DEALING WITH CHURCH HURT AND TRAUMA 3

You're watching Ambience TV. 1 Timothy chapter number 3, we'll start the reading from verse 14. 1 Timothy 3 from verse 14 says, these things write I unto you, hoping to come to you shortly. Verse 15: But if I tarry long, that you may know how you ought to behave yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of truth. This means that there's an expected conduct for us as a believer, but more importantly, when we are in the house of God, we don't grieve the Spirit of the Lord in another believer. So what are some of the things we can do that shows that we don't even understand Christian conduct? One of it is indecent dressing. When, when you wear clothes that reveals your breast and your laps, then you are not considerate of the other believer. And unfortunately, people do this in church, sometimes in the name of 'I have to be free.' Liberty of the spirit is to be free to give honor to God. Revealing your breast and your laps doesn't give honor to God. It's part of the things that causes church hurt. When people go out in the world, they are grieved, and they also come to church and they are grieved. It shouldn't be. It shouldn't be. Amen. If you, if you ever have to sit down in church and need an handkerchief to do extra covering, it only means one thing: you are not properly dressed, period. That's what it means. Amen. Aha, that's what it means. If you ever need an handkerchief for extra covering, then you are not properly dressed. And if you put the handkerchief in the chest, it will look like you're about to be served dinner. Amen. Now let me, let me strike a balance for you. If you can't wait for an interview Why should you wear to the house of God? Strong. Okay. Ah, strong. And if you are dressed in a way that we are not comfortable and the usher say, help us move inside, security measures, don't argue. That said, said, but if I tarry long, that you may know how you ought to behave yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of truth. Amen. We have to look at the issue of church ought holistically. It is a subject you won't benefit from if you keep playing the victim. Pastors should not play the victim. Members should not play the victim. We take responsibility to learn and become better in dealing with life issues. So I'm quite careful so that my teaching is not taken out of context to justify what is wrong. Are you still there? So today I want to show you some unspoken realities, all right, that comes with church art. These are things that we barely talk about, barely mention, but they, they are realities we have to consider. Is that okay now? Are you there? Now before I show you that, let me show you something. Acts of the Apostles chapter number 6. I want to see the case of the early church We can— there are many stories to learn from. Case of Paul and John Mark, many stories to let you know that conflict is actually part of life. See, your problem comes when you don't prepare for conflict. Have you seen people that relate well? They relate so well, but they can't survive one conflict. They relate so well, so well. Fantastic people, loving, this, this. But one conflict, they are deflated. That's not the way to do life, okay? Even in marriage, you will have issues. You forgive yourself, you will resolve it. Is that okay now? Aha, there's going to be issues. He didn't promise us smooth journey, he promised us safe landing. In this world, you will have tribulations, say, but be of good cheer. I've what? Overcome the world. Don't, don't expect things to be rosy all the time. Amen. I said amen. Amen. So if you look at the story of the early church, Acts of the Apostles chapter number 6, The Bible says, and in those days, from verse 1, when the numbers of the disciples— when the number of disciples was multiplied, there arose murmurings of the Grecian Jews against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were neglected in daily ministration. So as the dynamics of the church change there's bound to be issues. Change is part of life. For instance, our facility is almost complete. Somebody can go to our own place and say, I just like the old place, I prefer the other place. So it's closer to the road. So until it's by the roadside— once dynamic changes, there's bound to be need for adjustment. And change is a constant. In life, we have to prepare ourselves for change. You know, unfortunately so, we desire the dividends of change while we hate the process of change. For instance, Nigerians want the nation to change. We want change until we discover that we are part of the corruption. Who parks to urinate by the roadside? The people. Who eats popcorn and drops the nylon on the wayside? The people. Huh? Who is the civil servant that you go for something and they will tell you you have to settle boss before you get it? The people. So we are beneficiaries of the corruption, and when the real change comes, both the church and the people will have to radically adjust. Are you following what I'm saying here? So change is constant. So there was a sudden surge in the early church that they had no structure for, and because of that surge, they had to start creating structures to manage the new dynamics of the church. So it is possible to be a part of a local assembly and there's no structure for something yet. We must understand that the church is a growing body, okay? And somebody once asked me and said, why don't you give people space to ask questions publicly? The answer is simple: because not everybody is mature enough to have public audience. Yes. If every time you have the opportunity to talk, you want to push your opinion on others, there's no maturity. Why is it that in this church they are not, they are not doing this? Why? You see, anybody who use their for their local assembly is not yet a part of the church. You people don't have, you people don't have, you people don't have. And that's why in leadership you don't put complainers in position, you put solutions. Oh yes, I shared the story with you. One of my