ANGLICAN DIOCESE OF JOS
CHRISTIAN INSTUITE
ARCHBISHOP BENJAMIN ARGAK KWASHI (OON) DD, D.Min.
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
BISHOP'S CHARGE 2002
In the Name of
the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit,
Amen.
We greet and welcome everyone in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. This synod is a landmark in our ministry, and we are
delighted to welcome many distinguished guests. We mention particularly our preachers, and we thank them most sincerely for
sparing their time and energy to be here with us. I first met the Rt.Rev.Joseph Akinfenwa when he was a member of St.George's
Church, Sabon Gari, Zaria, where I had the privilege and honour to baptise their first son, Emmanuel. It was therefore my joy to
see both Joseph and Comfort later come forward and offer themselves for service in the ministry of the gospel. Both Joseph and
Comfort have given themselves fully to the gospel and it is no surprise that of the first set of students of St.Francis of Assisi
Theological College Joseph and comfort were to be selected and consecrated Bishop, first of Sokoto and now translated to
Ibadan. We are grateful to God for their commitment and zeal for the spread of the word of God. It is our privilege to partner
with them in the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Bishop Titus Ogbonyomi is Baba Ogbonyomi, as we know him. He and his wife, Mary,, took both Gloria and myself as their
children. He employed Gloria even before meeting her. He ordained me in the office of deacon and priest. He made me canon
and Archdeacon all on one day and made me present Gloria to be licensed as a Lay reader all in the same service. He is a hard
working, dedicated minister of the gospel. He is an enemy of Satan and all his agents and secret societies, and to the best of my
knowledge, he was the first Bishop openly to declare wart on occultism. He is a disciplinarian, a loving and caring Father. His
training, I must say, is usually to learn the hard way. All their four children are in ministry and both Titus and Mary Ogbonyomi
have retired from administration, but are still active in church, and as the saying goes, "Old soldier never die". We present these
servant of God with the merit Award of the Diocese of Jos.
We are also honoured today by the presence of the Governor of Plateau State, His Excellency Chief Joshua Dariye, Ministers of
the Federal and State Governments and their representatives, together with our traditional rulers and their representatives. The
peace of the Lord be with you all.
We wish to thank everyone who has contributed in any way, big or small, to make this Synod possible. We particularly thank the
Rev.Canon Sunday O. Ajah and the people of St.Paul's church, Jos. Despite the fact that over ninety per cent of the
congregation lost the property, and their livelihood in the Main Market fire, they did not hesitate when it came to hosting the
synod. May the Lord himself bless and reward you.
It is totally a miracle of the grace of God that we present our Charge for the tenth time in the Synod of the Diocese of Jos. We
will not review our ten years, but we will remind ourselves of some landmarks. We remember ten years ago at our first Synod
some of the dreams and visions we had. We were led by God to approach our mission in four directions. We were led to
concentrate our mission effort in education, establishment of schools, primary, secondary and the Christian Institute. We were
led in a second direction to participate in preventative health care and hygiene; our third direction was in mission, evangelism
training, discipleship and sending; our fourth was the development and establishment of structures of administration, publications
and physical structures for the purpose of developing and maintaining an evangelical centre for the diocese. This vision has not
changed, has not been achieved, but will be pursued. What we feel the Lord has said to us is that we have begun, and what the
Spirit is saying to us now is that we must intensify with every ounce of energy our efforts in this direction. The word of the Lord
has commanded us to pursue with all earnestness God's vision, and until our work is done this is our call. The journey has not
been easy, but we are certain that the Lord has led us this far. Our desire is to
"Seek first the Kingdom of God
and his righteousness".
(Mt.6:33)
At our Enthronement, this is what we said:
"In much of life and living, priorities are usually misplaced. True values are exchanged for the false in the struggle to make the
most out of life. This is almost normal because of our human frailty and nature. The text before us, "Seek first the Kingdom of
God and his righteousness" is a summary of Jesus' teachings as recorded in St.Matthew's gospel chapters five to seven. He had
taught about attitudes and right relationships, love for our enemies, giving, prayer and fasting. He now goes further to reveal
certain truths about heaven, about light and darkness and about possessions. Finally he sums it up by stating the most
important priority: "Seek first the Kingdom of God ....." The idea of needing to seek implies that somehow people have lost the
Kingdom. Men and women have not discovered it in the many things they have continually chased after. They have not even
sought for it. So it remains missing in the daily affairs of the world and in the routine of our mundane pursuits.
"The Kingdom of God is both misunderstood and taken for granted. Therefore people quarrel, trying to assert themselves by
forming so-called majority groups which grapple for the power to dominate the so-called minority groups. In doing this, they
totally forget that it is God who should take pre-eminence and rule over everything that man seeks to acquire.
"In seeking first the Kingdom of God we are totally committing ourselves to the establishment of the rule of God Almighty. We are
not thereby committed to the rule of any puny man or government or bishop: we are absolutely committed to the rule of God.
We shall therefore seek to establish a Kingdom where Jesus will rule in the hearts and affairs of mankind.
"The idea of seeking after righteousness (and, all the more significantly, God's righteousness!) is totally alien to our secular
world. In our culture today the oppressor and the dictator are feared and honoured by our worldly system. Today some of the
most unjust men may be put in positions charged with the maintenance of justice, and some who are dishonest may be put in
charge of finances! Jesus says: Seek justice for all people, in all things, at all times.
"In matters concerning the seeking of the Kingdom of God we can see that conditions today have not changed much from those
of the time of Jesus. If anything, we have added more things to our daily life which alienate us from that Kingdom. Our first task
in Jos Diocese is to find the Kingdom of God. Our second task is to find the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.
"I come to you as one seeking first of all this Kingdom. Therefore I shall resist every attempt to set up a Hausa kingdom, an Igbo
kingdom, a Yoruba kingdom or any other kingdom. For that matter I shall do all within me to insist on establishing the rule of God
in the hearts of people, and on furthering his righteousness in all places and at all times. Then, and only then, shall all other
blessings follow."
Seeking the Kingdom consists of a heart's desire, a conscious effort on the part of the seeker; the seeker must be fully
persuaded that there can be no guarantee of satisfaction until what is being sought is found. The seeker is a person in need,
and is unhappy and dissatisfied with the present situation and state of things.
The fact that man is admonished to seek already points to the idea that something is missing, or that there is a misplaced
priority, and whenever the word of God admonishes the people of God to "seek", it must be taken seriously.
