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ANGLICAN DIOCESE OF JOS

CHRISTIAN INSTUITE

ARCHBISHOP BENJAMIN ARGAK KWASHI (OON) DD, D.Min.

BISHOP'S CHARGE 1999

In the Name
of the Father, and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit,
Amen.

Dear Friends

This is the Second Session of the Seventh Synod of the Anglican Diocese of Jos. It is also the twentieth Synod since the birth of
this Diocese. When the Diocese began in January 1980, it consisted of Benue, Plateau and Gongola States, and in the years
since then Nasarawa State has been carved out of Plateau, Taraba State carved out of Gongola and indeed Gongola State has
been renamed Adamawa State. The Diocese of Jos today consists of Plateau and Nasarawa States. What shall we say: at
nineteen years of age, have we grown bigger or smaller? What progress have we made? Indeed, have we made any progress
at all?

I must thank the Cathedral Church of St.Luke for being ever ready, hospitable and willing to serve. The Cathedral has accepted
to host this year's Synod at short notice. May the Lord reward you richly. Our thanks go to Canon Ajayi and Dorcas, the
Standing Committee and the entire congregation.

"Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels
unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them; and those who are ill-treated, since you also are in
the body."                (Hebrews 13:1-3)

We have come to the point where we must review the whole ministry of the Diocese of Jos as a mission organisation, as a tiny
little arm of the larger body of the Church of God. This is our last Synod in this millennium, and we will be twenty next year, if the
Lord does not return first. The Lord may indeed appear next year; he may not do so. However, whether he does or does not
come next year, one thing is certain:

The Day of the Lord

is coming.

Unlike Amos, Ezekiel, Isaiah and other prophets, Malachi does not repeatedly call for the Day of the Lord, and in fact he only
makes one precise reference to that Day (in 4:5). What, however, is striking in Malachi, is that he goes through the entire life of
society, from the Temple to family life, to social relationships, and he has a strong theological focus on the coming of the
Messianic age.

The name "Malachi" means "my messenger". We know nothing about this man's life: there is no other reference to him in the Old
Testament; we have no information about his family or his home. This one thing, however, we know and for this one thing he is
remembered: he was the Lord's messenger and he spoke out fearlessly and vehemently in the name of the Lord. "Malachi" may
not even have been his personal name; but to have been remembered solely because he spoke the word of the Lord is a unique
testimony to the man's life and character. In what better way could anyone be remembered throughout the centuries!

The messenger is the one who is charged to deliver the master's message faithfully. He does not speak his own words: he is
"sent". Today we might refer to him as a "missionary": a missionary with extraordinary vision, courage and insight. Malachi saw
that the life of the Temple, of the society and of the family had fallen far below the standard which the Lord required. The people
of Israel had returned from exile and were under the rule of a governor. The Temple had been rebuilt and so the people were
able to worship there once more. Indeed the worship in the Temple had by now been going on for long enough for the priests to
have become weary, careless and grossly negligent in their duties. God was not being glorified. In the society the rich were
oppressing the poor, and in the family the men were divorcing their wives in order to marry foreign women. The reforms of Ezra
and Nehemiah were still in the future, and so this probably means that Malachi prophesied in the middle of the fifth century B.C.
(around the year 460 B.C.).

A messenger, or a missionary for this purpose, does not have an importance of his own: his main and only importance is in the
fact that he delivers a message. The messenger may not be very educated; he may not even be a man or woman of any
significance in the society, but he is at the door to receive a message from the Master and to deliver it, and also to receive a
message from the people to deliver to the Master. If the messenger is faithful, then the recipients of the messenger's message
will remember the message even if they forget the messenger. Even though Malachi spoke and taught drawing peoples'
attention back to God, he did not forget to remind them that
the Day of the Lord
is coming.

In Scripture we see that when the Jews were in exile, they thought of the Day of the Lord as being the day when the Lord would
judge the tyrant power (or colonial overlord) and re-establish his people in their own land. When, however, the people did at last
return to their own land things did not work out as they had hoped and dreamt. Their hope for the fulfillment of the glowing
promises of the prophets therefore still lay in the future. This meant that with the later prophets the Day of the Lord was seen as
involving God's purifying judgement, when the wicked would be destroyed, death abolished and the righteous dead raised.
Moreover, it was realized that this judgement would fall not only on those who are God's enemies, but also upon God's own
people.

The idea that God is "judge" is ancient and can even be found in Genesis (Gen.18:25). Just as an earthly king sits on his throne
and gives judgement, so God, who is King of kings, "high and lifted up" above the nations (Is.6:1; Ps.89:27), will judge all nations
with equity (Ps.96:10, 13; Ps.98). This judgement may fall at any time. In the Old Testament we hear how God's judgement fell
upon Sodom and Gomorrah because of their great sin. It should be noticed, however, that because Abraham was a man of God
who lived out his faith and offered hospitality to strangers, he was able to intercede on behalf of those upon whom God's
judgement was to fall.

The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews reminds us that "in these last days God has spoken to us by a Son" (Heb.1:2). Jesus
Christ himself began his ministry by proclaiming, "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand" (Mark 1:15). Whenever
a person comes face to face with Jesus Christ, there is the Day of the Lord and there is judgement. Every time there is a revival,
there is also judgement: some are changed and born anew, whereas others reject God and find themselves cast out.

One day there will be the final judgement. One day the present world order will come to its consummation. Then there will be not
just a radical improvement in the present state of things, but rather a catastrophic divine intervention which will bring into being a
new and different order. This new order, this new age with the new heavens and new earth, which is spoken of not only by the
Old Testament prophets, but also in the New Testament - this will emerge only after the Lord's judgement. In this new creation,
when every tear will be wiped away, there can be no evil: no evil can withstand the judgement of God on the Day of the Lord.