boys went for an interview somewhere and, um, the company needed a graphics person with someone who has knowledge of visual effects, effects, all those stuffs. And they brought the system to him and showed him a work on the system and asked him to criticize the work. And he said he remembered I taught them, you don't criticize what you have not first commended. So he looked at the work and appreciated for them to use this color code, for them to use this layer, for them to use this. This is, I mean, fantastic job. However, if I'm going to do this, I would have gone like this. What he didn't realize was that the man who asked him to criticize the job designed it, and that's the boss. The moment he said that, they asked him, how much do you want us to pay you? Don't criticize what you are not ready to be a part of. The same way people criticize the government— Nigeria is bad. Do you have PVC? No. Okay, what What micro group are you leading to enhance the nation from where you are? What are you doing? No, I only have data that I borrowed from MTN and I tweet with it. Complainers don't change the world. You don't need intelligence to recognize problems, you need intelligence to solve it. And we learn to be solutions from where we are, from our families to our local assembly. When you see a need, the ability to discern it shows first that there might be something on you to solve it. What do you do? Volunteer. You don't go tell another person, you don't see that church? Uh, don't mind them, that's why where I sit down, this is— no, no, no. What are you going to do about it? There are times we've had services that somebody was watching online and saw a need and said, oh, Femi Lazarus, I observed this, we are going to do this about it. Fantastic, fantastic. Leaders solve problems. Leaders don't discuss problem, don't gossip problem. We do what? Solve problems. Somebody comes to church and you have observed that that fellow comes to church with the same shoe every service. That's not the time to now say, you don't see your friend, I want to show you the way. He says, in life, don't go down. No, you solve it. Are you aware that your responsibility to giving in church is not limited to offering basket that you can give to fellow believers. And for the balance, beware of people who come to church solely to pray on you, not to pray to God. I gave that warning before. People come to church to take advantage of fellow believers, but there are people too with genuine needs. One time I took a cab years back. I don't want to mention the state so it will not be your state, but I'm sure it's somebody's state here. You push me, I will mention it. So that state, um, they use— there's a name they use for their cab called Micra. Hope I've not sold you. Micra, it's a more dangerous version of a long. Those Micra can pass under a trailer de camper. When you enter, your blood pressure will rise. So that day, when they picked me, I sat at the back. So they picked some women. Who were beggars on the roadside. So we sat there. Well, I don't know how you think I should feel, but it is what it is. So they were discussing in Hausa how that today they are going to— I should not have mentioned language, but that's unique to them— that today they are going to collect more money Then one was asking the other one, that your house, where has it reached now? Say, ah, last week I made this amount. They were speaking in Hausa, but what they didn't realize was that I speak and I hear, I understand Hausa. When I came down, I shook my head. Well, there are two ways to look at it. Number one, oh, they've made a living out of begging. That's one. Number two is that they are begging because they are needy. If you have to lie to get money, you are needy. So for me, first I was disappointed that, ah, there are people who are giving their hard-earned currency, and the kind of languages they were using to describe those people wasn't fair. So beware of people who have decided to earn a living from begging. Should we give to the poor? Yes, but those who are genuinely poor. Let he who has hand work. Anyone who doesn't work shouldn't eat. True? Yes, that's the truth. Some of you saw my wife put put online a brand. I deal with real estate, in real estate, done food business, farming business, both fish farming and all kinds. I'm still expanding more, so I don't depend on people for honorarium. When I go out to preach, I barely They honor him. That's not what I'm here for, so that my heart can be preserved, so that my desire for the growth of the church will not be so that my own bank account will increase. But I'm going to show you the balance. Should we take care of our pastors? Aha. See, that's why I like Apostle. You are stingy. You stingy. Amen. It's because of the uniqueness of my assignment to this generation, that's why I have to take certain directions. Are you there? Now, sometimes when people get hurt, they don't pause to think. They just cry about their injury and bleed and bleed and bleed. I want to call your attention back to a few things about church hurt. One of the things I've observed that people don't pay attention to is the realities around the offense or the pain we experienced in church. One of the realities that we don't pay attention to is, number one, at what time did it happen? What time did it happen? It may look like a simple question, but write it down. What— at what time did I get hot in church? When? Where was I in my developmental process, and where was the church in their developmental process? Could it be that we are both immature and we lack the experience, particularly for new and young ministries. Let me tell you something. The reason why it might be easy for us to come to Abuja and we, by the Spirit of God, know what to do to avoid offense in our camp— the reason we know what to do is because we have made mistakes before. We have failed before, we have approached matters wrongly before, and we have learned. So there is a way somebody start acting, we know exactly what it is, and because of experience, we know how to deal with it. The devil was not the only one who fell from heaven, but he was the first to fall. And when he fell, he still drew one over three of the angels. There were still angels who fell when they saw the daughters of men, but nobody fell with them. Maybe a lesson was learned. I say, can God learn a lesson? Abraham— Moses spoke to God about the Israelites. God said, I repent of the evil I thought to do. Are you following what I'm saying here? So as you mature as a person, one of the things that comes with maturity is experience. You will now learn to approach matters better. You will now learn to communicate when you are pained better. And that is both on the side of the clergy and the part of the laity. Maturity comes with time and exposure, comes with experience. Look at this scripture, 1 Corinthians chapter number 13, um, from verse 11. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I taught as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. There are things that got you offended last year, but because of what you know now, there is a different approach to it. You see, when we think about our lives and we think about the fracas that has happened to the relationship in our lives, let's be honest. Don't just heap blames. If you keep heaping blames, you'll be repeating wrong trajectories. Don't just blame the other party. What could I have done better? There are people who got offended and left our church that my heart still bleeds. Now there's something I would have done better. I've gone to the house of certain individuals who left church before to beg, not because we lacked members, but because I found out I was wrong. And there are people who left that if the situation should repeat itself again, it is better they leave. As you mature, you introspect. You ask questions. And that's the reason why, you see, it looks as though the older couples get, the more peaceful they become, uh, because they just understand some things are not worth the fight. Not worth the fight. See, see what your daddy has done? Say, better leave him. They've learned to prioritize peace over winning. Are you, are you here? Are you sure? Sometimes the mistakes came because you got into a system and did not study the system, and you were lost, and you hit the roadblock. And sometimes it's the pastor making the mistake. You've not trained someone to test the person and trust the person, and you put power in the person's hand. And now they are abusing it. But experience will teach you to be patient. We had our Festival of Life anniversary, 6 years anniversary as a church. By August this year will be 10 years as a ministry. But you saw we ordained leaders from other branches except Abuja. And if there was anyone ordained in Abuja, they've been around for a while because it takes time. You don't lay hands on any man suddenly. You can call down fire, that doesn't mean there's character sufficient to hold it. Lest there is problem between us, grow first, experience. And I found out that those who will last in the system are patient to understand the system. The most dangerous car is not a car that can't move, but a car that can't stop. You must learn to know when to pause. Are you here? Are you sure? Okay, so some of the realities of offense and pain in church. What level of exposure do you both have when the whole thing happened? You know, sometimes you can be, you can be preaching as a pastor and just pick somebody publicly and start giving some strange prophecy. Lack of experience can push you there, and that's how you enter trouble. Somebody's single, just say, you know what, from what I see, by September, by the grace of God— I accept I'm not a man of God. That's lack of experience. Somebody went to post online I think the last— the previous election before this last one, and posted on Facebook. It says so-and-so person will win, except God didn't call me. You know, you know what? By the time I saw that post, it had maybe just 2 likes, no comment. Nigerians, no comment. You would think they didn't see it. No comment. The moment the results came out, I checked 200-something comments. They were dragging the future out of him. It is when you don't know Nigeria, you hanker your calling around the election. This country, eh, are you there? Experience. Experience is powerful, but it's better to learn from other people's experience. So most times ministries record more casualties when they are young because both the pulpit and the pew is still maturing. We must admit that we need growth to learn how to approach matters better. There is a level of experience and growth that a church will have to be able to handle certain complicated issues. For instance, If you have not learned this, go and learn it. A man and his wife have issues, you now take side. You went to take side. The elder says the one whose head was used to break coconut will not eat out of it. It doesn't matter how one is speaking to that person, always call them. So this is, you know, both of you, both of you, counsel. The moment you handle the matter in a way— let's just leave it. My wife is the marriage counselor. Let's— let me show you a scripture. 1 Corinthians chapter number 2 from verse 6. 