As a young boy, I was wandering in the city of Lagos until the time when, towards the end of 1975, I met the Lord. When I gave
my life to Christ, one of the things that worried me most was my future. As a young private soldier I was not selected in my exams
to NDA: I had failed, but my mates had passed and gone. What was I now to do with my young life? But as I prayed and as I was
being discipled through Bible study, this verse came to me and I found the answer to my whole life's problems in this portion of
Scripture: to seek first the Kingdom of God.
Now the admonition to seek is in itself a great command because Amos called the children of Israel to seek the Lord and live.
The situation was that in the days of Amos the people thought that the things they were seeking would give them life - but it was
not so. Isaiah makes the same appeal when he calls the children of Israel to "seek the Lord while he may be found". Again, it is
a terrible thing to ignore the availability of God's presence, God's word, God's messages, God's Spirit, God's fellowship and so
on, because one day you will need these things, and since you have ignored them for so long, the day will come when they will
no longer be common. You will find yourself so far away from God that no matter how much you seek at that point, you will never
find.
So when Jesus says that we should "Seek", he goes on to further qualify this by saying that we should "Seek first". If seeking in
itself is such a high demand that it takes a whole lifetime (as Amos, Jeremiah and Isaiah have indicated), then seeking the
Kingdom and putting it first is even more crucial.
Jesus makes it very plain that we are to seek the Kingdom first. It is a command. What is this Kingdom? Let us be very clear
what it is we are being asked to seek.
Nigerians are great seekers. If there is a car accident, we will seek to know why. If there is death in the family we will make
enquiries from every possible source. Many people would seek anything and everything to secure their business, enhance their
position in life or increase their wealth. In fact, if it were possible people would seek means of extending the days of their lives.
The one I find more strange is people seeking to know their future and whether or not they should travel tomorrow by car, by
plane, or by sea.
Our Synod theme addresses us directly and tells us what it is that we must seek. Jesus commands us to seek, to make the rule,
the reign and the presence of God supreme in our lives and everywhere. We are commanded to acknowledge the lordship of
our Saviour over our lives and to bring his reign to bear in whatever we do. It is clear by this that there is a Kingdom in a physical
and spiritual sense, and also that there is a King of that Kingdom. You may consider yourself to be a member of that Kingdom,
but if you do not make the King first in your life, or do not seek to make him first, then everything you do or accomplish will be by
stress, pain, tears and sorrow. Everything is lost because the only way to true happiness, peace, joy and contentment is to know
that in whatever one does, the Lord is glorified.
This can be seen in the life of the Lord Jesus. In all he did, he sought only to glorify God: even on his way to death, he prayed
that God be glorified. The apostle Paul captured this picture when in Philippians chapter 2 he showed that everything must point
to the fact of God's glory, whether things on earth or in heaven, and that at the name of Jesus every knee must bow and every
tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. And so it is that we who are disciples must consciously endeavour on a daily basis to seek
the Lordship of Jesus, establish the rule of God and bring glory to the Lord in all that we do.
Our experience as pastor of this Diocese for ten years shows a different picture. We have seen people who desire to join the
ministry, and indeed have joined at some point, but they cannot be trusted. Some we have had to send away; some have had to
leave on their own. We have encountered people in ministry with forged certificates. We have also encountered some who have
stolen church money; some cannot be trusted with women. If you think that this situation is bad enough, let me add that we have
encountered people in ministry who have formed alliances, cliques and groups of an opposition party (as if in a political arena)
and they have recruited from among themselves younger clergy and catechists and fed them with false information, speculations
and half-truths about personalities within the total ministry of the diocese; at other times they have worked against the Bishop.
This has been with the sole aim of self-centered ambition which has blinded their eyes so that they cannot see the damage they
are doing to themselves and to the mission of the gospel. Yet they claim that their fight is for the betterment of the work of God.
We have in the last ten years seen pastors who have misled congregations and have caused enmity between congregations;
they have divided the flock into camps based on ethnicity or theology or personality - and all for selfish gains. We have also
seen ministers who do not care about the health of the church, the beauty of the mission compound, the cleanliness of the
church, the tidiness of the altar, the chancel, the vestry and the vestments - but who specialize in criticising everything else in the
Diocese. We have encountered lazy and arrogant ministers who are extremely mischievous; they specialize in complaining and,
like King Herod, when they are troubled they want everybody else to be troubled with them. They complain so very bitterly as to
how the church must look after them; how everything must dance around them; but they will not allow anyone to point out their
unproductivity in the Kingdom.
Our pastoral letters attest to the fact that we have had to struggle to encourage ministers of the gospel to prayer, early morning
prayer, noon-time prayer, evening prayer and to make a whole life-style out of depending on God, and on his strength alone,
through prayer. We have admonished clergy to grow deeper and deeper in the study and knowledge of the word of the Lord; to
study related materials that will encourage and build up their lives and ministry, and to insist that what we study affects the way
we live our lives. We have further pleaded with clergy to build up congregations and to feed them with the word of God, that they
be discipled for Jesus Christ. We have also insisted that, in accordance with our call, we must mobilize clergy and laity for
mission, to reach out to the neighbourhoods, to the villages and to any groups of people who have not heard the gospel, that we
may bring them into the fold. This is a very serious business, but, alas, in our ten years we have seen pastors who have never
come out with us on mission, who do not even read our pastoral letters to their churches, who have no interest in all the things
we feel led of God to admonish, encourage and insist that the church should know, pursue and stand upon. I have wondered:
what are these people seeking - if they are seeking anything at all? Are they seeking the Kingdom? If they are, is it the first
thing in their lives?
It needs to be said that a more disturbing aspect is on the increase, and this concerns the area of the family life of the pastor.
There is a growing lack of commitment to the mission of the gospel in the family life. Not much attention is being paid to the
biblical family life-style which promotes the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Consequently, crises in ministry actually begin from
the homes and are projected on to the ministry until finally they are blamed on whoever or whatever the families concerned
choose to blame. On the other hand, a Christian family whose commitment is to the mission of the gospel will always strive and
work for the growth and progress of the mission at all times. Such families will make whatever sacrifice may be necessary,
looking up only unto Jesus, who has promised to be with us even unto the end of the age. We have a responsibility in the family
to raise not only our immediate families, but also the congregations to become children of God.
We have taken a bird's eye view of the life of those who should lead the people - and this is what we see. The ministers of the
gospel have a huge problem and if we do not change drastically and begin to seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness,
then our labour is lost. As we look at this situation we now understand why the congregations are the way they are.
