THE REAL MAN NEEDS REVELATION

Onosode listed a number of other qualities the real man must possess. He must live a life of love. He must, like Paul, “take pleasure” in weakness because, “what you may be tempted to see as weakness gives God the opportunity to manifest his strength.” The real man must not allow threats of suffering or hardship to bend him because as Peter said, “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps (1 Peter 2:21). Therefore, the real man will not succumb to the threats to his pocket or his health.

Date was Saturday, April 26 and the meeting was The Real Men Luncheon, the third in a quarterly series that had featured two other great Nigerians, Elder Felix Ohiwerei and Dr Christopher Kolade.

Guest Speaker Gamaliel Onosode, who needs no introduction had been requested to speak on the theme, “The Real Man.” But he didn’t just speak, he taught. Not that CMNN members and guests are strangers to teachers and teachings. Far from it! The late founder of Christian Men’s Network, Dr Edwin Louis Cole used to describe himself as “teacher of men in how to be men,” and Dr Chris Tunde Joda, who is also president of CMN Nigeria is, nothing, if not, a great teacher of the word of faith. But somehow, this corporate icon, this highly cultivated man took us all aback by the teaching loaded, first, in his preliminary observations and then in his presentation.

He began, innocuously enough, by thanking “one of the men who spoke earlier.” He was a gentleman, he noted, who remembered to apologise that the programme was starting late. Then he delivered what you might call the coup de grace in these words: Decent as it is to apologise for starting late, it is better never to start late. Time is a non-renewable resource. Real men must respect the movement of the sun.” He suggested that the organisers might consider stating the time of future events in terms like ’12 noon for 12:30pm’ to indicate that gates will open at noon, but the event won’t start until thirty minutes later.

Lesson Number One over, Onosode went on to address aspects of his biography mentioned by the secretary of the Ikeja chapter of CMN Nigeria, Dennis Onwuegbu who, in inviting him to the high table, recalled that he was one-time Presidential Adviser on Budget and a former presidential candidate.

He placed on record that he served as President Shehu Shagari’s adviser for only 75 days. This was during the president’s second term which began in October, but was terminated in December 1983, by the military in a coup d’tat.

On his attempt to run for office as President under the auspices of the All Peoples Party (APP) which later became All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), he recalled that his involvement in party politics at the time was received in three ways. There were those like Dennis who, by his own admission, shouted ‘hallelujah, a Daniel has come to justice.’ A second group saw him as ‘a fallen angel’ for daring to go into the dirty arena of politics. There was also the ‘wait and see’ group. So there were three groups: the hallelujah group; the fallen angel group and the agnostic group. Without delivering a judgement on which group was right, he declared his conviction that politics has an over-arcing influence on other areas of life wondering if it should be abandoned for the so-called dirty ones. He however recalled a number of incidents soon after that attempt failed at the party level. First, he attended a Christian gathering at which he had elected to seat somewhere in the audience.. But he was soon recognised, first relocated somewhere upfront and later relocated again and asked to lead one of the prayers. So much for ‘a fallen angel’ who had ‘tasted the forbidden fruit of politics,’ you’ll say. He also recalled that a prominent Church leader also soon publicly declared that he was in error in discouraging Christians from participating in politics.

Space constrains me from continuing on the many nuggets contained in even the preliminary observations of this man of God, so let’s go into the main message itself.

Onosode, who said he preached his first sermon in Ogbomosho, Oyo state, Nigeria in 1953 and had been a deacon for 42 years took his first Bible text from chapter three of the book of Daniel (verses 12-30). He recalled how the three Hebrew boys, Meshack, Shadrack and Abednego took a firm stand against the evil of idolatory, even at the risk of burning in the burning fiery furnace of King Nebuchadnezzar.

He drew particular attention to verses 15-18 which reads in the King James Version like this: “Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”

Onosode noted that the position taken by these young Hebrews was that there were no conditions under which they would bow to anyone but God. In other words, there was no compromise. This was the same courage and non-compromise Apostles Peter and John demonstrated early in their ministry. They had performed the miracle of healing the lame man at Gate Beautiful. For their success, they got a night behind bars and a trial before a council of Jewish elders. But their judges found it expedient to free them and perhaps as a compromise, delivered a kind of ‘go and sin no more’ verdict. The apostles thought differently and said so.