The Day of the Lord will come, either in our lifetime or on the day when we are raised from the dead. It is a day of judgement. It
is a day of reckoning. It is a day when individually we shall each give an account, and when we shall account collectively as a
church. The Day of the Lord is also coming when evil shall be shown up very plainly for what it is and destroyed before our own
eyes. It is important to realize this because there are men and women in the society and also in the church, who think that they
have prospered in their evil ways and are very proud, arrogant and unforgiving. There are those who are rich and powerful and
have no regard for the truth of the word of God. They arrogate to themselves special authority and ability to control peoples'
lives and do not fear God. There are also those who claim to be followers of Christ but their lifestyle denies everything the
gospel teaches. They are neither mission minded nor do they support righteousness. They are very tribal (racist) and any
aspect of the word of God that does not fit into their interpretation is not considered authoritative for life. There are those who
hide under religion to attain intellectual heights and achieve their ambitions. For them the gospel is only a stepping stone
towards a personal goal; it is not a call to serve.

The Day of the Lord
is coming.

Malachi saw that the road must be prepared for the Lord even now:

"Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way before me,"                (Mal.3:1)

Before our own eyes God will overthrow the wicked and will bring them all down. Those who see it shall fear the Lord. All those
who have constituted themselves to be a hindrance to the work of God, whether they be in the church or outside the church will
discover that their end has come. There is going to be a great revival and they cannot stop it. The Lord will use this mighty
revival to do his work and to glorify his name. There will be a revival that will return people to prayer and to trust God for
everything and every day of their lives; a revival that will return people to the word of God as the sole authority for life; a revival
that will break denominational boundaries and lead people out to mission and evangelism as a way of life; a revival that will bring
tribes together in fellowship; a revival when, on a daily basis, people will experience the filling of the Holy Spirit. That
Day of the Lord
is coming.

Malachi's teaching applies very much to us today. We live with such experiences and in such a generation that, whether verbally
or non-verbally, the African is wondering whether God loves him at all. The extent to which the average Nigerian has to labour to
be able to feed his family and pay school fees is almost unbelievable. And yet the western world seems to have everything at its
disposal. In fact, if a Nigerian had a choice between going to live overseas in the west and going to heaven, the choice would be
obvious! Young men now do not want to marry any more because they can hardly look after themselves, not to talk of looking
after a family. Most of the young graduates I know are unemployed. The methods of passing exams today in the tertiary
institutions leaves a lot to be desired. You only need to attend the hospital to encounter an angry doctor or a hungry nurse, not
to talk of the cost of the drugs you may need after diagnosis, and the hospital bill itself!

In other countries - even in the West - the reasons may be different, the type of man's blindness may be different, but there too
many people are tempted to wonder whether God really loves them. Whatever our physical and material conditions the devil will
always find a way of insinuating this doubt and this question into peoples' minds.

The truth is that God loves all of us equally, as Malachi points out to the Israelites, but the evil of man against man so reduces
the visibility that we can scarcely see that love. The selfishness, the greed and the inhumanity of man to his fellow man
increases the burden and weight of sin so that even when God is screaming his love at us we hardly hear. With regard to this,
Malachi's first condemnation is of the religion. From 1:6 to 2:9, Malachi enumerates and exposes those sins that make it almost
impossible for us to experience and know God's love. The chief culprits are the priests. Let me give my own commentary on
Malachi's oracle.

I am convinced, and I agree that no congregation can ever rise in its own spirituality above that of its priest. If this is right, then
most congregations would be living at 50% of the spirituality of their priest - and this is only when they are doing very well, and
where there is good teaching, good fellowship and good prayer meetings. A few from that congregation, a very few indeed, may
rise up to 70% or 80% in their spirituality towards that of the priest. From this congregation is recruited someone who goes for
training for the priesthood. If this man is operating at 50% when he goes to the seminary, and if the seminary is very orthodox
and non-evangelical or liberal, then he is panel-beaten and sprayed down to 25%, and in that state he is priested and sent to
another congregation. Since he is now operating at 25%, his congregation will be at 11.5%. As time goes by, a member of that
congregation is selected and sent for training, operating at the same 11.5% and comes out from the seminary operating at
5.75% It is only a matter of time, as the downward spiral takes its toll, that the spirituality of the people becomes very bad to the
point where even the priests do not know (or do not care about) the difference between a good and a bad sacrifice for God.

Look at the questions in Malachi, and you will see very clearly that over a period of time the neglect of good theological
education and of deep spiritual devotional training has brought this sad situation upon the nation. The people are very religious.
They go to worship. They know all the hymns and canticles but they do not honour God. They insult the poor. They care only
for themselves, their tribe, their clan, their group, their society and so on, and it is the left-overs that they bring to the Lord. Their
groups, societies and organisations are more powerful than the church of God. And who are the perpetrators? They are the
priests, the clergy: they accept blind animals for sacrifice; they accept defiled sacrifices in the name of the Lord, and they even
grumble that God is asking too much and complain that religious requirements are now a burden.

When the priest does not preach the full gospel to the people and the congregation is full of unconverted members you will from
that congregation have a big, responsible, wonderful, nice, unconverted church council. These unconverted persons are
incapable of accepting or discerning spiritual things that will bring glory to God; in fact, they spend more time quarrelling in the
council, misleading the congregation and finally even quarrelling with God himself. Whereas, if you had a council of converted
people they would be mindful to please the Lord above everything and would do things to the glory of God and to the shame of
the devil.