1 Corinthians 2 from verse 6. Albeit we speak wisdom amongst them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that comes to naught. So this is another thing here. People sometimes have not entered the maturity to handle certain truths. For instance, hold on, you know the Bible says that you shall know the truth, right? And the truth will what? Come on, say it again. Shall know the truth shall what? Set free. Does the truth always set free? Truth can put you in trouble, sir. I'm telling you, a mafia gave you a bag and say, please keep it. You open the bag, you saw guns, saw money. So from the moment they came, they saw the way you are shaking, they know you have known a truth that will kill you. Now that's the extreme side, that doesn't happen in church, but this is where I'm going. Yam will nourish you as an adult, but if you give that same yam to a baby, it will kill the child. There are truths that people are not mature enough to handle. They are not yet ready for it because of where they are in growth. It will constipate them. Is it the truth? Yes. If I teach on the subject of giving now, it will trend. You won't believe what Apostle said. That guy, we've always known, that scam. But if I have people who are mature, who know God and who understand our kingdom duty, I won't be in trouble. Sometimes it is not what you said that is the problem, it is who you said it to. And that happens when you assume people's maturity. Ah, you don't see the fact that somebody's tongues is the loudest in church, that doesn't mean they cannot do anything. I'm telling you, I'm telling you, the same person will— you will hear tongues, you think they brought power bank inside, power bike inside. What is happening? You just test the person with small thing, you are in trouble. Apostle mentored this sister 6 months. The next moment, wants to go and vomit. I wish that tongues translate to maturity. But it doesn't. People can try to bamboozle each other and get to territories and say, I've observed the way they pray here, I can't wait to be there to also show my color. And we do all those things, but we are still babies on the inside. Are you following what I'm saying here? When matters get to where it gets to, there are people you can call in church and say, guys, this is what we are going through now, this is what is going on, all right, this is where we have reached, this is what we need to finish, we'll pray and we'll solve it. And there are people that if they know that same thing, they say, I'm out of here, man, I'm out of here, I'm out of here. I know they go anywhere where they never finish. It's maturity. Maturity. Job said, I thought that multitude of years should translate to maturity, but unfortunately it is not so. It is not always so. Are you still there? I said, are you still there? Now I wrote something here. Childishness is supposed to be attributed to infancy alone. But sometimes it is still detected where it should not be seen. And I'm going to show you some of the indices of childishness, both on the side of the pastor and on the side of the member, from member to member relationship and member to pastor relationship. Now look at what, um, the author of the book of Hebrews said. There's still a theological debate as touching who authored the book of Hebrews. When we look at the style of the letter, we can almost confidently say this is Paul, and the consistency with some of his epistles. Look at what he said, Hebrews 5 from verse 12. He said, for when— for the time you ought to be teachers you have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become such as need milk, but not strong meat. For everyone that use milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. You see that now. So there are people who can only cope with milk. There are corrections in church. And there are corrective teachings. When you correct a wise man, you bring honor. When you rebuke a scorner, you bring shame to yourself. What kind of Christian are you that you can't take correction? Nobody can correct you? Not your pastor, not your siblings, not your parents, not your wife, not your husband? Then who are you? Are you a demigod? Usually in conflict resolution, you should be able to tell people that you have offended your wife, you have offended your husband. They say, ah, don't mind him, that guy is a misogynist, he's feminist, he always sides women, he sides men. What are you talking about? You are wrong. People are looking for teachers that will tell them what they want to hear. Unfortunately, here we tell you what you need to hear. Look at what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3. There are people who are doing fantastically well as long as it is milk. Ah, they are all over the place. Milk, milk, milk. Imagine taking milk alone at 40. Huh? No, I learned a strategy when my daughter is crying. Me twice. Then she's shocked. She tries again. You are shocked. It shocked me too. That's the way I feel when you cry. The next one I want to try now is to get that my microphone I use for preaching. When you cry, you hear yourself everywhere. That's the same way we should amplify what some believers are saying in secret. They are crying everywhere. Ah, have you seen your pastor? If you put them on mic, they can't say it. Pastor, I honor you, sir. I honor you, sir. And they will go about and cause discord and destroy the emotions of people and come back to say amen in the same church. You better be careful of who you listen to. There are people who have learned to be sane, but they will make you insane. I'm telling you, I don't really believe the measure of people in church is by how they prostrate and all those things. We need to check what happens to the heart of those who come close to you. If people start hanging around you and they love God more, you love God. If they start hanging around you and they start withdrawing from everything, we should be afraid. True. Now look at it, he said, I fed you with milk and not with meat, for itato ye were not able to bear it, neither now you able. I'm— I called you to come and sing with me in a program. I observed that you are doing skills. It's nice, but to back up for a prophet, catch the spirit. Let's leave it. When they do their stuff here, I'm so blessed. But you see, when I start doing my stuff, sensitive. Even the slightest strike on the keyboard, very important. And that's why you don't recruit children to battle, you train. There are people who are in church, but you can't take them to battle. They are not ready for it. How many people are in church but don't have a church? They don't have a church, but they're in church. They are testing, testing, testing, and they become junked with different thought process, don't know what to believe, and say God is not real. He said, I have fed you with milk. Look at— let's start from verse 1. Said, and