit that you tend to know what your true purpose is (or at least get closer and closer to your calling and reason for your existence) and not be shooting blindly or trying to create your own purpose or destiny. Life is a journey and it gets better and better as the days go by and though we may make mistakes in our journey of life, it is easier for you to get up, shake the dust from your garment and PRESS FORWARD when you are connected to the heart of the father and his love flows in your heart (John Maxwell calls it FAILING FORWARD). Just a little food for thought.

http://www.pastorsunday.com/index_eng.htm

http://www.godembassy.org/en/index.php

http://www.churchshift.org/

LOVE YOU AND KEEP THE FIRE BURNING!!!

Love Always,
Eskor


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
37-40Jesus said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.' This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' These two commands are pegs; everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them." -Matt 22:37-40 (The Message)

LOVE is the answer to every question and LOVE is what makes this world spin around its axis. Without LOVE(GOD is LOVE and LOVE is GOD) this world would have destroyed itself with its own hands a long time ago. SELAH

A CHILD-LIKE FAITH - Part four

Please read part one, two and three before reading this.


One last thing I just thought I should add is that when Jesus became the ULTIMATE SACRIFICE on our behalf, we ceased to be subject to the LAWS which we all know leads to SIN and DEATH (We are still subject to the Authorities of the Land though). Just like in the days of the Pharacees and Saducees (whom Jesus heavily criticized and even called them names in several instances . YOU BROOD OF VIPERS ) some people still try to use the laws of Moses or old Testament laws to manipulate people to do their bidding or their ways of thinking. For example you hear parents tell their children that God said children should honor their parents but they seem to forget that just after that verse is a verse that states that parents should not provoke their children to anger. Or you hear husbands tell their wife that God has instructed the wives to be SUBMISSIVE to their husbands with the bid of trying to CONTROL their wives forgetting that the verse before states that husband should love their wives as Christ loved the church; so much that He even gave up his life for the church or that we are meant to be SUBMISSIVE one to the other. Scary right? but if we look deep within, we will find we have been doing this) and even for most Christians, we find ourselves trying to twist God's word to our benefit or to justify any action we want to make even when it is wrong (I was also very guilty of this but now I know better). Don't forget that the devil knows God's word even more than most of and also does the same thing of trying to twist God's word to confuse us (eg the story of the temptation of Eve and The temptations of Jesus).


The only commandment that Jesus instructed us to obey is the COMMANDMENT TO LOVE. This is the underlying foundation behind every other commandment (If you love God and you are assured in your heart that God loves you in return, you wouldn't want to steal or kill or do anything that is contrary to God's will for your life or that will come between you and your heavenly father). GOD IS LOVE AND LOVE IS GOD. Since we are made in God's image and after his likeness WE ARE LOVE BEINGS. CHRISTIANITY is a way of life and not a religion or a set of RULES AND REGULATIONS (DOS AND DON'T) and the only way we can lead people to Christ is if and only if ONLY IF our lifestyle is a replica of the Life of THE CHRIST (who we remember is the epitome of LOVE). We have been commanded not just to LOVE OUR NEIGHBORS and CHURCH FOLKS but to ALSO LOVE OUR ENEMIES (Romans 12:9-21). Please meditate on every scripture Jesus spoke about Love and you will have a better understanding of what I am talking about. But let me leave these two scriptures with you.

Matthew 22:34-40 (The Message)
The Most Important Command
34-36When the Pharisees heard how he had bested the Sadducees, they gathered their forces for an assault. One of their religion scholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up: "Teacher, which command in God's Law is the most important?"
37-40Jesus said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.' This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' (Eskor: FOOD FOR THOUGHT - if you don't love yourself, how can you love others?). These two commands are pegs; everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them."

Matthew 18:1-6 (Amplified Bible)

1AT THAT time the disciples came up and asked Jesus, Who then is [really] the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

2And He called a little child to Himself and put him in the midst of them,

3And said, Truly I say to you, unless you repent (change, turn about) and become like little children [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving], you can never enter the kingdom of heaven [at all].