We can only imagine why the priests have so degenerated. They have forgotten that the call to priesthood is a call to a life of
prayer, searching out the mind of God and seeking to implement and do the will of God. I have only recently learned from the
casualty rate of the clergy in this generation who have fallen because of women or money or pride. I have learned that those
who answer the call nowadays are captured by the fancy nature of the vestments, by the beauty of the processions and by the
show of intellectual ability in theology, but they have neglected the call to sacrifice time and energy in prayer. These clergy
reject totally the burden of the congregations they are called to serve. They lack the spiritual capacity to withstand the rigours
and the difficulties of ministry. They like it when the congregations can meet their needs and so they see the congregation as an
avenue for their receiving ministration rather than seeking to minister to the congregation. The congregation must provide a car
for them, or a bicycle or motorbike; the congregation must marry a wife for them; the congregation must do everything and strain
themselves to meet the needs of this priest. So what do you expect? This priest will go below the belt along with his
congregation against God, for ever complaining of his posting, of his condition and of his ministry. This priest and the
congregation find fault with everything and on a daily basis are full of complaints, like a second-hand Nigerian car.

But the priest whose life is centred on doing the will of God will not be like that. Much earlier this century, Evelyn Underhill said:

"The man whose life is coloured by prayer, whose loving communion with God comes first, will always win souls; because he
shows them in his own life and person the attractiveness ... the transforming power of the spiritual life. His intellectual powers and
the rest will not, comparatively speaking, matter much. The point is that he stands as a witness to that which he proclaims. The
most persuasive preacher, the most devoted and untiring social worker, the most up-to-date theologian - unless loving devotion
to God exceeds and enfolds these activities - will not win souls.
Therefore prayer is (a) his primary obligation to the church and (b) the only condition under which the work of the Christian
ministry can be properly done.
Therefore the priest MUST set aside time for prayer. A priest's life of prayer is, in a peculiar sense, part of the great mystery of
the Incarnation. He is meant to be one of the channels by and through which the Eternal God, manifested in time, acts within the
human world; reaches out, seeks, touches, and transforms human souls. His real position in the parish is that of a dedicated
agent of the Divine Love. The Spirit of Christ, indwelling His Church, is to act through him.
The Christian minister is still one of those called to serve the brethren, as well as to go up to the altar of God; and it is that
double vocation, turned towards the Eternal and towards the human - love of God and love of souls - which makes the tension
and richness of the priest's life, and must be reflected in his prayer.
Much is now being said about evangelism; but before we get effective evangelism, we have to get effective evangelists.
Evangelism is useless, unless it is the work of one devoted to God, willing and glad to suffer all things for God, penetrated by the
attractiveness of God."

I love Underhill in the way she has looked at the life of prayer in the parish. She asks: how can the priest best draw his people
into the life of prayer, wake up their sense of God, and develop their latent spiritual capacities? This is his central task. She
puts forward three factors:
1. His own life of prayer. The first step towards deepening the life of prayer in a parish is to deepen it in the life of the priest, the
shepherd who must go before the people and "lead" them to God. The people will learn the secret of prayer by that which he
does, not by that which he says.
2. The parish church and what is done in it. It is important that the priest sets the example by spending time in the church in
silent prayer, as well as by the way in which he leads the services.
3. The formation of praying groups which should be an integral part of church life - but which are not just gatherings for
intercession! Adoration and self-offering are necessary pre-requisites.

Secondly, we see from Malachi that the priests seemed quite well trained in theology, but they deliberately refused to put their
learning into practice. They neither drew people to God not did they themselves seek to please God. That is why God now
called them to listen (in Malachi 2), otherwise they were in danger of a curse hanging over everything they would ever live or
work for. The priests had become indifferent to the law and to the covenant with God.

This is a great worry to us. I am myself afraid because at the moment I am doing a doctorate in Ministry. Will my studies
enhance and prosper the mission of the church? Will they bring more people to Christ? What shall be the benefit of my studies
to the church? In Nigeria many self-styled evangelists are recipients of Doctor of Divinity degrees from seminaries which hardly
qualify to award Diplomas or Certificates. Academic fraud has found a brand new field now in Christian theology. Bible Schools
that at best can only pass for Primary School Certificate level are awarding so-called degrees of all sorts without control in this
country. The quality of men and women being trained is not looked at, and there is no thought of regulation. The church is
simply being plagued with people of all shades and characters.

The biggest question in all of this is: with so much knowledge, so many degrees, so many Bible Schools, so many Doctors of
Divinity - what is the impact on the nation? Are people becoming more Christ-like? Is corruption being stamped out? Is there a
great harvest of souls in evangelism? Is there an increase of love across the tribes and denominations? No! Rather, there is
rivalry; politicking amongst the clergy, the denominations and the people; enmity and disregard for the law, for the covenant of
God. But -
the Day of the Lord
is coming.

A revival will sweep the land and you will know that God has sent this revival because the covenant of the Lord shall be upheld;
this covenant will be revered and God will raise true priests who will instruct the people in truth. Sound instruction will be found in
their mouth and nothing false will be found in their lives. They will walk with the Lord in peace and righteousness and they will
turn many people from sin and draw many into the Kingdom of God. They will seek only to please the Lord and to bring glory to
his name. Yes, that Day is coming.

"For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the
Lord of hosts. But you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by your instruction; you have
corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts, and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, insomuch
as you have not kept my ways, but have shown partiality in your instruction."
(Malachi 2:7-9)

There seems to have been a spirit of religion that was very strong amongst the people of Judah. They had it right in that they
knew where to go when there was a problem: they went to the Temple. They would go and pray and even shed tears. They
were always in a hurry to go and worship God and to finish with worshipping God within a time limit, but they were not willing to
listen to God. They were anxious for God to answer their prayers but totally unwilling to do the things that pleased the Lord.
They would be glad to finish with the worship service in one hour and would be very upset if it went beyond one hour, but they
would be very happy to spend the next two hours chatting over suya or pepper soup or a cup of tea or anything else, with no
regard for how God felt about them and no regard for family relationships or relationships with neighbours.