The Bible passage quoted by Deacon Onosode (Acts 4:18-20), records it like this: “And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”

He also recalled the courage of Daniel, the compatriot, friend and peer of the three Hebrew boys, who had to keep the company of lions for a night, because he wouldn’t fail to worship his God even for one day, nor worship Him in secret to please anyone
(See Daniel 6:10-28).

Onosode listed a number of other qualities the real man must possess. He must live a life of love. He must, like Paul, “take pleasure” in weakness because, “what you may be tempted to see as weakness gives God the opportunity to manifest his strength.” The real man must not allow threats of suffering or hardship to bend him because as Peter said, “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps (1 Peter 2:21). Therefore, the real man will not succumb to the threats to his pocket or his health.

Ye are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, he reminded his listeners quoting from Matthew 5: 13-14. and admonished : when the light becomes a mere mirror there is a problem. God wants us to be special wherever we are. We should do nothing to make us less. We must at all times live up to our status as light and salt. Therefore, the commandment in Exodus 23:2 that “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil…” must be taken to heart. So is the injunction to “fret not…” repeated again and again in Psalm 37.

Possibly the climax of Deacon Onosode’s ministration came during the interactive session. In answer to a question about how to resist corruption, he said the truth of Scripture that ”When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him (Proverbs 16:7) plays out every time he came face-to-face with the enemy. He cited many personal experiences, how God gave him the words to speak and the opponent is disarmed. Conclusion: whatever else he has, the real man needs revelation too.

IT'S A HEART THING, MEN!

In other words, the main victims of corruption are the same people that the General of your army, your principal, has come to set free; the same people for whom he sets out to give the abundant life. That then has to be your reason for resisting any corrupt tendencies in your own life and joining in the fight against corruption, he concluded. Easily one of the greatest obstacles in this latter respect, Dr Kolade pointed out, is the feeling by many that they are not capable of fighting this war; the enemy is too strong because the cancer has eaten too deep into the innards of society. But, this man of God has good news, or a powerful reminder, for the doubters, the weak kneed: you are a child of God and so you are able to do all things! Why should you believe that? God said so in the Bible and he cannot lie

Dr Christopher Kolade, erstwhile Nigerian High Commissioner to Great Britain was to have had breakfast with members and guests of this network two Saturdays ago.But the meeting had to hold at lunch time due to circumstances beyond the organisers’ control, if you permit the cliché

And so CK, as he has been known from way back and is now fondly called within his Managing Business For Christ fold, came to lunch, in place of breakfast. He came after a busy morning serving, I understand, as facilitator at a top level meeting. He waded through the hot afternoon traffic from the Island to Ikeja. He delivered his address. He then proceeded to answer questions at a very exciting interactive session standing on his feet for all of 130 minutes, by my estimate. He did not eat and he looked to me like he could have gone on for quite a while longer. And CK is a youth in his 76th year! Make what you will of that, but he certainly does remind me of Moses, of whom the Bible said: “his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated” at “an hundred and twenty years old” (Deuteronomy 34:7).

Dr Kolade opened his ministration with the question, “are you a soldier for Christ?” Yeees, came the answer. “Why did you join the army of Christ”, he pursued. Mum was the word as these men tried to figure out suitable answers. So, he helped out. People join armies for many reasons. For some its probably just another job. For others its for love of the fatherland. There has to be a reason for joining the army of Christ since it is not an army where you queue up every month to receive salaries and rations or whatever.

He posited that a good soldier has to know what his army stands for and be loyal to the cause, whatever that may be. And usually an army is in place to fight for that cause and against opponents of the cause. The same applies to the army of the Lord Jesus, Dr Kolade said.

So, he continued, if you are a soldier of Christ, you have to have subscribed to the cause. And that cause was encapsulated in the Lord’s declaration in Luke 4:18-19 which reads “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
In other words, the army of the Lord Jesus exists to give the people life more abundant as he simplified it in John 10:10: “…I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” That then has to be the preoccupation of everyone who enlists in this army. That is why we are commanded in chapter 3 of the book of Colossians: “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him…And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men…” (17,23).