4Whoever will humble himself therefore and become like this little child [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving] is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

5And whoever receives and accepts and welcomes one little child like this for My sake and in My name receives and accepts and welcomes Me.

6But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in and [a]acknowledge and cleave to Me to stumble and sin [that is, who entices him or hinders him in right conduct or thought], it would be better ([b]more expedient and profitable or advantageous) for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be sunk in the depth of the sea.

(PLEASE READ THE WHOLE OF MATTHEW 18 WHEN YOU HAVE THE CHANCE)

Good Stuff right? It is well and WE CAN ONLY GET BETTER!!! I will always emphasize that LIFE is a Journey and as long as we are on this journey, it will continue to be a LEARNING EXPERIENCE for us all.

LOVE YOU ALL AND KEEP THE FIRE OF LOVE BURNING!!! Remember, No one is left behind and it is not how we start that matters but how we finish. the whole idea is about FINISHING STRONG!!!

Love Always,
Eskor

A CHILD-LIKE FAITH - Part three

Please read part one and two before reading this.


And for us guys we were constantly told and reminded as kids that 'REAL MEN don't cry' and that REAL MEN should never show that they have any form of emotions (I've found out that this is the exact opposite. REAL MEN CRY!!! Jesus WEPT several times RIGHT? and we know of several patriarchs in the bible that were described as being 'filled with compassion' at several instances ) and if you pretend you don't have emotions or you suppress it, it will come out one day and I can promise you, IT WILL BE DISASTROUS). MACHORISM is a myth and all these traditional/cultural belief about manhood and trying to be a MACHO MAN is part of what has degraded us to where we are today. If you look at America alone, the greatest percentages of people in jail are... let me guess... MEN!!! A lot of men have totally lost their identity and don't even know what or why they were created. A lot of unnecessary pressure had been placed on MANHOOD and a lot of us have struggled to meet up to the demands of the society (just as women are motivated by relationships, men are motivated by WORK) that we have been emotionally broken by the pressures and has led to lots of resentment, lack of vision and depression that we see in most men today. Now we see situations where woman are now indirectly forced to take over and lead in the home and since that was not in their initial design when God created them (I'm talking about leading in the home), it has only led to more frustrations, endless depression, lots of sickness (isn't it strange that Cancer is now becoming more prevalent in women than in men especially in this time and season?) and broken homes and strong Godly family values are now being destroyed. The men are blaming it on their wives and the wives are blaming their husbands too (it is easier to blame others than to take responsibilities for our actions or to even realize that there is a constant spiritual war going on around us) and the enemy is having a fun time laughing at both of them because he knew that his plan from the beginning was to cause division in the home since society is built from a man and woman coming together as one (marriage). Destroy the home and family values, destroy the society at large (look around us. I know I am speaking the truth). Or can two work together except they agree? I guess we have forgotten that man trying to have dominion over his wife and vice versa was a result of the curse? Go and read Genesis 3 again but let me blow out the verse that makes emphasis on this curse.

Genesis 3:16 (Amplified Bible)

16To the woman He said, I will greatly multiply your grief and your suffering in pregnancy and the pangs of childbearing; with spasms of distress you will bring forth children. Yet your desire and craving will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.

THIS IS AS A RESULT OF THE CURSE. It was never in God's original intention for Man to have dominion over another man not to talk of his own wife. We were meant to have dominion over the earth and not PEOPLE!!! Another food for thought.


Here in the United States and most of the countries in Europe, almost every child believes that SANTA CLAUS really exist and drops gifts for them under the Christmas tree or the myth that when you lose you teeth and you drop it under your pillow, the tooth fairy will come when you are sleeping at night, and replace the teeth with a gold coin). There have been times I observed some kids playing and enjoying themselves with NO CARES in this world (Since they know that mummy and daddy will take care of EVERYTHING) and in those times, I almost wish wish I could be a child again. Now I understand why Our HEAVENLY DADDY wants us to have a Child-like heart of FAITH ( Since we should know that DADDY will take care of EVERYTHING!!!).