The covenant of the Lord was broken and this situation always has consequences that are usually not easy for man to bear. For
example: the Israelites wanted to see what their pagan neighbour women were like, and they thought that the best way they could
do this would be to divorce their own legitimate wives and to marry young, pagan, god-less women. The modesty of their own
godly wives suddenly seemed out of fashion. They had a better idea than that which God had about women and marriage and
godly offspring, and they threw away every prescription of God concerning family life in order to gain one tiny, short, little bit of
temporary satisfaction with no consideration for the totality of their life-span. It has been said that if one gets married to the spirit
of the age, that person will be bereaved in the next age.

What I do not seem to understand is how we expect God not only to listen to us, but also to be obliged to answer our prayers
without any indication of repentance, reconciliation and, where necessary, restitution on our part. We all like to justify why we
fail. We search out reasons and lay before God the "because" of every failure; we even attempt to blame God when we fail. An
article which we were given to work on in class recently was written by a Professor of English; he turned every blame onto God
for creating a defective and substandard material called man. A friend of mine once said, "To err is human, but to complain is
very human, and to blame is even more human!" We, however, continue to expect God to meet our needs when we have no
respect for his covenant, no regard for his love and little regard for one another.

The prophet Malachi therefore rounded on the Israelites, saying that even though they came to the Lord's altar with tears and
weeping and groaning, they could not expect the Lord to accept their offering, because their worship was not sincere. They said
one thing and did another. They professed belief in God, but did not live in accordance with God's laws. If our hearts are not
right with God, if we do not genuinely seek to live out our faith all day, every day, in everything that we do, say and think, then
how can we expect God to receive our worship! When referring to people who partook of the Holy Communion with insincerity,
St.Paul made it clear that they were bringing judgement on themselves. If we truly long to worship God, then we shall give of our
very best: our preaching, our music, our conduct, our dress, the preparation of the building - everything will be the best possible
out of honour, love and respect for God Almighty. If, however, we are trying to deceive God ("419"), then no matter how well we
sing, preach, dance and prepare, all our worship will be useless, and will in fact invite God's judgement.

Why do our services sometimes become little more than a routine chore, with no real sense of worship? Is it not because we do
not to listen to God, and do not allow God to speak to us? Is it not because we do not want to let God into our worship and into
our lives? Our worship becomes like one side of a telephone conversation, or rather a monologue spoken into a telephone
which NITEL has already tossed!

The Day of the Lord
is coming!

Whenever God enters, his judgement must burn away the chaff, before his peace can reign.

"For I hate divorce, says the Lord the God of Israel, and covering one's garment with violence, says the Lord of Hosts. So take
heed to yourselves and do not be faithless."
(Malachi 2:16b)

The Lord is calling us to faith in him, to trust him and to go with him all the way. To break faith, therefore, is to find another god,
and to divorce is to choose destruction with consequences in the present and for the future.

Malachi lived very much among the people: he walked with them and talked with them and was very familiar with their complaints,
questions and arguments with God. He was probably also a scribe who listened to cases in the court. You can see this very
clearly from the questions and answers that he gives in order to make God's message clearer to the people. For example, the
people are complaining by saying, "All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord and he is pleased with them" or "Where is the
God of justice?" (2:17). This is the people's complaint against God.

What is very interesting for me is that the people are not looking at their own failures; they are not looking at their shortcomings.
They are not seeing their corruption in government; they are not seeing their greed and mercilessness to one another. The
people are complaining about justice when everybody knows that the judicial system is corrupt and justice can be bought. The
lawyers take bad cases and make them good without fear of God. But now, now that the situation has become what it is, the
people have forgotten that it is practically because of their lack of respect for the law of God and for his covenant that they are
reaping what they sow. They still insist that it must be God who is to blame.
God's response is very exciting. He says: "See", "Watch", "Behold", "Look out" (3:1). God's response is that he is taking charge;
he is now going to come personally into the situation by bringing a messianic age in which there will be a revival and a return to
God with righteousness and true worship. God is going to send a messenger who will prepare the way and this messenger is
going to preach the truth and turn the people's hearts to God. Then the Lord will appear in his Temple. Brothers and sisters,
this is what I am praying for!

The Day of the Lord
is coming!

The city of Jos is blessed with every conceivable missionary church and para-church headquarters, and the number of prayer
ministries is uncountable - not to mention the number of independent churches whose total denomination from beginning to end,
with its headquarters, is in Jos as a single congregation. And what have we achieved? Will the judgement of God not come
suddenly, and shall we, even the church, escape God's judgement? In truth, the situation is this: the church in Jos believes that
she is better than the sinners elsewhere and also definitely better than the unbelievers who do not know the gospel at all. That
was precisely how the children of Israel felt in Malachi's time. They were looking at the evil of the unbelievers; they were looking
at the shortcomings of those who were not part of the family of the church of Israel. They were confident that their biological
relationship with Abraham was what mattered. However, they were not willing to remove the log from their eyes; they were not
prepared to admit their failures, to repent, to change and to work for righteousness. Instead, they were calling for the Day of the
Lord, and they were looking forward to that day when God's judgement would fall upon the non-biological children of Abraham.
They were wrong.

We also are in danger of putting ourselves in the same situation because the churches and the para-church organisations have
made us feel comfortable, simply because we "belong". And maybe, just maybe, we have the right clichés, the right Christian
vocabulary, and so we think that we are safe from God's judgement. We do not want to come face to face with our unbiblical and
thoroughly secular life-style which we impose on the church. Our family life is in disarray; the clergy themselves are quite happy
to condone unbiblical practices in family life. Here in Africa we may well be condemning homosexuality as a sin, but every other
sin that is practised in the church is also sin!