Dr Kolade proceeded to apply this principle to one issue that would seem to be on the lips and minds, of many Nigerians, the fight against corruption. Why should you as a soldier of Christ fight corruption, he asked. But before offering an answer, he painted a picture of what corruption is and who its victims are. Corruption, he reminded all, perverts procedures for private gains and manifests sometimes as bribery or as extortion, which he defines as unlawful demand for gratification enforced by power, including state power. It attacks and frustrates the system and at its ingrained best, installs an alternative system.

Flowing from this anatomy of corruption, it could be seen that virtually everybody can fall victim to corruption, but Dr Kolade pointed in the direction of the poor, the downtrodden, the ones who, for whatever reasons cannot help themselves. In other words, the main victims of corruption are the same people that the General of your army, your principal, has come to set free; the same people for whom he sets out to give the abundant life. That then has to be your reason for resisting any corrupt tendencies in your own life and joining in the fight against corruption, he concluded.

Easily one of the greatest obstacles in this latter respect, Dr Kolade pointed out, is the feeling by many that they are not capable of fighting this war; the enemy is too strong because the cancer has eaten too deep into the innards of society. But, this man of God has good news, or a powerful reminder, for the doubters, the weak kneed: you are a child of God and so you are able to do all things!

Why should you believe that? God said so in the Bible and he cannot lie! Also the Bible gave us what Dr Kolade said might be called case studies. Joseph was the dreamer who got into trouble with his brothers for his dreams. He was sold into slavery and just when things were looking up for him, having been put in charge of Potiphar, his master’s home and enterprise, he got an offer most red-blooded, calculating men would find hard to refuse – to sleep with the master’s wife! So desperate was the woman that she got hold of him one day and tried to rape him. He resisted and ended up in jail. His sojourn in jail led him to become what soldiers call second-in-command to the king of Egypt! But why did Joseph do what he did? Was it so he could become the prime minister of Egypt? No, not even this dreamer could have envisioned that! The answer is in Genesis 39:9 – “… how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?“

Job was a man who pleased God so much that the almighty boasted about him to the enemy. The enemy sought and got leave from God to try him. He lost all, including his wife and friends. No, they didn’t exactly abandon him; they stayed around to make his life a living hell. They gave him advice and analysed his situation in ways that would have led someone else to curse and repudiate God. But in spite of everything, he never really departed from his earlier reaction: And said…blessed be the name of the Lord (Job 1:21).

Dr Kolade also cited Caleb and Daniel and concluded with a question: Why did each of these persons do what they did? They did not want to upset God. Why did they not want to upset God? The Lord Jesus showed mankind the new face of God, the God who loved so much, he gave us his best! Love begets love. When you love somebody, you do not want to upset them! They did not want to upset God because they loved Him! If we borrow a leaf from these ancients, he said, we would daily determine not to upset him. That way, whatever we do we would do to please God. The only reason good enough for fighting corruption, therefore, is because you are God’s agent and you love him. The only reason good enough to do anything is because of our love for God. That is why it’s all a matter of the heart.

WANTED: MEN OF CHARACTER

“Understand this”, he told his audience, “the fallacy that ‘everybody has a price’ does not apply to you. You are made in God’s image and after his likeness, so how can you have a price! Never forget that a true leader seeks to serve and not to be served; he is other-centred, not self-centred. The Lord Jesus exemplifies this. That is why he said the son of man has come to serve and not to be served. That is why he washed his disciples’ feet just before the last supper. That is the origin of the concept of servant-leadership which the President has offered to Nigerians.”

Elder Felix Ohiwerei, former Chairman and Managing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc (non-Executive chairman till December 31), answered the call of Christian Men’s Network Nigeria to speak at the quarterly outreach, Real Men Luncheon, Saturday October 27, 2007.

Ohiwerei, one of the respected elders of the Redeemed Christian Church of Nigeria, one of the largest Pentecostal churches in the world today, was billed to speak on “Wanted: Men of Character” and he began by acting the man of character that he is by arriving the Sparkles Hall, Ikeja GRA venue of the event from his Ikoyi home a quarter hour before the schedule take-off time of 12noon. Of course that got everybody straightened out, as it were. And when he began to speak, you sought in vain for any airs; no posturing, no affectations; nothing but down-to-earth heart-talk from a father to those he saw as the hope of our nation. And what he had to say was so inspiring that on conclusion, the fifty-something or so men, who had the privilege of hearing him, gave a spontaneous prolonged standing ovation.