It was when we grew up and we knew how to think for ourselves (or also in the process of making mistakes too) that we found out that most of these stories were not true. But I guess we also became so intelligent that we always want to analyze or become logical about every area of our lives (including the things that are spiritual). Little wonder God wants us to have a Child-Like Heart. A Child-like Heart that will fully believe (by FAITH and not by trusting our physical senses) everything our HEAVENLY DADDY says and allow his words of wisdom be a Lamp unto our feet and a Lamp unto our path. This has to be STRICTLY by FAITH. When we start trying to find out logical explanations to spiritual events, we move from the level of FAITH to the level of INTELLIGENCE (our soul is the center of our mind, our will and our emotions and even when our spirit was regenerated when we gave our lives to Christ, our Soul still remained the same way it was even after we became born again. Do you now see why our minds need renewing? Imagine all those terrible things we exposed our minds before we gave our lives to Christ) and this is what has led the world to where it is today (eg different theories are brought out all the time about how the world was created with endless debates and confusion flying in the air and a lot of people still don't believe in God because they can't see, feel, smell, hear or Touch him. Some of us have learn't though that we can't afford to trust our physical senses all the time right? especially when we are dealing with spiritual issues. Our emotions were given to us as both good and bad warning signs but we should be in control of our emotions and not vice versa). I hope you see my point. Let us not forget that these were some of the tricks the enemy used on Eve from the very beginning and it is still the same tricks he is using on us. i.e The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

1 John 2:15-17 (Amplified Bible)
15Do not love or cherish the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.

16For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh [craving for sensual gratification] and the lust of the eyes [greedy longings of the mind] and the pride of life [assurance in one's own resources or in the stability of earthly things]--these do not come from the Father but are from the world [itself].

17And the world passes away and disappears, and with it the forbidden cravings (the passionate desires, the lust) of it; but he who does the will of God and carries out His purposes in his life abides (remains) forever.


My heart went back to a beautiful song that ministered to me the first time I heard it. Please listen to it when you have the chance. I pretty sure most of you will remember it because the GREAT Redemption Choir at my fellowship in college (Student Christian Movement) ministered this song more often than I can remember. The song is 'TAKE ME BACK' by Andrae Crouch (Let's go OLD SCHOOL )

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Tz63HSyS6EY

TO BE CONTINUED...

A CHILD-LIKE FAITH - Part two

Please read part one before reading this.


The enemy (with the help of the MEDIA and ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY) has so degraded that which is BEAUTIFUL in God's eyes to something so cheap and dirty and some men even tend to only see the opposite sex as sex tools to consume their lust (forgetting that WOMEN are FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE and taken out of us -go read genesis again). SEX sells like water and if a movie does not have a sex scene, that movie is not complete. This is SCARY!!! I'm being led to write about MASTURBATION/PORNOGRAPHY and the battles MEN face but that will be in due season. There is also an article God put in my heart titled THE MIND OF A MAN (contrary to the title, this is directed towards women. Hint, the way you treat yourself is the way any man will treat you. If you sell yourself cheap, you will always be cheap in a man's eyes. If you lure men to you by dressing scantly and exposing parts of your body that should be hidden, the only men you will attract are men that will lust after you and once they have sex with you, THAT IS THE END OF THE RELATIONSHIP. Haven't you noticed that most guys that play around, when they are ready to GET MARRIED always go to look for their partners in church or for ladies that they can respect? Just a little food for thought) but that will also come in due season. It is time for us CHRISTIANS to become REAL and stop pretending that these things are not happening around us and even in our midst while the enemy uses it to keep us in BONDAGE. Sincerely speaking, how many of us can actually say that they have experienced the TRUE LIBERTY that comes from seeking God with all our heart knowing that we are new creations and have been totally forgiven for PAST, PRESENT AND EVEN FUTURE SINS (Jesus already died on the cross for ALL our sins and his grace has already been made sufficient enough for us but like the book of Romans stated, shall we continue to sin so that grace should abound)? Just a little food for thought. Oops, I guess I digressed a little bit again . Now where were we?