The Day of the Lord
is coming,
and judgement, Peter says, will begin from the household of God. The Lord has taken definite steps by himself. He will pour out
his Spirit and there will be a mighty revival. Falsehood will have no place. Disobedience to the word of God will be met with
instant judgement. Sorcerers, adulterers, perjurers, frauds, oppressors, the unjust, all who do not fear the Lord shall not only be
exposed, but will be judged and condemned if they do not repent. The revival of God is at hand to create room for those who
wish to repent and return to God. It is the preparation for the way of the Lord, so that all who seek the Lord will follow therein. It
is the best experience the church can ever have because the Lord will come near to his people to purify the clergy, the temple
and the people. Then we shall be blessed. The Lord is coming.
The Day of the Lord
is coming!

The coming of the Lord will be to purify, to refine and to make new.

"But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?"
(Malachi 3:2)

One more question Malachi answers for the people is on tithing. Recently one heretic on television here said, "We are under a
curse if we tithe in the New Testament dispensation". I have since then responded to him! The children of Israel here were
prepared to overlook tithing and offering in the house of God, but they were very passionate about asking God to bless them.
The point here is not that God needs our temporal currency or our ephemeral sacrifices, but God wants us to maintain a focus
for ministry that is self-governing, self-propagating and self-sustaining: to reach the unreached; to take the good news to the
whole world; and to set a pattern of true worship that is heavenly focused and earthly relevant. This can only be achieved when
the place of worship is properly maintained, and when those who worship are full participants in the life and ministry of the true
worship of God.

Tithing is a must for every believer who wishes to see the ministry grow and make an impact on the community. God's intention
here is to encourage the people to participate in the ministry of sharing the good news with others and in sustaining the service
of those who minister. If you refuse to give or tithe for the work of God you will definitely give or tithe for the work of the devil;
and if you refuse to contribute to the growth of God's work, you will contribute to the devil's work. Contributing to the work and
ministry of the good news is a privilege and it should be done with all humility to bring glory to God, and so even one tenth is not
a sufficient contribution. In order for the mission to sustain itself we all must contribute and the minimum contribution is a tithe.
Then God will be pleased with his people and they shall be blessed. Moreover, the whole purpose is not just for a once and for
all occasion, but for an endless cycle of continuous worship that is passed on from one generation to another. When this
happens:

"Then once more you will distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not
serve him."         (Malachi 3:18)

The clergy have the heaviest responsibility not only in answering God's call, but also in being faithful to the call. They are the
ones who should hear God, take instructions from the Lord and teach them accurately to the people. The people in turn, if they
are properly taught, will live out their faith in such a way that God will be glorified and an increasing number of people will be won
to the Lord. Correct theology, when applied correctly, will lead to good conduct. The clergy therefore have the duty of delivering
God's message not only by their words but by their lives. Malachi scrutinizes the ministry of the clergy. This should not be
misunderstood to mean that Malachi was anti-clergy, but in fact most of the Old Testament speaks of God's judgement as
beginning with the clergy before the people. The clergy have a responsibility to lead in this regard. Such leadership is costly. It
calls for a life of prayer, warfare prayer, intercessory prayer, personal devotion, personal studies, physical strength, hard work
and total commitment. By this the clergy will become an instrument of revival, salvation and blessing. Otherwise, when revival
does take place, the nonchalant clergy and the irresponsible followers will be condemned unless they repent. As for God's
revival, it will certainly come: the situation is ripe and obvious because the wicked cannot continue to oppress the children of God
in the church of God.

"For behold, the day comes, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall
burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name the sun of
righteousness shall rise, with healing in his wings. You shall go forth leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down
the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.
Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I
send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes."
(Malachi 4:1-5)

God wants to reach this nation with the gospel of peace and salvation and he wants to use us. We should count ourselves very
privileged and therefore we must be available and teachable. One can almost hear the voice of the Lord in every fellowship
group; the young people are praying for revival; the old people are praying for revival; and we believe God will surely bring the
revival. This revival is more than a few young people clapping hands in church, observing night vigils and screaming in prayers.
It is more than the establishment of independent congregations branded with all kinds of names. It cannot be created by man,
nor is it under man's control: it is God bringing people back to himself and doing extraordinary activities in the lives of ordinary
men and women to bring glory to his name. When God does this the church will move out in all directions as one man in mission,
evangelising the immediate community, the nation and the rest of the world.

When this revival happens, people will sing hymns and know what they mean; they will pray and receive instant answers to their
prayers; they will read Scripture and tears will come from their eyes; they will weep for the sins of their church, the nation and the
people as a whole, and God will wipe away their tears. They will not shout to make people hear the message of God. Sinners
will be ashamed of their sins. The ungodly will not be able to endure, and false preachers from across the denominations will
lose their jobs. The Spirit of the Lord will accomplish this. God will sweep the church clean from all its dirt, but the people who
repent will be spared. Unbelievers will be amazed and across the land there will be a great harvest of souls into the Kingdom. All
gory will be given to God and from here to the ends of the earth, wherever a product of this revival goes, the gospel will be
preached.

The Day of the Lord
is coming.

I want to be part of it; I pray to be part of it, and I want this Diocese to be part of it. It shall be a day of judgement for the
rebellious, but a day of salvation for the repentant. That day will surely come.

LAMBETH CONFERENCE

It was a great privilege and honour for Gloria and me to be at the Lambeth Conference 1998. We met so many great men and
women of God within the Anglican family who serve God faithfully in their geographical areas of primary calling. Some of these
faithful servants of God serve under very severe hardship that makes me realize how very grateful I must be for my own situation
in Nigeria. We met with many great men and women of faith who love the Lord Jesus Christ very dearly: some of them come from
Europe, some from America and some from other parts of Africa. We have made contacts for companion relationships with the
Bishop of Kitale (Kenya), the Rt.Rev.S.Kewasis, and the Bishop of Bujumbura (Burundi), the Rt.Rev.Pie Ntukamazina. We hope
that at an appropriate time during this Synod, a motion will be passed for us to endorse and make our relationship official. This
relationship will include exchange of staff, visits and mutual support and prayers. Contrary to the western type of companion
relationship, ours will have no number of years in view because I would like us to continue the relationship even in heaven! We
will, however, break our relationship when either we or our companions cease to believe and practise the teachings of our Lord
Jesus Christ as contained in Scripture.