I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with meat, for it hath thought you were not able to bear it. Neither now are you able, for you are yet carnal. For whereas, um, So, for whereas there is amongst you envying and strife and divisions, are you not carnal and walk as men? For while one said, I am of Paul, and another said, I am of Apollos, are you not carnal? So, strife, malice, gossip, division, These are indices of carnality. They are works of the flesh. Oh, some believers' flesh ratio is 100%. I'm telling you, 100%. They don't have bridu. Nothing telling them, mm-mm, don't talk like that. You don't talk to your people like that. You don't talk to your leaders like that. You know, there are people who come to church and look at the pastor and say, I'm older than him, and refuse to call the person pastor and say, Tumi She. That's low self-esteem, because it won't take anything from you to give honor to those that it is due. Simple. It doesn't take anything from you. If you have to impose that somebody special— they said the loudest in the room is the weakest in the room. When you get to— by the grace of God, I've been privileged to meet people. Some of the most dangerous people I've met, they are not noisy. You don't even know what they control. Somebody used to come see me, come and see me. Ah, one day I said, what do you do? When he mentioned, I screamed in my heart. And he will come very, very quiet and just talk. Ah, and I said, how many believers can handle this kind? Somebody came to see me, he was going for a political position. So he came to see me. They brought him to my office, said, I want you to pray for me. I'm contesting for so-and-so election. They told me if you pray for me, this, this, this. But I observed that his bouncer first bounced me in my own office. I'm telling you, you want me to pray? The bouncer, the guy was looking one dirty, one haggard. What was he going for, counselor or what? Then you are already using bouncer for me in my office. You won't win. When you come in, what will you do? You will march on people. I said kneel down, I'll pray for you in tongues. Just say amen. Amen. You can go. Why do you feel the need to oppress others? I told my protocol, I said, that guy, he must never return, even to come and share testimony that he won, which I don't believe. Should not come here. You know, sometimes the church, because we are too quick to make example of our anointings, we empower fickle people, we endorse bad people. We want to do something that shows church and politics, and we look for anybody who just called the name of Jesus but who is in politics and is sleeping around and stealing and wasting lives. Once we come, we give them space. Just because we are quick to say, I prayed and it happened. The day you deal with the need to oppress people is the day you really become strong and mature. If a child is the person in that position, I give that child the honor. Maybe the grace that find that child will find me too. Maybe. Are you following what I'm saying here? Say I hear. I hear. Are you tired of me already? No, sir. Okay, all right. So let me list some of the examples of childishness in church. On both sides now. Number 1, using members to preach. Hmm, this is a serious one. Have you ever opened up your life to a man of God believing you are very safe, and the following Sunday you are the topic, and they will come and explain and tear your heart open, and you are there saying, my God, The moment somebody tells you a problem, it can no longer be word of knowledge. As long as somebody has told you the problem, it can no longer be word of knowledge. It is word from knowledge. Somebody told you, I'm going through this, I'm going through that. You now held the mic and say, hmm, there's somebody here There's somebody here, you are going through this, that, this, that, this, that. That's bad. That's lack of training. That's bad. You don't use people's pain to drag them. Let me show you a scripture. 1 Timothy chapter number 3. 1 Timothy 3. Amen. Let's start reading from verse 1. This is a true saying: if a man desires the office of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to what? Teach. Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous, one that rule well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity. For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how can he take care of the house of God? Verse 6 says, not a novens. It takes being a novens to bring people's matter to the altar. But there's a flip side of that. I said using members' issues as sermon, or using sermons to get back at people. The flip side is thinking that every example that relates to your matter is your matter. That's the flip side. Let me tell you something. I have observed that The one of the best ways for a pastor, but the one who preaches all the time, not to get into offense or reduce the tendency of it, is that the man must find every means possible to get out of counseling. That's why we have a resident pastor, because counseling puts you in a fix. You are preaching, there are viable examples you could have given, then you remember somebody has said something close to this, you keep quiet. And there are times you have shared an example innocently right there on the altar, you have prayed in your heart, hey, I hope this person is not going to think— that's why you must pray for your pastors. You are okay. Hope this person is not going to think— you understand? You want to speak freely. Counseling puts pastor in a fix. I'm not going to talk more than that. By the grace of God, we are having some cell group that will be trained as counselors so that when I teach, I can teach prophetically and just teach from the depth of my heart. In fact, it is dangerous for an apostle to be counseling in the same place he's pastoring, because you can't be apostolic that way. And most time people don't understand. I want apostle to be the one to talk to me. Must be the one. Sometimes it's better that your pastor does. You can call your