While this may not be true of all the ministers of the gospel in our Diocese, we nonetheless have to point out this potential
danger that will paint a picture and affect the general image. We are drawing our observations from our experience in order to
warn all of us (including myself) so that we do not LOSE FOCUS. Our focus must not slip, but must be firmly fixed on
Seeking first the Kingdom of God
and his righteousness.
I am convinced that if we who lead make up our minds and desire, as of a priority, the search for the Kingdom of God and his
righteousness, then the people we lead to Christ will necessarily be taught, trained and discipled to "seek first the Kingdom of
God and his righteousness", and the problems which the church and the society face will not only be reduced, but will be put
where they belong. A distinction will rise, without a doubt, between those who belong to Christ and those who do not, between
light and darkness.
It is possible, and should never be impossible, for God to find faithful men and women, ordained and lay whose word can be
trusted in business, at home and wherever they find themselves. These kinds of people know what it means to seek the
Kingdom of God first. There should be in the Diocese of Jos people of honour, whose desire is no more than to seek the reign
and the rule of God for their lives and in all that they do. Are there, in fact, pastors like this? Let me further ask if there are
carpenters, builders, tailors, plumbers, electricians, teachers, doctors, civil servants, nurses, labourers, musicians, politicians
and so on, who will do nothing if the Kingdom of God is not established wherever they are. The pursuit of the Kingdom changes
the total world view of any person who truly encounters Jesus Christ. This encounter is what Paul calls transformation and this
transformation leaves no room for anything except seeking the Kingdom (first of all) and striving for the righteousness of God to
be established at work, business, home and everywhere. For such persons the Kingdom is at the heart of every matter, because
what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses the Kingdom? What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole
political power, but loses the Kingdom? What shall it profit a man if he spends his time seeking everything under the sun but
does not seek the Kingdom of God first - only to discover that those things which he sought are ultimately lost.
As pastors there is no alternative to seeking first the Kingdom of God and establishing his righteousness in our primary areas of
assignment. We must preach Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection together with the importance and implications of that
single event for us. Conversion, sanctification, holiness, walking in the Spirit, Spirit-filled life, Bible study, prayer, mission: these
will be our themes. We shall seek first to preach on those things that decide our eternal destiny, and we shall seek to capture
the hearts of the people for Jesus Christ. Until the heart is convinced there will be no conversion; until the matter is settled in the
heart, all the outward conformity is mere show (James 1:4; Mark 7:17-23; Jeremiah 17:23).
There is so much preaching today, but the fruit is lacking. We must work harder, looking inwards. The time has come for us to
confront ourselves. No-one should ever need to tell us who we are, or to ask what we are doing with our call and ministry, or
what we are doing with God's people, or what our priority in life is. Mission and evangelism are the greatest assignments in which
we can be engaged, but what about the missioners? Will God be pleased if the missioners are doing their work not with joy, but
because it is a "must"? Will the Master be happy when the missioner's heart is full of sin? What will be the joy of heaven if the
missioners are hypocrites who go out on mission as saints, but go back to their stations and take up all over again the old habits
of adultery, lies, anger, bitterness, jealousy, contention, strife, malice, cheating, filth, discouragement and so on? Can you
imagine what will happen to whose whom you evangelize when they discover that this is who you are? When they saw you
evangelizing you were great, an angel, gentle and loving, but now that they have come into the fold in the diocese, you coach
them to become rude, unco-operative, indecent and you change their direction from heaven to hell. You teach them to have one
life for mission and another for themselves. Do you know that you can pack a church full of people, and still thoroughly displease
the Lord?
"I spurn with loathing your pilgrim feasts;
I take no pleasure in your sacred ceremonies.
When you bring me your whole offerings and your grain offerings, I shall not accept them. nor pay heed to your shared-offerings
of stall-fed beasts.
Spare me the sound of your songs;
I shall not listen to the strumming of your lutes."
(Amos 5:21-23)
This is where legalism begins. Outward requirements become a covering for the inward rottenness and corruption of the heart.
Things get done not out of love for God and service to him, but because it is required, in order to seem to belong. This goes for
church activities as well as dressing. Love which is the very important ingredient what makes everything we do for God or man
beautiful is lost and so everything that is done, no matter how well it may be done, is made unattractive.
When, however, we make a conscious and deliberate decision to please the Lord we shall seek first him, not church activities,
not church land, not even buildings, not vestments or even ordination, but we shall seek him first!
"If you would live, make your way to me, not to Bethel; do not go to Gilgal or pass on to Beersheba; for Gilgal will surely go into
exile, and Bethel come to nothing. If you would live, make your way to the Lord, or he will break out against Joseph's
descendants like fire, fire which will devour Bethel with no-one to quench it."
(Amos 5:4-6)
The fruit of this seeking will be evident:
"Seek good and not evil,
that you may live,
that the Lord, the God of Hosts, may be with you,
and as you claim he is.
Hate evil and love good;
establish justice in the courts;
it may be that the Lord, the God of Hosts,
will show favour to the survivors of Joseph."
(Amos 5:14-15).
My dear fellow leaders in the Church of God, have we so quickly lost all fear of the final judgement of the Day of the Lord? Is it
not a fearful thing to fall in to the hands of God? (Hebrews 10:31) Consider when we first came to surrender to Christ, remember
how humble, gentle, willing to serve, willing to learn and submissive to the things of God we were. No sooner had we
demonstrated leadership potential and been made leaders, than we turned our backs on those very things that made God
choose us in the first place.
Take Jeroboam, for example. Jeroboam was not a prince; he was not an heir to the throne; he was a commander of the army
and according to 1 Kings 11:28 Jeroboam was a man of standing and when King Solomon saw how well the young man did his
job he put him in charge of the whole labour force of the house of Joseph. He was no doubt a rising star, a man of skill,
intelligent and well endowed with physical abilities. It was not difficult to spot someone like Jeroboam. His abilities worked for him
and he was identified and given a leadership position.
Sometimes our very endowments can work against us. Jeroboam soon organised a rebellion against King Solomon. Without
Jeroboam's connivance, God, through the prophet Ahijah, promised to make jeroboam King over ten out of the twelve tribes of
Israel. This was a huge political prospect and the temptation to keep the prophecy to himself became impossible. The story may
have leaked to the palace of the king, and Jeroboam had to flee for his life from Solomon to Egypt. However, after the death of
Solomon, Jeroboam came back and thanks to the foolishness of Rehoboam, the one-time single kingdom of Israel under the
dynasty of David, according to the word of prophecy, broke into two, with Rehoboam having just two states and Jeroboam ten.
Jeroboam soon forgot the Lord God of his prophecy, the Lord who endowed him and the Lord who owns history. His abilities
played over his intelligence and sadly 1 Kings 12:26 records, "Jeroboam thought to himself ..." and that was his biggest undoing.