There is no doubt that the African Church has a lot to contribute to the life and witness of the church of God. We may not have
published many theological treatises, not because we do not know a lot of theology, but mainly due to financial constraints. We
also do not have the information machinery to make some of our theological thoughts known, but that in no way makes us any
less informed. I also met some serious theological thinkers from Africa who do not express their thoughts very well in English, but
have solid faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lambeth gathering was worthwhile and we give glory to God Almighty for the life and ministry of the Most Rev.George Carey,
Archbishop of Canterbury; for his stand in all things lawful and honest, and in particular for his position on Biblical teachings. He
was able to lead the Lambeth Conference with humility and with the deepest sense of responsibility and of daily dependence
upon the power of the Holy Spirit. There were also the presence and ministries of The Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, the
A.A.C. (American Anglican Council), SOMA (Sharing of Ministries Abroad) and E.F.A.C. (Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican
Communion), who all provided platforms for a co-ordinated thinking and presentation of Biblical thoughts and positions on
Biblical teachings. Leaders of these various organisations must be commended for their labour of love. They had tremendous
foresight; they were visionary and they were led by the Spirit of God to bring together and to inform Bishops and their spouses
about the proceedings and methods of the various workings of the committees and of some crucial resolutions. We have
continued to pray that God will keep and sustain these organisations for his glory.

In a gathering of this nature Satan was also there and we were tempted to feel inferior and to keep quiet. We were also tempted
to feel intimidated, but whenever we looked up to Christ we were strengthened, encouraged and equipped to go on. I must
mention that the African Bishops could not have succeeded at any time without the active support of brothers and sisters from
the rest of the world. Yes, the African Church spoke out and God used some African Bishops mightily, but also there were some
brothers and sisters from other parts of the world whom the Lord used mightily and without whom almost nothing would have
been achieved.

Sadly, some Bishops from other parts of the world received the resolutions as being a defeat of their theological stance. These
Bishops have been working very hard to reject all the Lambeth resolutions since these resolutions disagreed with their world
view. Some of them see the Lambeth resolutions as favouring an African world view and so find them unacceptable. It would
have been all right if they had simply held these views, but they have gone ahead to be insulting, and in some cases racist, in
their comments.

One of their chief points of theological disagreement concerns the homosexual question (gay and lesbian movements).
According to people like Bishop Spong, you are only a true Christian if you do not view homosexuality as sin, and this view is
consistent in that it calls for a revision of the entire faith of the church. In one of his interviews with the press, Bishop Spong
expressed his view that African Christianity was only a step away from witchcraft. One other Bishop committed to this line of
thought claimed that the African Bishops agreed to vote against the motion on homosexuality because we were bribed with
chicken wings at a lunch. One other western Bishop even went so far as to say that an African Bishop was bribed with $500.00.
These are desperate accusations and insults to the African Bishops; they are totally baseless and lack any ingredient of love.
We will not be discouraged because I have responded to many of these accusations and insults, not with vengeance, but simply
to put them in their right place. I am not inferior to any Bishop because I do not hold a degree from overseas! Even if I did hold
such a degree, I am not answerable to man: I am answerable to God.

I feel sorry for Bishops who hold this "superior" type of theological thinking that has no biblical base and lacks merit for good
works.   It may satisfy and please the people of this world, but certainly it has no place in the Kingdom of God. When it comes to
faith in God we all stand on level ground: we are all equal before God. To begin to create differences and classifications in
theological thought has no place where Jesus is Lord. In Nigeria no Bishop gets a whole chicken as a bribe for anything. When
a Bishop is given a chicken it is usually a small welcome gift where the people are very, very poor. For my vote to change
because of a chicken wing is not only incredible, it is an insult. To accept a bribe at all should not even be mentioned of any
Bishop. Yes, we have seen poverty but, yes, we have experienced faith in Jesus Christ and this faith will not change in sickness
or in health, for richer or poorer, nor in the face of death, until we come face to face with him in whom we have believed.

We appreciate every contribution of our diocese in supporting us to be at the Lambeth Conference, and we offer our gratitude
also to "Churches Together in West Bridgford" who paid for our children to come along with us. We thank every brother and
every sister who prayed for us. We owe you our service, our love, and our faithfulness. Continue to pray for the Church of God
in this age and watch out for false teachers, heretics and agents of the devil. They are more desperate now than ever before.
They have no respect for the oath they take in the name of God. They are spiritual frauds and wolves in sheep's clothing. Be
watchful; be prayerful.

The Day of the Lord
is coming.

MY VISION

As I look ahead and as I seek God's face for the future, three things are revealed to me:

1. Holistic mission to children:
(a) children's health;
(b) children's education;
(c) the gospel for children.

2. Education:
(a) adult literacy;
(b) theological education;
(c) worship.

3. Health:
(a) basic hygiene;
(b) care for the environment;
(c) physical fitness.

I am going to pursue this vision and if the Lord does not return, this vision will form the focus of my ministry in the next millennium.
I shall be deemed to have retired by the year 2026, and if the gospel once delivered to the saints is to be faithfully preached in
the next generation, I am hearing a voice from the Lord, saying: "Let the children come unto me." We owe it to God and to the
next generation to bring children to the knowledge of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I know that naturally we care for children's health, but let me add one voice from the pulpit: please do more by ensuring that all
babies are adequately vaccinated, given a healthy environment and the opportunity to live and be fruitful. Every child that is
born comes to this life with a seed, and no-one knows what kind of seed the baby is bearing. No-one knows who the next
Administrator, Bishop, President, President's wife, Bishop's wife, pastor's wife, sexton ...... is going to be. Every child must
therefore be adequately cared for, given the maximum attention, presented with the gospel early enough and given the chance
to receive the Lord Jesus Christ.