Most women have been sexually abused, molested or harassed at one time in their lives (some worse than others and the most painful ones are the men and women that were sexually abused when they were still kids and didn't even know their left from their right not to talk about understanding what sex is. It opened a door they were not ready for and the enemy always takes advantage of that) that it has so affected their view of sex and even life in general. FORNICATION, ADULTERY, RAPE, INCEST(sex within a nuclear or extended family), BESTIALITY (having sex with animals), PORNOGRAPHY AND MASTURBATION, to mention a few sexual sins has become the order of the day to the extent that people don't see anything wrong with this(HEY! it called liberal thinking remember? How sad for us all). It is rather painful that CHILD PORNOGRAPHY sells more than than any form of pornography (to think about all the innocent children that have been forced into this industry for the sake of money or even trying to make a living. There is a demonic force attached to this and if you talk to people that are or were bound by pornography, they will tell you that its almost as if they don't have any form of control over their action and they always LUST more for that which is suppose to be impossible to get hence the increase in Children molesters and rapist). Are we blind to see the trap of the enemy or isn't there something wrong with this picture? Has LUST become LOVE? True love GIVES without expecting anything in return (Go and read 1 Corinthians 13 again and meditate on every scripture that talks about LOVE in God's word). LUST is the exact opposite. It takes, takes and TAKES and can never be satisfied (it is fleshly and lust is a product of our sinful nature). It is high time we learn to tell the difference and stop pretending that both of them are the same. It is high time we start looking inward and the motives of our hearts to see if we are walking in LOVE or we are walking in LUST. It is high time we stop pretending we don't know what is destroying us and keeping us from truly appreciating and enjoying the love of God (Don't forget that we are a product of what we think and what is in abundance in your heart -Matthew 12:34 and Luke 6:45). It is high time we stop trying to give physical explanations to spiritual issues and put on our SPIRITUAL ARMOUR. There is a constant SPIRITUAL BATTLE going on around us and with the help of the holy spirit we need to FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH!!! It is HIGH TIME OUR VOICES ARE HEARD and WE ARE IN CONTROL of what is shown on the media (the media industry in general) so that the minds of our children and the generation ahead of us will not be destroyed before they even have the chance to grow up. I personally think that the devil has blinded the church from seeing his battle strategy and instead of us putting the enemy in his rightful place (under our feet), we are constantly pursuing after things that God said will come to us when we seek him first (Matthew 6:33) and pretending that we are not seeing these battles around us (IGNORANCE is not an excuse but a DISEASE) and instead of the churches to unite and allow the holy spirit lead the way, churches are fighting against churches (especially about Doctrinal differences) and everyone is trying to prove who knows better than the other. The worse of it all is that we (this includes ME too) constantly find ourselves trying to remove the speck of dust in our brothers eyes forgetting that we have LOGS in ours(negative criticisms, faultfinding, blame shifting, gossiping, backbiting, backstabbing and condemning people has become the order of the day and a times we even do it with the pretense of trying to help the brother or sister). This is rather painful but true and my heart bleeds for the truth, the whole truth and NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH. I am personally TIRED of living this pretentious and hypocritical lifestyle and I want to be REAL (even if I may end up being heavily criticized and condemned in the process). Oops. I forgot that we are in the END TIMES and these are the things that were predicted would happen in this time and season. Let us no forget that THE CHURCH is not the building or structure we worship in, but WE ARE THE CHURCH and the BODY OF CHRIST. I don't know about you but I am tired of playing CHURCH while the world around me is getting destroyed (with me in it) and people are dying everyday without even knowing THE LOVE OF GOD. I crave more and more for the REAL STUFF and I CRAVE to fulfill my mandate and calling as a CHRISTIAN (CHRIST-LIKE). Sorry, I digressed a little bit again but let this be a little food for thought for us all. Remember that SELAH means to pause and ruminate about it. JAMES 4 gives us a very good reason of why this LUST is raging on our inside.





TO BE CONTINUED...

A CHILD-LIKE FAITH

Mark 10:13-16 (The Message)
13-16The people brought children to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate (Eskor: hmm... so Jesus had emotions too right? I guess this is something we should think about) and let them know it: "Don't push these children away. Don't ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in." Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them.