He no longer could trust God. He began to think to himself as to how to work to keep his ten states together for himself and to
keep his people under control. His panic sent him to look inwards and so he thought of building shrines, one in Dan and one in
Bethel, so that his people would no longer go to Jerusalem where perhaps they might begin to change their minds and follow
Judah and Jerusalem. Both in Dan and Bethel, he made calves and appointed priests. What an abomination! Fear of failure
actually leads to failure, unless there is an unshakable faith and trust in God.
Jeroboam continued in his error until his son became ill and, not knowing what to do, both he and his wife decided that his wife
should disguise herself and go to the prophet Ahijah for a word of prophecy and healing from God (1 Kings 14). Having
abandoned the prophet of God for so long, it needed a disguise to pay him a visit and it was Mrs.jeroboam who was to visit now
that there was trouble. the end of Jeroboam and his dynasty was not a good one. The sick child will die, says the prophet
Ahijah; the whole family will be wiped out and a new king installed.
This story carries a profound teaching, warning and admonition, especially to me as the Bishop of Jos and leader of God's
people, and I share it with you so that, together, we may encourage one another to
"Seek first the Kingdom of God,
and his righteousness"
at all times, in all places, and to hold each other's hands as we journey along in these difficult and troubled times in our
generation. May we never be deceived by our thoughts, but always hold on to the truth and facts of God's word and put our trust
in him. Always remember that you are not serving the Bishop or any man, but you are serving the God who called you, the One
who saved you. He is the One who knows the way through the wilderness and all we have to do is to follow:
When we walk with the Lord
In the light of his word,
What a glory he sheds on our way!
While we do his good will
He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey!
For there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and obey.
Seeking first the Kingdom is a daily search, at every moment and in every aspect of life, and this search will continue until we
leave this world. Let me plead passionately in the name of God to all leaders in the church, whether catechists, pastors, Council
members, Girls' Guild, Mother's Union, Women's Guild leaders, those in charge of Boys' Brigade, music, children's ministry, AYF,
EFAC and all who lead in one form or another. Please consider this. the day you feel unwilling or unable to contribute to the
growth of your church or group in whatever form, please do not destroy the church or group, or bring it down; at worst, leave it as
you met it, and honourable, with the fear of God, say so and step down. This plea goes for how we handle choir robes, church
musical instruments, church buildings and furnishings, vicarages and church vehicles and property in general. In fact, let it be
said after you leave a place that you were faithful in adding to the blessing in that place when you were there and that whatever
was in your charge enjoyed the betterment of your care, including the flowers and trees. Let the persons coming after you
THANK GOD for what you did when you were there so that you successors will learn to keep up the standard, or even do better,
and so promote the spirit of carefulness, maintenance and resourcefulness. It is not right to give a big responsibility to anyone
who has been incapable of managing a small one:
"for those who have will be given more" (Lk.8:18)
Let me conclude the call to the leadership of the church with a call to return to prayers. Let us renew again our commitment to
the traditional "CMS" early morning prayers and evening prayers as families. Where there is a congregation we appeal to all
members to do all they can to gather in a church regardless of denomination, as long as Christ is preached, worshipped and
glorified. We encourage you to assemble for early morning prayers, In some placers the 12 noon prayers are observed. We
encourage you to join in. After the evening meal do all you can to gather your family and close the day with Bible reading and
prayers. One of the remarkable things with the discipline of prayer is that slowly, steadily and surely the word of God begins
actively to participate in the lives of those who pray. Even when the practice is done with impure motives, the Lord still takes his
proper place. By the way, God is no fool! No-one should take the Lord's long suffering for granted. He has always been in the
business of changing lives and will continue to act in this way if we sincerely seek him first in prayer and ensure that our prayer
life is reflected in what we say and do.
The other part of seeking the rule of God is seeking the rule and reign of God and seeking his righteousness as well. Seeking
the righteousness of God is on an equal footing with seeking the rule of God. It is not just enough to seek only the rule of God,
but his righteousness must also be firmly established, first amongst his people and then amongst the rest of the community.
Throughout the Scriptures, it is righteousness that God requires of his people, as Amos says in chapter 5 verse 24:
"Let justice flow on like a river,
and righteousness like a never-failing stream."
Isaiah 1:1-16 gives a catalogue of the failures of Judah and Jerusalem. They are great worshippers, great singers, they even
bring sacrifices, but they have rebelled against the Lord (v.1). In practice their lives are full of evil and corruption and they turn
their backs willfully against God. The sin and guilt they carry around does nothing for their consciences even when they come to
worship. They offer sacrifices, observe all the festivals and even have the audacity to spread their hands in prayer, but God
says that in spite of all this seeming religiosity, "though you offer countless sacrifices, I will not listen" (v.15b). What the Lord
requires (v.17) is a person who learns to do right, pursuing justice, guiding the oppressed, upholding the rights of the fatherless
and pleading the widow's cause. Brethren, righteousness needs to be learned and needs to be taught, and this is the time to
seek to learn righteousness, to teach righteousness and to live it.
It has become disturbing to me how very filthy some church compounds, vicarages and church schools have become. It has
even become acceptable, with children and adults alike, for the skins of bananas or oranges, sugar cane, sweet papers, "leda
bags" (polythene bags), pieces of paper, tissues and all kinds of things to be thrown down carelessly, without a thought, just like
that! Let us face it: is it right to be dirty? And even if we must be dirty, is it God's compound that we will keep dirty? Where are
the teachers of righteousness?
As a matter of fact, the school of righteousness begins with individual, small right-ness. When you are in such a position or
circumstances that nobody sees you, but you choose to do the right, then you make it a point to teach others to turn away from
wrong and do what is right. And before you know it, righteousness is established. We in this generation must establish
righteousness in our common etiquette by being polite to one another, kind in word and deed, caring and compassionate as we
present our gospel, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, to a lost world. This is a necessity in the world of today, where humility,
politeness and kindness are considered as weakness and cowardice. Even in Nigeria, politeness and humility are not
considered to be virtues. In fact, when you show love, it is difficult for that love to be received because the Nigerian context
believes that nothing goes for nothing. But I urge us not to give up. Let us do it, and teach it to our children in schools, at home,
at business, in politics and everywhere. We may be called fools, but this is precisely what Jesus meant when he said:
"whoever calls his brother a fool deserves hell-fire" (Mt.5:22)
The truth is that we are not fools, we are seeking the righteousness of God and we must establish the righteousness of God
wherever we are. It is common knowledge that in business and politics and even the civil service, it is said these days that
nothing right can be done. Satan has deceived even the children of God into believing this lie and so the devil has made it look
as if there can never be righteousness in business. For example, it is very sad indeed to know that Christian traders make it an
unwritten policy to sell substandard materials and collect the price of standard materials. Plumbers bury old pipes and collect the
price of new pipes. Electricians do a shoddy job thereby posing a risk of future fire accidents. The point is: the devil has almost
succeeded in convincing even church members that unless they do things his way, they will never succeed in life. This is a lie! It
is the same situation we face in public service, the private sector or even in politics.