Secondly, we have come this far as a church because of the sacrifice and labours of our grandparents and parents who saw
education not as a means of making money, but as an avenue of giving a future to the oppressed. Our parents and
grandparents provided education in order to give freedom and the opportunity of gaining a livelihood. I am determined to go
back to the original vision for education in the church. We will provide education in the church using our liturgy, catechism and
the Bible. We will provide education for prayer and praise of God, and give an opportunity for adult education in the church.
Therefore clergy and all church workers who are not prepared to teach, to train and to sacrifice in this way for the benefit of
others will definitely not be part of this vision in the days ahead. We have established a School of Church Music to provide once
again from infancy a knowledge of church music for praise worship, and to make melody in our hearts with thanksgiving to the
Lord.

The Lord has given us life, and he has given us the opportunity of stewardship of our health. "A healthy mind in a healthy body"
is a Latin proverb. We are called to be holy, and the Book of Leviticus gives us a guide to basic hygiene, care of the
environment and physical fitness. For us to live long, we must adhere to Biblical teachings in this regard. This is the cure for
gluttony, greed and sheer recklessness. We shall have to give account for the life we have been given, for the opportunities we
have received and for the children with whom the Lord has blessed us.

The Day of the Lord
is coming.

EVANGELISM

It is with joy that we report the work of God to you in our diocese. There have been so many growing problems in this area of our
primary responsibility in the last year, but God has been ever so faithful to our ministry. There is the problem of growth and
integration. There is a financial problem and a discipline problem. Some of these problems have been a real pain, but they
have done a whole lot of good to my prayer life, for which I am eternally grateful! We are, however, noticing a new trend of
church growth, particularly in Jos city and in some of the rural areas. We must watch out for what God is doing in our given
locations and be part of it for his glory. Some of the clergy are on fire not only in evangelizing and starting new congregations,
but also in nurturing the young congregations. These efforts will never go unrewarded by the Lord. The lazy ones, however,
should expect no reward either from the Lord or from man.

We have already submitted an application for the creation of a missionary diocese to be carved out from our present Jos
Diocese. When it is approved, Nasarawa State will become a Missionary Diocese.

My first vision when I came to Jos Diocese was to saturate the entire diocese with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, to
establish a strong congregation in every Local Government Headquarters and in every town, and to raise the clergy strength to
one hundred. All this was to be achieved by the year 2000. I also had a vision of establishing schools, clinics and a sound
economic base for the diocese. I also hoped that a Bishopscourt would be completed - and all these by the year 2000. We have
not lost hope! For "it is not by might nor by power, but by my spirit says the Lord" (Zech.4:6).

Therefore we continue to press on in our efforts to evangelize Plateau and Nasarawa States with the gospel of salvation. In the
interests of evangelism, two new Archdeaconries have been created:
- Bukuru Archdeaconry (consisting of the parishes of St.Peter's Bukuru, Christ Church Bukuru, Vom, Barakin Ladi and Zadiyen)
has been carved out of Jos South Archdeaconry;
- the former Chapelries Council has been combined with St.Michael's Parish to become Jos North Archdeaconry.

New parishes have also been created as follows:
- Mangu Archdeaconry: Pushit Parish; Bokkos Parish
- Lafia Archdeaconry: St.Philip's Lafia Parish; Mada Station Parish; Doma Parish; Akaleku Sidi Parish
- Keffi Archdeaconry: New Karu Parish

We urge every member to get to know what it means to be born again, to accept Jesus Christ into one's heart by invitation and to
receive the privilege of being called a child of God. This is possible when you acknowledge that you are a sinner and that you
cannot get to God by your own effort, no matter how religious you are, no matter how good you think you are. You must humble
yourself before God and accept that Jesus Christ died on the cross in your place, for your sins, and now offers you salvation
from eternal death and condemnation, and from all spiritual blindness. Then you receive the gift of God through his Holy Spirit.
When this happens you begin to experience walking with God as you devote yourself to the study of his word, listening to him in
a time of quiet and prayer, and living out a life that pleases the Lord. You become born again. This experience of new life
ceases to be joyful if you cannot tell somebody and encourage them to experience the same. You do not have to be a pastor or
an evangelist; you do not need a microphone or a loud-speaker; you can share your experience with someone in your office, in
the market, with your children at home, with your relations, your friends, in the club, at any time, on any day. We plead with each
one of you to bring someone to Christ and see what a joy that will add to your life.

The mission in our diocese now focuses on person to person evangelism. We will however, not stop the establishment of new
congregations in the rural areas, and also in Jos in particular, because of the rising population. We are, however, emphasizing
that all forms of mission and evangelism and church growth must continue as we approach the new millennium. Spare no time to
share the gospel with whoever will care to listen to you for we do not know the day, the hour, nor the time when our Master shall
return. We must therefore be diligent and faithful in bringing this message of salvation to people, because

the Day of the Lord

is coming.

TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY

A committee has been put in place to draw up a programme of activities to celebrate our twenty years as a diocese. This
celebration coincides with the Provincial Millennium Celebration with its one-day event. Ours, however, will be a year full of
activities which will include rallies, musical concerts, carnival parade, evangelistic outreach, ordination, Synod, and whatever
happens next year will be a Twentieth Anniversary happening. We will receive a report from the Committee during the course of
the Synod. We are asking for the participation of every member in every activity as time and energy will permit. I have a vision
of a jamboree at all activities. The type of gathering that will attract people will, without any question, end up with an opportunity
for people to decide for Christ. We ask for your prayers: we are hoping that friends from around the country and from overseas
will also visit and be part of our celebrations. Begin now to prepare and bring all your ideas to the committee. On one of the
days, at the same time throughout the Diocese, each Archdeaconry will organise its own Carnival.