pastor. I've been I came back yesterday evening since Wednesday, so I finished Tuesday here, gone again. This week I'll be in how many countries? So I'm calling him. That's why we have a pastor. Say I hear. So a man of God must mature And resist the temptation to try to use salmon to get back at people. Somebody has offended you, say, I'll put the person in my message today, I'll use that salmon to hit the head. What you do is that that's no longer truth that can achieve the purpose of truth. This is not truth that will bleed someone and kill the person. People should not sit down under a sermon and die, and they are dying and wishing they are not in church. I used to attend conferences before that, they— and that's the mistake of many small churches, which brings me to point number 2: lack of proper management of joy as an atmosphere. Joy. You can write that down. But before we get into that, you should understand that as a pastor, you are to be a safe place. If you counsel a family, somebody has trusted you with issues ranging from infidelity to any kind of issue, it should die with you. I tell our pastors, you must keep people's secrets safe, safer than you keep church money safe. Okay, tell me it dies here. No, dies there. Are you with me now? The second one now, and ministries have no proper joy management, and I'm going to explain what that means. It looks trivial, and sometimes this can be found— it could happen anywhere. You have to deliberately create an atmosphere of joy. There are times— I've been preaching now for 16 years— there are times I don't feel like preaching. There are times I just want to drop the mic and weep. There are times I want to drop my car and just walk away. There are times I don't even want to see anybody. But the ability to carry that and dump it on God, and members don't have to be asking, what happened to you, is strength. And I will say this: pastors must learn to rest. Church members can move on. You are not the greatest pastor in the world. If you die today, your family and those who are close to you will cry, but the following Sunday, people are in new churches. If you have a pastor around you, tell the pastor, rest. There is one of the most scary thing about the body of Christ is their ability to move on from anybody. Don't overrate yourself. Joel 1. If you are there, say amen. Let's start the reading from verse 8. Joel 1 from verse 8, quickly. Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth, for the meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests and the Lord's ministers mourn The field is wasted, the land mourneth, for the corn is wasted, the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen! Howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley, because the harvest of the field is perished! The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth, the pomegranate tree The palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field are withered because what? Joy is withered from the sons of men. Things are not dry, or you, you don't lack joy because things are dry. Things are dry because you lack joy. Why do we praise? The way we praise God on Sundays. Ah, I'll show you. Jeremiah 30:19. Jeremiah chapter number 30, verse 19. Quickly. Out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry. Yes, read the next one. And I will multiply them, and they shall not be few. And I will glorify them, and they shall not be small. People are already going through a lot, and now even a lot is going through a lot. I'm telling you, they say I'm going through a lot. A lot, Femi Lazarus, I'm going through. When people come to church, there should be joy. Dance like no man's business. Dance away the sorrow. I remember attending a church at some point in my life, and I wrote a letter that I wanted to leave. I said, because I came in depressed and I'm getting more depressed. Even the person who is leading song and say, 'Rejoice,' the person is not happy too. Life no balance. The brother is saying, 'Rejoice,' without smiling. 'Be joyous now, glory.' I will say, 'Ah, Femi Lazarus, you beat me.' Sometimes you see us, we are worshiping or prayer is going on, and you see people come to kneel down in front. I always said the protocol, allow them, because in the presence of God there's fullness of joy. There's also liberty of the spirit. Don't let's get used to everywhere kakakuku. Sometimes in the middle of a sermon, someone might feel a need to come lay down. Where it gets serious is when the person now hold my leg. I have to move. I have to move. That's on the side, but I mean it. Amen. Can we rejoice one more time? Who is always excited about the praise and worship and all that. Can we rejoice and give God praise? Glory to God in the highest! The shout of the king is amongst us, and we do what? We rejoice always! Glory to God! Now sit down for a while. I tell you, you know, I've observed that ministries break and have problems more when there is a project that requires financing. I've learned that you can't look up and look down at the same time. Frustration comes when you expect from men what God should do. And that gives us rest. That gives us rest. Let God do his thing. God's work done in God's way can't lack his provision. Never, never. I've learned the principle. People in this church, you are not giving because this is— no, no, it's not necessary. It is the one whose heart God has touched that is touched. I'm telling you, you can cry from now till next year, who don't send you? I'm telling you, I'm telling you. So sometimes we bring those things here and give people the privilege, the opportunity to give, but you don't drag them and say, in this church, I'm living here for you guys. People know they give, now not try. Okay, so joy is very important. Joy. The church must pay attention to structures for rejoicing. Is that okay? Structures for what? Rejoicing. And you are in church, don't see worship and praise session as childish things. It's time for us to dance before our God. And give him praise. Is that okay now? Because