As a result, medical care givers go on strike and make good business for the mortuary, and the devil is happy, because the thief
comes only to kill, steal and destroy. Are there no Christians among these people? But the devil has so deceived the world that
nothing right can be done unless we adopt the world's pattern of doing things. "Christian" politicians are said to go into covenant
with Satan for power. Teachers are unfaithful in their vocation, not to mention carpenters, tailors and so on. These have all
swallowed the lie that righteousness is impossible and consequently, you find this kind of unfaithfulness being passed down
through families from one generation to another.
it is most unfortunate that even in ministry, people who wish to go into ministry will go through some godfather or some influential
personalities. If the call is genuine, where is the place for other influential persons? If it is an authentic call, you are called to
prove yourself and not to adopt the world's methods. Those who adopt the world's methods (and I must say that they are on the
increase) have lost the total purpose of the call which is that we are called to serve and not to be served. We are called to give,
to offer and even to surrender our lives for the sake of the gospel. Our call is real and must be kept authentic. that is why we
must turn from the world's methods and seek the Kingdom of God as a priority.
The lie has been further expanded to make everyone believe that unless you participate in unrighteous acts you will never
"make it". As a result, men and women seek everything else except the righteousness of God.
The church is full to capacity. There is much clapping, singing and dancing; launching upon launching has taken over the
worship of God, and with all these seeming religious activities you would have thought that pensioners would get their salaries,
civil servants would be paid as and when due, contractors would do their jobs very well according to the terms of the contract -
but, alas, such assemblies with all the songs, clapping, dancing and donations only annoy God because of the lack of
righteousness. The pastors who should teach righteousness and train the people how to do right are only interested in the
offerings:
"For men hang on the words of the priest and seek knowledge and instruction from him, because he is the messenger of the
Lord of Hosts. But you have turned aside from that course; you have caused many to stumble with your instruction; you have set
at naught the covenant with the Levites, says the Lord of Hosts. So I in my turn shall make you despicable and degraded in the
eyes of all the people, inasmuch as you disregard my ways and show partiality in your interpretations of the law."
(Malachi 2:7-9)
Seeking the righteousness of God is a non-negotiable prerequisite if the blessings of God are
to flow even in practical terms when you look at Plateau State as a prototype of this country, you will see a very hard-working,
strong, energetic, intelligent people - but where is all this energy, intelligence and hard work going? Is it not the same picture in
our country as a whole, with so many intelligent, hard-working and gifted men and women scattered throughout the world? But
because of the lack of righteousness our blessings are blown away as soon as they begin to appear. Let us return to
righteousness and teach righteousness to our children. Our churches must learn to do right in the household of God and
outside. Only then shall all other things be added unto us, says the Lord. Only when we are seeking the righteousness of God
are we truly seeking the rule of God, because you cannot seek the rule of God and not seek his righteousness. To attempt to do
the one without the other would be "419" and fraudulent, and will bring no blessings, but only sorrow.
"Seek first the Kingdom of God
and his righteousness."
FROM SEPTEMBER TO DATE
We were thrown into a state of shock between the dates of 7th and 12th September 2001, when unexpectedly, after Friday
prayers, Muslims descended on Christian lives, businesses, churches and property, and destroyed as much as they could. The
retaliation that followed was just as bad. We in the CAN Executive had sensed a political tension for which we went to the State
Police Commissioner both to receive assurance and to receive clarification in case we were wrong. I still cannot believe that if we
as civilians and ordinary churchmen could feel the way we felt, that a crisis of such magnitude would have taken the law
enforcement agents and government by surprise. Every good measure taken after the crisis was belated. We had had cause to
advise government as we do again today.
1. That government should take very seriously the security situation of Plateau State. This is necessary for obvious reasons
in the wake of the crises in other northern states where Christians have been thrown out, and the natural place to come is
Plateau. Muslims who also have moved out of trouble zones of the north have found abode on the Plateau. Unfortunately, both
these groups have also come with hangovers of their political, economic and religious biases. Having found a comfortable
playing ground on the Plateau, they introduce their bigotry. Needless to say, there are also those who have come with the sole
agenda of introducing shari'a by all means on the Plateau.
2. Government must take the rule of law and protect the tights of citizens as provided for in the Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria. The constitution and indeed the national polity take cognisance of people indigenous to areas within the
geography of the national entity of Nigeria. Therefore should any laws be made, or should there be laws that have been made
and put into effect, but they are not observed impartially, then government should be ready to face a lawless state with attendant
insecurity, crime and so on.
It was a good move by the Plateau State House of Assembly to remove beggars from the streets by law, but that law lasted only a
few weeks. It was also a good move by the government to put a focus on religious crises, but it failed to identify which religion
goes to pray and after prayer goes to wart. Slowly but surely those who obey the law are being made scapegoats and are being
treated as fools for being obedient. When government and law enforcement agencies do not show respect for those who obey
the law, then very soon more people will show disregard for the law and very few if any will be left to obey the law.
3. From my experience in crises of this nature, it is the practice of those who want to score a political point to recruit the
jobless, a couple of rascals and hoodlums who have no idea about what they are fighting for, but would have been given enough
money, drugs and implements of harm, to cause havoc. As is always the case, these young able-bodied misguided miscreants
will be arrested and their political godfathers will pt pressure for their release and they will be released. With each crisis and as
often as they get involved, they acquire experience and as long as they are guaranteed release (and they do get release), they
will continue to be available or these kinds of misdeeds. Let me assure government that these kinds of crises will never end
unless and until government musters the courage to deal first of all with these hoodlums and then to pursue their mentors until
they are dealt with according to the law, and they see that violence can never solve any problem.