He began by stating what looked like the obvious, but which is certainly fundamental to the understanding of the subject. You are a man, he said, “you think, you speak and you act. What you think influences what you say and do. Your thoughts, your words and your deeds determine what you project; so it all begins with the heart.” He therefore defined character as “the personality of a man as determined by his thought, his word and his deed.”

Standing, as sprightly as ever, at the age of 70, Elder Ohiwerei took his audience down the memory lane. He recalled those days when it was his practice to simply leave the doors of his house open for an expected visitor while he leaves for work…when the most heinous crime anyone ever committed, to his knowledge, was the removal of the four tyres of a car while the owner slept blissfully in it!

He posited that the Nigerian civil war was the turning point; when all values nosedived and character became the exception, leading to a leadership crisis. This, of course, was not a rationalization of the state of affairs, but a simple statement of cause. Nor was his speech just a litany of what had gone wrong; this was a ministration about what needs to be done. It was not just a call for moral reawakening, but a call to return to God and His ways of doing things. So, inevitably notable examples were given from the Bible. From the Lord Jesus to Samuel to David to Joseph, the man of God, who is a top member of Redeemed Christian Church of God made a number of prescriptions.

Among these is the need to pursue only things of eternal value. “Understand this”, he told his audience, “the fallacy that ‘everybody has a price’ does not apply to you. You are made in God’s image and after his likeness, so how can you have a price! Never forget that a true leader seeks to serve and not to be served; he is other-centred, not self-centred. The Lord Jesus exemplifies this. That is why he said the son of man has come to serve and not to be served. That is why he washed his disciples’ feet just before the last supper. That is the origin of the concept of servant-leadership which the President has offered to Nigerians.”

Elder Ohiwerei climaxed his ministration with the forthright declarations of Samuel when he handed over rulership of Israel to their first king, Saul. In this respect, he quoted the first few verses of Chapter 12 of the first book of Samuel: “And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you. And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day. Behold, here I am: witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand. And he said unto them, The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness. And Samuel said unto the people, It is the Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt (verses1-6).

How many of our leaders can boldly stand before the people after their tenure and make such a declaration, he asked. How many can boldly declare that they have not stolen from the commonwealth; that they have oppressed no one; that they have met the needs of the people? About how many of our leaders can the people truthfully, honestly, without equivocation say as they did of Samuel: “Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand.” The only charitable answer, you and I know, has to be “few, very few, indeed.”

The interactive session, which followed, afforded men in the audience the opportunity to ask questions and make observations. This proved really revealing. In answer to one of the questions on his experience as a born-again Christian at the helm of a big company like Nigeria Breweries, he recalled one of his encounters with corruption at one of Nigeria’s seaports.

According to him, the top man in charge of raw materials was, for some reasons, not available, and so he was contacted on the need to “do something” (euphemism for paying some bribes) about clearing their consignments at the port. He refused. Things began to drag and raw material stock was running low with possible adverse consequences for production. He knew he had to do something else! So he instructed that fresh orders for raw materials be made and air-freighted into the country. This was done. Production was not affected and he virtually had to be begged to come and clear the earlier consignment. Needless to say, this sent signals to people in certain quarters and the rest, as they say, is history!

What Elder Ohiwerei was saying was, I did not just talk the talk, I walked the walk. It could not have been easy, but he had the courage to do what had to be done. One of the most important components of character therefore is courage; courage to stand for what you believe; courage to pursue your dream and vision.

KINGDOM MAN, TIME TO LIVE YOUR CULTURE

” Like Jesus, you are supposed to lose all fears; become courageous; able to resist temptation and reject compromise. Jesus was love personified; he was the epitome of humility; he radiated kindness; he was consistent and never did anything without seeking the counsel and direction of the Father through prayer. He was faithful to the very end. Those are the components of the Christian man’s culture; without which he though he remains a male, will never become a man.