once the church becomes sad, rumors will be spreading everywhere because there are not happy people. I say, have you seen your brother? I say, ah, no, be your sister. And sometimes there's problem in church because of carryover from other places. One time I became I'm confused as to why our pastors in church start calling me Papa and they will call my wife Mama. I said, we did not lay this foundation. If you don't know what to call me, call me Apostle. Papa! Don't be papalized, because sometimes once there is all those things— that's why you see in this church we don't use sister, sister Bola, sister Yetunde. No. One time I faced, I said, no sister, sister, relate with each other. Then they stopped. They And the next service I had Mama Titi. We just can't help it. Mama, Mama Peoples. And where are we bringing all those carryover from? Campus fellowship. Yes, you come and dump it here and say Papa. If I catch you, we officially add Papa to your surname. Okay, now I'm beginning to round up. Number 3 reasons why there are issues in church: money issues. Money. Pastors borrowing from members. Members borrowing from members, or pastor borrowing member. Now let me say this to you. Does it mean that we should not lend to ourselves the things we can afford? No, you can, you can. But number one, this is the rule when it comes to money borrowing: never borrow anybody what you can't forgo. If you can't close your eyes towards it, don't borrow the person. Make sure— it's just like, don't let me mention, there are some investments that you— they tell you put what you can lose. Okay, if you ask me for money, or I see that, I can give you what I know that even if you default, it will not cause problem. But see, debt is dangerous. There was a time we were living in a street, myself and my friends. We would take credit of SPAG, of Pepetera, and oil, and Maggi, and all that. So once we take credit from this woman, The day we now have money, we now go and buy from the one we didn't take credit from. What's the logic in that? So it means giving people credit is a way to lose them. Be careful of the money transaction that will make us lose each other. If I don't have will preserve this relationship, let's preserve it. And if this is what I can afford will preserve us better, let's preserve it. Not like, what I want to give you now is my father's gratuity. I beg you in the name of God, don't disappoint me. Please make sure. Go and rent another house in Pluto. We must be socially intelligent to know how to deal with issues. Are you following what I'm saying? And before you get into business transaction with a person in church, the kind that if it backfires you call pastor, call the pastor too before you start. Are you following what I'm saying here? Pastor, I did business with this person because he's one of your sons. Ah, Every father knows his children. Did I come to tell you that this is my son in whom I am well pleased? Hear him. God said that. God who is in heaven said that once in Bible to one person. God once— you, everybody, that's my son, that's my son, that's my— you can trust him the way you trust me. You see, your prison sentence It's tape rule they will use to measure. I'm telling you, that's lack of experience. See, I want to vouch for this guy. I, I raised him. If you marry him, you can't regret. Ah, God make Eve pass before Adam. Adam said, the woman you gave me Just pass. Oh, you are wiser. Since that time, God— that's even God maintain. Some people went to for a retreat and the leader entered the spirit. Spirit. And then start prophesying. We prophesy, brother Tunde, sister Asana, that's your wife, thus says the Spirit of Grace. And he shared wives for everybody. One of the brothers that was there, who happened to be my friend, now he knew what was happening. He now humorously asked, and said, 'Oluwa Midas, my lord, having observed— please sit down— that you have given wives to everybody, how about sister so-so and so-and-so?' Then the person prophesied, 'The Lord have need of her.' Meanwhile, that's his crush. He used prophecy to silence I'm not there. Eventually, even the sister I didn't marry— tell you, God is not a manipulator. Don't borrow people money you can't forgo, whether church member or pastor. A pastor should not get to the point that you are loaning money up and down. Members, loan me this, I'll give you back. You are preaching, member is texting you. How did I know what I'm saying? Because I borrowed money before and I got into trouble. Yes, now I borrowed money, 50K. You know the story I told you of when I was scammed that time, that the scammer said he forgot so-and-so dollars inside that bag? You know, where we were is like village. The only thing I could envision was I'm going to get two shops and break it together, and then barbing, they are watching ball, they're selling ice cream. All those, that's what I could envision in that small place. So in order for me to get that money out, and I went to meet a sister that she should borrow me money, who I didn't have. I first give him my own. She now said, the money that I have is my school fees, but I trust you. I said, no, no, the goods will arrive by— they said in 3 days' time, so I will give you back. So I collected the first 50K she gave me. Say, I'm pastor. I said, don't worry, we are made. Then I collected the second 50K till those people now mistakenly call me. I now heard them speaking Pidgin from speaking phonetic to speaking Pidgin, real Bori punk. I needed to rest on the wall, I will fall. You know the next thing I saw? Pastors meeting. They just say, Pastor Femi, wherever you are, please come now, we need to see you. I just entered the pastor's house. I saw leaders lined up and they were all not smiling. Then I saw the sister standing there. I'm finished. That's the last time ever in my life anything that is more than me, I leave it. Godliness with contentment. I know they do it in Pasmo. I am giving my own personal experience so that you don't feel your life is finished because you've made a mistake, or