4. Religion has become the latest tool in the hands of politicians and government must understand that as long as she caves
in to those who use religion to threaten peace, religious crises will never end. After September we were told that the crisis was
not necessarily religious, but by May 2, out of a PDP Ward Congress, we lost one Anglican member: he was not a politician, he
was faithfully sewing in his shop that day. He was killed by Muslims. Several Christian homes and businesses and lives were lost
- again all within a few hours. As I write this Charge, Holy Trinity Church, Rikkos is unsafe for any Christian. Our signboard to
the church has been broken down and destroyed and the Muslims have threatened the lives of our pastor and members. This is
now the third week that church services have not been held in Holy Trinity, Rikkos. Government seems unable or unwilling to
protect lives where muslims are in the majority, but are forever ready to provide security where Muslims are in the minority. In
that same Rikkos last September we had lost 9 Christian lives: their bodies were chopped to pieces and thrown into the river; up
to today we have not recovered their bodies.
5. We advise government to match its words with actions. We as a Christian church are ever ready not only to support
government, but to make it easier for government to rule its subjects. We love Plateau State; we love Nigeria and God alone
knows how much we pray for our governor, President and those who lead us. Do not take our prayers for granted. If we who
work for peace and pray for government are killed or incapacitated in one form or another, the rest will be history.
Soon after the September crisis, when 162 of our members lost property, when 13 of our people lost their lives, we wrote to
admonish and encourage the faithful to remain in Jos. some members had lost spouses, but still had some business to do in
town. some members lost homes but still had shops in the market. Others lost homes and business premises but still had their
lives. Just as we were ready to pick up the pieces, the Jos Main Market, the mainstay and centre of business in Jos, was gutted
by fire on Monday 11th February. A majority of the people are suspicious that it was no ordinary fire. There again, members of
St.Paul's Church, St.Michael's Katako, St.Luke's Cathedral, New Covenant Anglican Church, Holy Trinity Rikkos, but especially
St.Paul's lost a great deal of wealth and business in the market. Through the grace of God and by his mighty power working in
us, members again were encouraged to look up to Jesus and to move by faith.
This is not to mention the fact that as a result of an electrical fault, the girls' hostel at St.Helen's Convent, Pankshin, was gutted
by fire in the middle of the night. Again we saw God's great hand upon us. The miracle of Daniel and his friends happened
again and the children will live to tell the story. All the girls were said to have prayed, sung and run through the fire with only a
few light injuries.
As if our faith were being testes, we kept encouraging the brethren until May 2nd when again Christian businesses and lives
were lost. And shortly after that on Saturday 4th May, when the EAS Airline BAC 111 carrying passengers from Jos to Lagos via
Kano, crashed in Kano. In that aircraft we lost friends, relations, government officials, members of clergy and business people.
Even those on the ground who knew nothing about flying also lost their lives. It was a big blow and a tragedy that befell the
church on the Plateau, the government and the general public.
I have wondered whether from September to now God was not speaking and calling our attention to seek him that we may live.
Quite a number of loves have been lost in less than one year, and there is a systematic destruction of the morale and confidence
of the people on the Plateau for which the church must seek the |Lord in order to live. We must pray and ask God to turn our
hearts from cheating and defrauding one another in common business and daily transactions at work, in the market or at home.
Husbands must be faithful to their wives, wives must be diligent in home making and caring for children and raising up a godly
family. The church must frown at sexual immorality, indulgence in wild leisure activities; the church must preach against greed in
high and low places. We must all rise and destroy the Asherah poles and the high places of Baal. These are gods of immorality,
corruption and idolatry. Clergy must be reconciled with one another from the altar, and they must preach the truth, supported
with facts of the gospel, in love. We must reject every temptation to slander one another and flee from all destructive criticisms
and the pursuit of unhealthy rivalry. We must condemn what is not true and uphold righteousness and justice.
From september to today we have received warning signs, and if we repent and return to God and sincerely do so with all our
heart, then when we seek we will find, when we ask we will receive and when we knock the door will be opened unto us.
In this context, we will pray and ask God to uproot any covenant made contrary to the new covenant of the gospel, and it shall be
destroyed from Plateau State. We will pray and ask God to fight against all the forces - whether they be economic, political or
religious - that militate against the gospel, and God will answer. We will pray for God to revive his church and return his people
to the word of God, to prayer, to evangelism and to the total mission of the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. We shall see
the fruit of the gospel and Plateau State shall be saved. The Lord is calling us now to get rid of all filth from our homes, from our
lives, to remove from amongst us any form of falsehood, envy, malice, hatred, bitterness, cheating, fornication, adultery,
selfishness, greed, pride, idleness, laziness, drunkenness, and seek the Kingdom of God with all or hearts, and his
righteousness, and we will see the blessings of God chasing after us. Let us make up our minds to be enemies to sin. Let us
take up the challenge to follow god whatever it may cost. Let us make a resolve to build up the church of God and to live and
work in holiness until we are called to glory.
TOWARDS 2003
Our experiment with democracy shows that there is no alternative to democracy. I am convinced that all that it takes for
democracy to collapse is for Christians who truly believe in God to despair and give up, but worse than that, for Christians not
only to despair but also to discourage others from going into politics.
I must say that there are several levels of political involvement. Not everyone should go into partisan field politics, but even
there, there must be committed, educated, civilised, well-behaved, honest, dedicated Christians. The absence of such
committed Christians will leave us in the hand of the bad politicians and we will groan under them for ever. The politics I
admonish Christians to participate in is for each to know their level of involvement. There are those who will not be able to go
beyond decision making; others will not go beyond advice; some cannot participate beyond prayers, But every Christian must
vote and every Christian must go out with confidence to vote and participate in elections in any political party of their choice, from
the ward level to the state and national levels. Furthermore, all Christians must participate in General Elections when we vote
our Councillors, representatives and leaders in all offices at local, state and national levels. I make this admonition passionately
so that we do not come back later in church and ask for prayers when we get leaders we did not vote for. To be forewarned is to
be forearmed.
Let me offer some advice to Christian politicians to do their best to show the light of Jesus Whenever they are given the chance
to serve or to lead. It has become customary for politicians to keep people waiting for hours at functions and even at their
offices. this kind of leadership may be a demonstration of power but, believe me, it is oppressive and an insult to those who
voted you in, but most of all, it is ungodly. showing respect to those who elected you into office and treating them as fellow
human beings will endear you to the hearts of the electorate far more than will any demonstration of power. Again, let me say
that there is no need for any politician to imagine that on getting into the office, the doors are open for quick money. This is a lie
from the pit of hell. let me advise Christian politicians to be faithful, just and honest while in office. God who has put you in that
office is forever faithful, and by your faithful service you will gain favour from God and people, and sincerely you will be blessed
spiritually, financially and even physically. let me further add that power us ephemeral and transient: let no Christian politician be
deceived by any pressure group, no matter how tempting, because as we have seen in the past, several leaders have come and
gone but the office has remained. Therefore your testimony as a Christian is far more important than anything the office will
offer. What you do or do not do with God's opportunities is what will count at the end of it all. As we prepare for 2003 elections
no amount of prayers we say now can be too much. This is the time to lift up to God the state of the nation, our future and in
particular our own State. Let us fervently make our requests known to God and he will answer our prayers.