Oh what wonderful God we serve! What an awesome Father we have!! Again and again, in my short walk so far with him, He has continually left me in no doubt about His sovereignty. And perhaps in nothing else does He demonstrate it more frequently than in His timing! That must be why the Bible is full of such phrases like, “at the appointed time”; “in the fullness of time.”

For five years, a certain international non-denominational men’s ministry had been in existence in Lagos and a few other cities virtually within the confines of the particular church into whose hands the vision was entrusted. For five years the stewards of the vision had dreamt, worked, as best as they knew how, to spread the vision beyond the walls of their church. For five years very little was achieved.

Then towards the end of 2005, God began to speak. He began to tell many of those involved that 2006 was the year. Yours sincerely was one of those. And I screamed it to whosoever would listen: watch out, 2006 is the year of the kingdom man in Nigeria I must have sounded like the proverbial broken record to many (are their still records!). Then in February, the network’s president under the unction of the Holy Spirit spoke. He said a men’s movement was about to be born. He called for a meeting away from the usual venue. When he spoke, yours sincerely knew that was the confirmation. And the team went to work.

On Saturday June 24 at the International Conference Hall of Etiebet’s Place in Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria, that meeting held! Three hundred men drawn from across the kingdom, united in their love for God, hungry for a change in their nation, and determined to be instruments of that change, came together. Together they praised and worshipped God; together they soaked in the anointed teaching of the man of God. Together they received impartation and the prophetic marching order to unite across all dividing lines, constantly sharpen one another and thus become God’s threshing instrument in His project of cleansing Nigeria for His end-time use.

It was to be a four-hour meeting. It lasted a bit longer essentially because secular venues as usual do not recognize the importance of integrity, or at least most of their staffers don’t! The result was we started late. But did that deter the men? No way. These were men led of the Holy Spirit to abandon any personal agenda to operate with His own. These were men fully persuaded that being a man is a matter of choice and have made their choice irreversibly. I tell you this nation is in for a spirit-led and directed revolution!

Christian Men’s Network Nigeria was that ministry; the event was Luncheon with the President and the man of God who ministered at the event was Rev Dr Chris Tunde Joda.

Dr Tunde Joda! The one that we call ‘the coach’ never ceases to amaze me. When it comes to serving the Lord, particularly through imparting to others what God Has said to him, he’ll go anywhere, do anything in obedience to the will of God. This peripatetic man of God arrived Lagos early on Thursday morning to the relief of members of the Christian Men’s Network Nigeria of which he is President. The relief came from the belief that he had arrived just for the Luncheon with the President, then some 48 hours away. But before you knew it, he was on his way to Port Harcourt where some 3,000 youths had also breathed their sighs of relief at hearing that he had arrived Nigeria. You got told that those sold-out-to-God youths wanted the man of God all-weekend and you wondered if the Luncheon was not threatened! You wondered because you know that even in the Christian Men’s Network, the call of youth gets priority. That is so because, as CMN founder Ed Cole put it, new constructions are to be preferred to reconstruction, if you get my meaning! But Dr Joda would ignore neither. He flew in to Lagos on Saturday morning and headed right back to Port Harcourt immediately after delivering his message.

So what did he have to say? Or more correctly what did the Holy Spirit say through him? A lot! And that’s where we borrowed the title of this piece from. He spoke on the Culture of Christian Manhood which was the theme of the meeting and which you could say was really foundational.

“Culture is the trait that identifies you, the instinct inbred in you”, he began. “People are identified by their culture. That is why the Nigerian, wherever he may be would rather eat with his fingers than with any man-made contrivance. That is why the Chinese cherishes his chopsticks. Culture cannot be destroyed; it can only be developed. But a man’s real culture derives from his original heritage! Genesis 1:26 is clear about that! God made man in his image and after his likeness. So a man’s real culture derives from his heavenly heritage.”

But how does that translate to the way he lives during his earthly sojourn? Dr Joda likens that to apostle Phillip’s request in chapter 14 of the book of John. “Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us (verse 8). To which the Lord answered “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? (verse 9)”. So if man derives his heritage and therefore his culture from God, he only has to look to Jesus whom the Bible described as the express image of the Father (see Hebrews 1:30) as his model. That then is the rationale for the truth that manhood and Christ-likeness are synonymous, which Christian Men’s Network has proclaimed for over 25 years.