My vision for this celebration is that it will launch us into the millennium with great hope for greater things from our great God. It
is our dream that great things lie in store ahead of us and, if the Lord does not return before then, we will bring great glory to
God within the best of our ability. We shall do all always bearing in mind that

the Day of the Lord

is coming.

NIGERIA

The soccer festival, "Nigeria 99" opened our nation to the rest of the world. The fact that technology was at its best on NTA also
gave us a good image. We congratulate Nigeria for successfully hosting "Nigeria 99". We still had problems with obtaining petrol
and most workers remained without salaries. We give thanks for the weeks of the Festival that turned us away from our sorrow
and tears. Once the fiesta was over we were back to reality.

I am having trouble accepting that a nation like ours which could host "Nigeria 99" is unable to payN= 3,000.00 as the minimum
wage to its workers. A very unfortunate trend has come upon us, whereby dissatisfied children will beat up their parents;
dissatisfied students will burn their schools; dissatisfied parents will beat up their employees; dissatisfied employees will beat up
their employer. Over a period of time we have invited the demons of violence, irresponsibility, corruption, embezzlement,
cheating, laziness and fraud. We have not punished these crimes: we have rather glorified them. We have systematically
destroyed all godly virtues, so that only the praises of the corrupt and evil are sung, and no care is given to the poor and the
helpless.

The Day of the Lord
is coming,

and God will judge with righteousness and equity. One would have thought that with the death of Abacha, the fear of God would
come upon our nation. Alas, it was only for a few weeks.

Hear this, O wicked and perverse people who never learn: the judgement of God is coming and it shall come suddenly and all the
ill-gotten wealth of the wicked shall come to nothing. Those who plan evil and hold this country to ransom: the Day of the Lord
shall come upon you like a thief in the night. The Lord is not a respecter of persons and fears no man. It should be clear
therefore that God will not overlook evil for ever. The church must continue to pray and live righteously because the Day of the
Lord is coming upon this nation and God will not spare his judgement.

How can we believe that in a military set-up the Federal Government will order the States to payN= 3,000.00 minimum wage,
knowing fully well that the States cannot pay it, but still expecting the States to comply? How are we to accept the explanation of
the State Governments without suspecting that there is something fishy right at the door of the transition to civil rule, and still
expect the transition to succeed? The Bible is very clear: "whatever a man sows, that he will also reap" (Gal.6:7) Those who
are planners of this evil shall reap in full measure the evil they plan. They and their families shall pay for it. As for the masses of
this country, they hear and they see the billion naira expenditures of the Petroleum Trust Fund. They also hear those who
benefit from it and those who gain for doing nothing. They see them do everything to remain in power politically or militarily. The
poor will not be poor for ever: God will bring them rescue. The Day, that great Day of the Lord will come.

The people who prepare payment vouchers are junior staff and they learn to take instructions on how to inflate contracts and
make payments for jobs not done. These poor junior staff are now dissatisfied and angry. I even dare to ask: since 1992, the
embargo on employment has not been lifted. Why was it then possible to pay workers all these years, and then suddenly in
1999 the amount of money needed to pay the same workers is not enough? Isn't there such a thing as audit of staff and project
appraisals? Where is the evidence of the one billion naira allocated to every State for special projects? People are hungry;
projects are not. Projects that do not directly meet the needs of the people are useless.

Why is it possible for private individuals to build a house for a certain amount, but it takes government five times that amount (if
not more) to build the same structure? I am convinced that we need a revival, otherwise a revolution will take place. My choice is
for someone or for the church as a whole to stand in the gap in prayer and let God have mercy. A revival will be my own option:
then God will bring a blessing on the people and on the whole nation. A revival will turn people to God and bring salvation to the
land. A revolution, however, will destroy people and property and will set the clock of time backwards.

The choice is between a revival and a revolution. Many graduates are unemployed already, and yet we hear of an impending
retrenchment which does not touch the rich at all. Where is justice in this country? Where is equity? The poor are hungry. The
masses are hungry. It will not be long before they will become angry and wild. The Federal Government must come quickly to
the rescue of the situation as an act of God because

the Day of the Lord
is coming.

Let me conclude my call by appealing once again to Government to return all mission schools where the next generation will be
brought up in the fear of God, learning to be content and conscientious in service, with diligence and dignity in their labours.
Then we shall have a revival, otherwise we are on the verge of a revolution and with a revolution even the rich, in fact particularly
the rich, will be the target. We are left with choosing to return to God or to face the wrath of men.

The Day of the Lord

is coming.

CONCLUSION

Malachi, the messenger of God, assured his people of God's constant and continuing love for them, but he warned that they
would not be able to know the full extent of that love unless they turned away from sin and turned back to God with complete
integrity and commitment. That message remains true for us today. If the life of the family, the life of the church, the life of the
community and the life of the nation are to be set right, we must first of all set right our relationship with God. This can only be
achieved if we all, clergy and laity alike, become people of prayer, people who listen to God and thus people who live for God
with utter sincerity, total integrity and absolute honesty. Then a mighty revival will sweep the church and the nation. Do not be
left behind; do not delay; do not hold back because -

"behold, the day comes, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall
burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name the sun of
righteousness shall rise, with healing in his wings. You shall go forth leaping like calves from the stall."
(Malachi 4:1-2)

The Day of the Lord
is coming.

Amen.

+Benjamin Jos        May 1999

The Church of Nigeria
(Anglican Communion)

DIOCESE OF JOS

delivered to

THE SECOND SESSION OF
THE SEVENTH SYNOD

at 10.00 a.m. on

Friday, 21st May, 1999
in
St.Luke's Cathedral Church, Jos

by

THE RT. REV. BENJAMIN A. KWASHI
(Bishop of Jos)