God's word and the things of God is indeed very simple but because our complex minds can't believe how simple God's word is, We end up making it more complex than it really is. That is why we need the constant help of the Holy Spirit at all times when studying God's word, a constant renewing of our minds (to purge old mindsets, old mentalities, old ways of thinking and traditional/cultural beliefs that do not line up with God's word -Hebrews 12 and Romans 12) and most importantly, a Child-like heart of FAITH. Do you remember how easily it was to be quick to believe when we were still very young? Though some of the myths and stories our parents told us when we were kids were not true, we still believed them.


Examples of such stories we believed are: for most ladies, your sex education as a child was that 'If you as much as touch a man or you allow a man touch you will become pregnant '. This is really painful but true and only ended up creating fear in ladies when they were kids. Since men are not the ones that become pregnant, most of us men were not even given any for of sex education. I don’t blame our parents though because I realized that topics like this were hard for them to discuss about (especially because of our STRONG traditional/cultural beliefs and the fact that they too didn’t get any form of sex education. It is even harder for the generation before us to tell their kids that they loved them and this is really painful since kids need to be assured about their parents Love to enable them to be secure in themselves). I hope now that we are more informed (though some of us still found out the truth the HARD WAY. Reminds me of this movie: The HARD WAY- THE ONLY WAY) especially in this INFORMATION AGE we wouldn't do the same thing to our kids cos if we are afraid to tell them the truth, they will learn from the world's system and the world's view of sex as we know is already perverted. As opposed to what the enemy wants us to believe and the constant mind programming we see from movies/pornographic materials and even religion, SEX is not a shameful thing or as downgraded, dirty and perverted as the enemy is trying to make it look. It was (and still is) part of God's design to build INTIMACY between a man and a woman in marriage; it is a BLOOD covenant (similar to the blood covenants we see in the old testaments) which is meant to be BINDING between the couple after tying the knot(I Guess this is why the HONEYMOON after the wedding was designed), it is wonderful both in God's eyes(and meant to be wonderful in our eyes too since it is the greatest form of intimacy between a Husband and a Wife) and can be ONLY truly enjoyed within the walls of MARRIAGE. BUT if we already had a perverted view or wrong mindset of sex before we got married, it will definitely affect us even after we are married. and The same principle stands true to everything else in life (GOOD THINKING, GOOD PRODUCT. BUT WRONG THINKING, WRONG PRODUCT. This is Toyota's motto right? Just modified it to make a point). Like john Maxwell always states in most of his books "YOUR ATTITUDE DETERMINES YOUR ALTITUDE"


Today, a lot of US men are still burning with with an uncontrolled LUST for sex or things that have no lasting value (temporal pleasures that never satisfies) because of the FILTH (Pornography, filthy music that promotes degraded sex and quickies as opposed to building INTIMACY, billboards and advertisements we see on a constant basis that is ALL ABOUT SEX and filthy movies especially from Hollywood) we have exposed ourselves to from when we were kids till date (this is more spiritual than physical though and is actually a spiritual attack. I've found out that part of the enemy's strategy and target is towards kids because he believes that if he can mess us up as kids, we will remain MESSED UP and feeling so condemn and never come to the point of appreciating GOD's love for us. LIAR, LIAR BORN IN FIRE). Women are not excluded in this picture I am trying to paint but it is more prevalent and conspicuous in MEN because unlike women men are easily moved and sexually stimulated BY SIGHT and though this is suppose to be a blessing (the power of VISION), the enemy has been able to THWART it to his advantage and we've allowed him (The devil has power over the world but he has no power over God's Children and the only power the devil has is the power we give him. Very similar to how the moon has no light of his own but reflects the light from the sun). I used the word US because I was in the same boat (even after I became born again) before I finally got to know the TRUTH and I still have to constantly RENEW MY MIND using God's word with the help of the Holy Spirit and also going through a PURGING PROCESS to allow God's word PURGE my mind from all the filth I allowed in (it is very easy to get this filth in but it takes the grace of God to get them out. Our mind is like a computer that stores everything we process with it and the enemy will always try to use these stored processes to condemn us) and also constantly GUARD MY HEART WITH ALL DILIGENCE (remember this computer terminology? GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT) and it is still a learning process.

TO BE CONTINUED...