Therefore the culture of Christian manhood takes its root, stem, leaves and fruits from the character of Christ Jesus. The interesting thing, continues Dr Joda, is that that Culture became inbred in every man when he meets Jesus. “When you meet Jesus, you acquire a new gene; a different DNA from what you had before you were saved”

Like Jesus, you are supposed to lose all fears; become courageous; able to resist temptation and reject compromise. Jesus was love personified; he was the epitome of humility; he radiated kindness; he was consistent and never did anything without seeking the counsel and direction of the Father through prayer. He was faithful to the very end. Those are the components of the Christian man’s culture; without which, though he remains a male, will never become a man.

Dr Joda was characteristically blunt: If we are going to change our nation, he told his audience, “it will not be because we carry a Bible, no matter its size. It will be because we have imbibed the culture of Christian manhood. The culture of the world is sub-standard; it is weak, cowardly. You must resist the temptation to conform to the culture of the world. It doesn’t matter who else is conforming, you must STAND FIRM. And let me say this. All of this is not just that we can become better sons, brothers, husbands and fathers. It not just about becoming wealthy and influential and taking leadership positions in our country. Those are very important things, but none is more important than that you make heaven. So get your priority right; that is a major part of the culture of Christian manhood.”

Those men left the venue rededicated to taking their place as God’s men. Many signed on to join this evolving men’s movement. What about you? My dear brother-in-the Lord, are you living your culture? Think about it! Your family, your community, our nation needs real men, Christ-like men; men who know the truth and do the truth; men who go out courageously daily - doubting nothing, compromising nothing. It won’t be easy, but as we come together, iron sharpening iron, we will get there. And our families, our businesses, our community and our nation will never be the same again. Answer Christian Men’s Network Nigeria’s call today (weblog: http://christianmensnnetwork.blogspot.com; email: cmnnigera@yahoo.com; cmnnigeria@gmail.com). Welcome aboard.

ARE YOU A MALE OR A MAN?

You can be forgiven for wondering: what’s the difference between a male and a man? And that is precisely the problem with society today, particularly, the Nigerian nation. Most people do not realize that it takes much more than being male to be a man. Ben Kinchlow, it was who put that truth into a powerful aphorism, popularized by the late Edwin Louis Cole: being a male is a matter of birth, being a man is a matter of choice. In other words, the fact that you were born with the ’Y’ chromosome simply makes you a male; but you have a choice whether to remain just a male or rise to be a man.

This is a truth that has eluded most men, including Christian men, over the ages. It is a truth which unless the men of any nation become acquainted with and eventually internalize, that nation can never really develop. At best it might experience stunted growth, but real development to the level ordained by God shall be impossible.

So what makes the difference between maleness and manhood, you ask. The answer is simply this: Christ-likeness. In fact the Holy Spirit caused a man of God to put it into the maxim: manhood and Christ-likeness are synonymous. That man, Edwin Louis Cole went on to build an international men’s ministry around it and through that ministry founded what is known today as the international men’s movement.

This is also the truth that some men have, these past few years, been propagating among Christian men in Lagos and some cities of Nigeria. It is the truth that this group of men has now decided to aggressively propagate beyond the confines of their current areas of influence.

Operating under the umbrella of Christian Men’s Network Nigeria, this ministry is an affiliate of the Texas, United States-based ministry of Ed Cole, as he is more popularly known. Under the spiritual guidance and leadership of one of Nigeria’s foremost teachers of the word of faith, Rev Dr Chris Tunde Joda, this network steps out this Saturday with an event known as Luncheon with the President.

It this event, Dr Joda, more endearingly known as the coach to those of us who receive our spiritual nurturing from Christ Chapel International Churches of which he is founder and senior pastor, will be talking to the men on The Culture of Christian Manhood.