BISHOPSCOURT, DOGON DUTSE
We have had to move out of 11A Dogon Dutse since it has been sold. My family and I moved to our own house at 3 Argak
Close, Mary Lot Estates, Sabon Bariki, Jos (073-281558) in December 2001. Our tenency with our new landlords expired on 31
march 2002; we finally moved the office from Dogon Dutse to The Quiet Place, 4 Temple Close (off Miango Road), Jos on 30
April. We have since been finding our feet and doing our best to settle. The structure is yet to have ceilings, windows, internal
doors, water and phone, but we are happy and grateful for the provision of God for us. We remain eternally grateful to Baba
Kehinde who with generosity beyond human understanding has provided accommodation for the Bishops of Jos since the
inception of the Diocese.
DIOCESAN MERIT AWARD
Rev.Canon Elisha Peter Dah and Mrs. Teresa Dah
A faithful worker like Canon Dah is difficult to find. He and his wife are like Priscilla and Aquila. Both of them are tireless,
non-complaining, diligent, faithful and effective dispensers of the word of God. In their years of ministry with us since Canon Dah
was ordained deacon in 1981, they have almost literally made the tour of the whole of Jos Diocese. They have been posted to
virtually all the stations in this diocese. It is with a sense of gratitude to God that at our tenth Anniversary we put up these godly
examples in ministry and present them with the Merit Award of the Diocese of Jos.
The last year has been most trying for us as a diocese, but we want to thank God for all the members of this diocese for standing
firm in the faith. We are most grateful to every member of this diocese who rallied round to shower love onto one another and to
support each other in these trying times. Sometimes I wish we were like that every day! Much as I hate the crisis and problems
that befell us, yet I love the Christian care, concern and support we have shown for one another.
Our One Day synod charge contains a list of our donors and benefactors. Our
gratitude knows no end for out prayer partners who have been pillars of support up to this point. We are greatly encouraged.
Our financial position has been badly damaged by the various forms of crisis that befell us but amazingly we have not starved,
and it was in such circumstances that we moved from Dogon Dutse. The Lord is faithful.
As we were still grappling all of this, there came the shocking news that the Rev. Canon G. U. Njoku had been shot by armed
robbers and that to the glory of God his life was spared, even though he bled very badly. God brought smiles to our faces when
his wife, Nkechi, who was nursing her husband was put to bed and delivered of a baby boy.
Such are the ways of our Lord God Almighty. Glory be to his name. We have lost many friends, relatives and compatriots. Our
hearts go out to those who mourn, and we offer our heartfelt condolences, especially to General Useni, the Demap's, the
Dadirep's, the Aku's, the State Government and all who at this time mourn the loss of dear ones. May we rise.
May the souls of the faithful departed
rest in perfect peace.
Amen.
the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit,
Amen.
We greet and welcome everyone in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. This synod is a landmark in our ministry, and we are
delighted to welcome many distinguished guests. We mention particularly our preachers, and we thank them most sincerely for
sparing their time and energy to be here with us. I first met the Rt.Rev.Joseph Akinfenwa when he was a member of St.George's
Church, Sabon Gari, Zaria, where I had the privilege and honour to baptise their first son, Emmanuel. It was therefore my joy to
see both Joseph and Comfort later come forward and offer themselves for service in the ministry of the gospel. Both Joseph and
Comfort have given themselves fully to the gospel and it is no surprise that of the first set of students of St.Francis of Assisi
Theological College Joseph and comfort were to be selected and consecrated Bishop, first of Sokoto and now translated to
Ibadan. We are grateful to God for their commitment and zeal for the spread of the word of God. It is our privilege to partner
with them in the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Bishop Titus Ogbonyomi is Baba Ogbonyomi, as we know him. He and his wife, Mary,, took both Gloria and myself as their
children. He employed Gloria even before meeting her. He ordained me in the office of deacon and priest. He made me canon
and Archdeacon all on one day and made me present Gloria to be licensed as a Lay reader all in the same service. He is a hard
working, dedicated minister of the gospel. He is an enemy of Satan and all his agents and secret societies, and to the best of my
knowledge, he was the first Bishop openly to declare wart on occultism. He is a disciplinarian, a loving and caring Father. His
training, I must say, is usually to learn the hard way. All their four children are in ministry and both Titus and Mary Ogbonyomi
have retired from administration, but are still active in church, and as the saying goes, "Old soldier never die". We present these
servant of God with the merit Award of the Diocese of Jos.
We are also honoured today by the presence of the Governor of Plateau State, His Excellency Chief Joshua Dariye, Ministers of
the Federal and State Governments and their representatives, together with our traditional rulers and their representatives. The
peace of the Lord be with you all.
We wish to thank everyone who has contributed in any way, big or small, to make this Synod possible. We particularly thank the
Rev.Canon Sunday O. Ajah and the people of St.Paul's church, Jos. Despite the fact that over ninety per cent of the
congregation lost the property, and their livelihood in the Main Market fire, they did not hesitate when it came to hosting the
synod. May the Lord himself bless and reward you.
It is totally a miracle of the grace of God that we present our Charge for the tenth time in the Synod of the Diocese of Jos. We
will not review our ten years, but we will remind ourselves of some landmarks. We remember ten years ago at our first Synod
some of the dreams and visions we had. We were led by God to approach our mission in four directions. We were led to
concentrate our mission effort in education, establishment of schools, primary, secondary and the Christian Institute. We were
led in a second direction to participate in preventative health care and hygiene; our third direction was in mission, evangelism
training, discipleship and sending; our fourth was the development and establishment of structures of administration, publications
and physical structures for the purpose of developing and maintaining an evangelical centre for the diocese. This vision has not
changed, has not been achieved, but will be pursued. What we feel the Lord has said to us is that we have begun, and what the
Spirit is saying to us now is that we must intensify with every ounce of energy our efforts in this direction. The word of the Lord
has commanded us to pursue with all earnestness God's vision, and until our work is done this is our call. The journey has not
been easy, but we are certain that the Lord has led us this far. Our desire is to
"Seek first the Kingdom of God
and his righteousness".