you can't stop. Aha, no borrow money. Are you still there? But there's another aspect of money that we need to pay attention to. That's entitlement to people's money, and this causes issue in church. Maybe you prayed for a person, the person won a contract, now you now notice that you couldn't trace the tithe in the account. Number one, listen, it is lack of understanding of God as the one who sent you to be tracing people's tithe. It means you don't know the provider. Don't set your gaze on seeing people's tithe because you saw their income. It's a breach of trust. Whatever they choose to do with their tithe is between them and God, period. I prayed for you. God bless you. You blow abe no blow. Say you blow. How much you give me? Then pastor switched from God bless you to now street, street, street, street mode activated. The love of money is the root of all evil. Be careful. When God blesses people, what they choose to do with their resources is between them and God. But there's the flip side of it, and that's lack of revelation of giving. People who don't have the revelation of giving, people who don't even believe that we have any responsibility to our local assembly. They have, but they are just not interested. You can read Philippians 4, um, look at what Paul said about the Philippians church. Um, but let me show you a few other scriptures. You can also read Genesis 4 from verse 1 to 5, the story of Cain and Abel. God had respect on the sacrifice of Abel because of his person, number one. Number two, because of his specificity. He was specific. Honor his preference. Honor his preference. Okay, very important. You can read, you can listen to my message on this, um, Fruit to Your Account. That's the name, yeah, Fruit to Your Account. So you can also write down 1 Corinthians 9 from verse 11 to 12. 1 Corinthians 9:11-12, project that. All right, Paul said, if I have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap, all right, your carnal things? Can you give us that in Message translation? 1 Corinthians That same scripture, go back, all right, to— yeah, the, the, the previous verse. Give me a Message translation. 1 Corinthians 9:11, Message. Thank you. Okay, I'm not just sounding off because I'm irritated. This is all written in the scriptural law Moses wrote. Don't muzzle an ox to keep it from eating the grain when it is threshing. Do you think Moses' primary concern was the care of farm animals? Don't you think his concern extends to us? Of course. Farmers plow and thresh— sorry, farmers plow and thresh expecting something when the crop comes in. So if we have planted spiritual seed amongst you, is it out of line to expect a meal or two from you? Others demand plenty from you in these ways. Don't we, who have never demanded, deserve even more? Particularly if you're in a church that they will not manipulate you for money. You know, if you come and say, come and drop 20,000 at the prophet's feet, I sense an anointing now, come on, come on, come on, tap into it. We don't do tapping here. Are you following what I'm saying here? But if you have been blessed, you should take it as a duty to be benevolent. You should. All right, believers are gracious, gracious. We are gracious people. Generosity is our duty, is our lifestyle. We give primarily because of 3 reasons. Number 1, we give because we love God. Number 2, we give because we are committed to his kingdom. We give because we love God. We give because we are committed to his kingdom. Number 3, We give because we are responsible people. There's none of these three that is transactional. No. Amen. Very important. People are falling out of places that God has something for them because there was no wisdom for management. And they miss out on God. I want us to ask for the spirit of wisdom now. Hope you know that this teaching goes beyond just church, right? It has to deal with even our personal lives, our relationship with our boss at work, everywhere we find ourselves. Ask God for the spirit of wisdom. Come on, pray. Ask him. Ask him. For the spirit of wisdom. For the spirit of wisdom. I want to believe God has given you many things today that you can journey into life with, and you get excellent results. Ask God. Wisdom, wisdom, wisdom. Thank you, Father. Oh, we bless your holy name. In Jesus' mighty name we're praying. Today is the day of salvation, and you know what that means? It is the day for you to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. God so loved you, he sent his only begotten Son to this world to die for your sins. There is no sin too big, nothing you have done that is beyond redemption. The hand of God is outstretched to you wide for you to accept him today into your life and end all that the devil is trying to do with your life. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, if any man be in Christ, a new creature, all things are passed away. And the Bible says all things are new. May I announce to you that all things can be new today. How do you give your life to Christ? Believe that Jesus is the Son of God sent to this world to die for your sins, and He rose on the third day for your justification. And today He's extending His hands to you to accept Him as your Lord and Savior. And all you have to do is to hold out your hands and say these words after me: Lord Jesus, I believe that you came into this world to die for my sins. I believe that you died for my sins. I also believe that you rose on the third day for my justification. Today I accept you as my Lord and Savior, and I accept this gift of eternal life. In Jesus' name, amen. May I announce to you, if you have made that decision, that there is so much joy in heaven right now. Angels are rejoicing, and there's so much joy. We have a contact on the screen and a barcode for you to scan if you have just made that decision, so that we will be able to reach you and help you get discipled and get you grounded in the rudiments of the gospel. I love you so much. We can't wait to see you again. Keep watching Ambience TV. God bless you.