This is not CMN Nigeria’s first event. In fact those of us involved have lost count. There was the Mighty Man of Valour Conference held in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt between June and July 2001 which featured, apart from Dr Joda such great men of God as Rev Larry Titus from Youngstown, Ohio, United States of America who had been in ministry for 35 years. There was also Minister Emmanuel Asiedu Appiah, then Executive Director, Leaders International, a body, which had identified Africa’s 21^st Century Challenge as that of Developing Godly Leaders. An internationally acclaimed Business Consultant and CMN representative in his home country, Ghana, he conducted series of word-based workshops on leadership and management. Kunle Falola, a Minister of Songs, who used to be known as Dizzy K, also came in from his London base to minister in anointed and prophetic songs. Of course Dr Edwin Louis Cole’s video ministrations also featured prominently.

At the close of that particular conference believed to be first ever such gathering of Christian men in Nigeria; a very perceptive communiqué was issued to which I shall return presently.

Over the years there had been the quarterly Breakfast with the President which held mainly at the CCIC Joy Centre Auditorium in Surulere. There was the Mighty Man of Valour Award special event held at a popular eatery in Surulere during which the president, Dr Joda received the network’s Mighty Man of Valour Award. Three of the network’s partners were also honoured with the Man of Valour award at the event which featured Rev Dr Jide Awosedo, Chairman/Chief Executive of Grant Properties Ltd as guest minister. The Ikeja Chapter ran an entrepreneur development seminar series titled Wealthy Place; while its chapters in Ojokoro, Victoria Island/Lekki were also very active.

From the foregoing, it is clear that Christian Men’s Network Nigeria has neither been idle nor is it new on the events circuit. So what makes Saturday’s event special, you wonder? Well it is special because right from that beautiful morning in February when the president directed the coordinators to put it together, something clicked in most hearts that it was going to mark the beginning of a new phase for the network. That phase, you may describe as pre-movement stage. And everything had been done simply in agreement with the direction of the Holy Spirit.

The theme for instance took a while in coming! That’s because the president would not be led by even his own wisdom in this business of raising mighty men of spiritual substance and discipling them, considerable as it is. Then the coordinating team found itself putting considerably more effort than usual in spreading the word across churches in Lagos and beyond! Much more effort in fact than should ordinarily be required for an event holding in a 300-seater hall!

But most strikingly for this writer who happens to be at helm of the coordinating team was this feeling in my spirit since the last quarter of last year that 2006 was going to be the year of the Kingdom man in Nigeria. All the pointers have been there since the year began. At the February meeting I spoke about earlier the President under the unction of the Holy spirit said that a men’s movement that will turn things around in our nation was about to begin. He pointedly told the men in attendance that they were created for glory and must prepare to walk in that glory in this year of the Lord’s glory as prophesied by the late Brother Kenneth Copeland.

A perusal of that 2001 communiqué (see In the Beginning) tie s everything together.

All things considered the time for Nigerian Christian men to break denominational and other barriers, come together and sharpen one another to take their place is NOW – on the eve of another round of electioneering, democratic transition and economic reform consolidation. The time to stop being just males and stand up to be men is here. The time to learn the ways of Christian manhood is here. That is the significance of Saturday’s meeting

SSHHH, HERE COMES THE CROWN PRINCE

Message @ Breakfast with the President February 2006)

King David was as usual reflective. He surveyed the universe around him; the blinding brilliance of the sun, the majesty of the moon, the twinkling splendour of the stars, the vast endless sky, the flows and ebbs of the mighty ocean. He was awe-struck. Then he looked at himself and saw the relative physical insignificance of man compared to these great works of the Creator and he wondered aloud in Psalm 8: Why do you care about us humans? Why are you concerned for us weaklings?" 4).

Promptly came the answer from right inside his spirit: You made us a little lower than you yourself, and you have crowned us with glory and honor. You let us rule everything your hands have made. And you put all of it under our power (5&6).

Think about that. God did not simply give or pass on his glory and honour to man, he crowned him with both! Crowning is an ultimate gesture. In the world, when a man is to be crowned, it’s a big event - drums are rolled out, red carpets are laid and dignitaries are invited to honour the new Oba, Obi, Emir or whatever title may be conferred on him. That was what happened when God crowned man. He summoned the rest of creation and declared to them: behold my crown prince; he shall be your king; you will be subject to him and he shall lord it over you.

That was God’s great pleasure at creation; to make you His crown prince and He Has never changed and will never change His mind. But when man succumbed to sin and fell at the Garden of Eden, the glory departed, the crown fell off man’s princely head. That what Apostle Paul meant in Romans 3:23 when he declared: All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. So, for a season, man walked the earth without the original glory and honour; a prince without his crown.

But the Almighty God would not allow His will to be thwarted by anything or anyone; not by sin, although He hates sin, and certainly not by satan, its author. So Jesus Christ enters into the picture to restore the glory.

Now let’s put this in perspective. When Jesus came to earth, He came as son of man NOT as Son of God. He emptied Himself of the glory that belonged to Him as an integral, inseparable member of the Godhead. He took on the full nature of mortal man. That’s the import of Apostle Paul’s declaration in Philippians 2:6: Although he was in the form of God and equal with God, he did not take advantage of this equality (God’s Word Bible). That is also corroborated in Hebrews 2:9 which reads: What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels…which was the status of fallen man.

That passage of scripture however went on to reveal the glory-restoring essence of Jesus’ sojourn on earth like this: Because of God's wonderful kindness, Jesus died for everyone. And now that Jesus has suffered and died, he is crowned with glory and honor! … So God did the right thing when he made Jesus perfect by suffering, as Jesus led many of God's children to be saved and to share in his glory.

This dimension of Jesus’ redemption work was a mystery for quite a while. Apostle Paul puts it this way: For ages and ages this message was kept secret from everyone, but now it has been explained to God's people… And the mystery is that Christ lives in you, and he is your hope of sharing in God's glory (Colossians 1: 26-7).

So, since Jesus lives in you, the glory and honour has been restored to you. You are God’s crown prince with all the power and authority that goes with that status. Notice, as we saw earlier, it is the same glory that Jesus operated in while here on earth. Read Philippians 2:6 again. It is through the power and authority inherent in that glory that he did all that He did on earth. He healed the sick, raised the dead, caused net-breaking draughts, wrought miracles of provision – all as a reflection of the glory!

Remember Jesus’ encounter with the storm? In Luke Chapter 8, we saw the Lord Jesus sleeping peacefully in the midst of a violent storm. His disciples were scared stiff. The Bilble records it like this: The boat was taking on water, and they were in danger.

They went to him, woke him up, and said, "Master! Master! We're going to die!" Then he got up and ordered the wind and the waves to stop. The wind stopped, and the sea became calm.

The original Greek translation of that scene showed that all that the Lord Jesus said to that so-called violent storm was something like this: Sshhhiiii.

Continues the passage: … Frightened and amazed, they asked each other, "Who is this man? He gives orders to the wind and the water, and they obey him!" You know the answer? He was the crown prince who knew the power and authority that the glory and honour has conferred on him – and is willing to exercise them.

You are God’s crown prince in exactly the way Jesus was while on earth. So when next that storm comes your way, do not fret, do not panic, just calmly look at it and say: sshiiiii. It must obey you.

CMN MUST HELP TO MATURE THE NIGERIAN MAN

BREAKFAST WITH THE PRESIDENT (February 2006)

Christian Men’s Network Nigeria will this year play an even greater role in the maturing and development of the Nigerian man. This is because God is depending on men to play their roles in the family, in society at large, in the economy and even the governance of Nigeria effectively.

Speaking at the first CMNN Breakfast with the President in 2006 which held February 18, Rev Dr Chris Tunde Joda, President of the Network declared that men who would not play there roles as priests in their homes leave room for role reversal which can only lead to disorder. And it is this disorder that becomes manifest at the macro level.

Dr Joda said CMNN must see itself as a men’s movement and henceforth operate as one in order to draw more men into the fold and send a signal to the camp of the unrighteous. As we approach election year 2007, Christian men must become aware that we have a role to play in the unfolding scenario. To stay away from critical areas of the national life is to abdicate out responsibilities as carriers of God’s glory who must function as change agents.

The President spoke on the theme, Man, Created for Glory (see message).

Rev Folarin Ola-Ishola, businessman and Centre Pastor of Christ Chapel International Churches, Lekki also ministered at the event which was hosted by the Surulere chapter..