(Mt.6:33)
At our Enthronement, this is what we said:
"In much of life and living, priorities are usually misplaced. True values are exchanged for the false in the struggle to make the
most out of life. This is almost normal because of our human frailty and nature. The text before us, "Seek first the Kingdom of
God and his righteousness" is a summary of Jesus' teachings as recorded in St.Matthew's gospel chapters five to seven. He had
taught about attitudes and right relationships, love for our enemies, giving, prayer and fasting. He now goes further to reveal
certain truths about heaven, about light and darkness and about possessions. Finally he sums it up by stating the most
important priority: "Seek first the Kingdom of God ....." The idea of needing to seek implies that somehow people have lost the
Kingdom. Men and women have not discovered it in the many things they have continually chased after. They have not even
sought for it. So it remains missing in the daily affairs of the world and in the routine of our mundane pursuits.
"The Kingdom of God is both misunderstood and taken for granted. Therefore people quarrel, trying to assert themselves by
forming so-called majority groups which grapple for the power to dominate the so-called minority groups. In doing this, they
totally forget that it is God who should take pre-eminence and rule over everything that man seeks to acquire.
"In seeking first the Kingdom of God we are totally committing ourselves to the establishment of the rule of God Almighty. We are
not thereby committed to the rule of any puny man or government or bishop: we are absolutely committed to the rule of God.
We shall therefore seek to establish a Kingdom where Jesus will rule in the hearts and affairs of mankind.
"The idea of seeking after righteousness (and, all the more significantly, God's righteousness!) is totally alien to our secular
world. In our culture today the oppressor and the dictator are feared and honoured by our worldly system. Today some of the
most unjust men may be put in positions charged with the maintenance of justice, and some who are dishonest may be put in
charge of finances! Jesus says: Seek justice for all people, in all things, at all times.
"In matters concerning the seeking of the Kingdom of God we can see that conditions today have not changed much from those
of the time of Jesus. If anything, we have added more things to our daily life which alienate us from that Kingdom. Our first task
in Jos Diocese is to find the Kingdom of God. Our second task is to find the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.
"I come to you as one seeking first of all this Kingdom. Therefore I shall resist every attempt to set up a Hausa kingdom, an Igbo
kingdom, a Yoruba kingdom or any other kingdom. For that matter I shall do all within me to insist on establishing the rule of God
in the hearts of people, and on furthering his righteousness in all places and at all times. Then, and only then, shall all other
blessings follow."
Seeking the Kingdom consists of a heart's desire, a conscious effort on the part of the seeker; the seeker must be fully
persuaded that there can be no guarantee of satisfaction until what is being sought is found. The seeker is a person in need,
and is unhappy and dissatisfied with the present situation and state of things.
The fact that man is admonished to seek already points to the idea that something is missing, or that there is a misplaced
priority, and whenever the word of God admonishes the people of God to "seek", it must be taken seriously.
As a young boy, I was wandering in the city of Lagos until the time when, towards the end of 1975, I met the Lord. When I gave
my life to Christ, one of the things that worried me most was my future. As a young private soldier I was not selected in my exams
to NDA: I had failed, but my mates had passed and gone. What was I now to do with my young life? But as I prayed and as I was
being discipled through Bible study, this verse came to me and I found the answer to my whole life's problems in this portion of
Scripture: to seek first the Kingdom of God.
Now the admonition to seek is in itself a great command because Amos called the children of Israel to seek the Lord and live.
The situation was that in the days of Amos the people thought that the things they were seeking would give them life - but it was
not so. Isaiah makes the same appeal when he calls the children of Israel to "seek the Lord while he may be found". Again, it is
a terrible thing to ignore the availability of God's presence, God's word, God's messages, God's Spirit, God's fellowship and so
on, because one day you will need these things, and since you have ignored them for so long, the day will come when they will
no longer be common. You will find yourself so far away from God that no matter how much you seek at that point, you will never
find.
So when Jesus says that we should "Seek", he goes on to further qualify this by saying that we should "Seek first". If seeking in
itself is such a high demand that it takes a whole lifetime (as Amos, Jeremiah and Isaiah have indicated), then seeking the
Kingdom and putting it first is even more crucial.
Jesus makes it very plain that we are to seek the Kingdom first. It is a command. What is this Kingdom? Let us be very clear
what it is we are being asked to seek.
Nigerians are great seekers. If there is a car accident, we will seek to know why. If there is death in the family we will make
enquiries from every possible source. Many people would seek anything and everything to secure their business, enhance their
position in life or increase their wealth. In fact, if it were possible people would seek means of extending the days of their lives.
The one I find more strange is people seeking to know their future and whether or not they should travel tomorrow by car, by
plane, or by sea.
Our Synod theme addresses us directly and tells us what it is that we must seek. Jesus commands us to seek, to make the rule,
the reign and the presence of God supreme in our lives and everywhere. We are commanded to acknowledge the lordship of
our Saviour over our lives and to bring his reign to bear in whatever we do. It is clear by this that there is a Kingdom in a physical
and spiritual sense, and also that there is a King of that Kingdom. You may consider yourself to be a member of that Kingdom,
but if you do not make the King first in your life, or do not seek to make him first, then everything you do or accomplish will be by
stress, pain, tears and sorrow. Everything is lost because the only way to true happiness, peace, joy and contentment is to know
that in whatever one does, the Lord is glorified.
This can be seen in the life of the Lord Jesus. In all he did, he sought only to glorify God: even on his way to death, he prayed
that God be glorified. The apostle Paul captured this picture when in Philippians chapter 2 he showed that everything must point
to the fact of God's glory, whether things on earth or in heaven, and that at the name of Jesus every knee must bow and every
tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. And so it is that we who are disciples must consciously endeavour on a daily basis to seek
the Lordship of Jesus, establish the rule of God and bring glory to the Lord in all that we do.
Our experience as pastor of this Diocese for ten years shows a different picture. We have seen people who desire to join the
ministry, and indeed have joined at some point, but they cannot be trusted. Some we have had to send away; some have had to
leave on their own. We have encountered people in ministry with forged certificates. We have also encountered some who have
stolen church money; some cannot be trusted with women. If you think that this situation is bad enough, let me add that we have
encountered people in ministry who have formed alliances, cliques and groups of an opposition party (as if in a political arena)
and they have recruited from among themselves younger clergy and catechists and fed them with false information, speculations
and half-truths about personalities within the total ministry of the diocese; at other times they have worked against the Bishop.
This has been with the sole aim of self-centered ambition which has blinded their eyes so that they cannot see the damage they
are doing to themselves and to the mission of the gospel. Yet they claim that their fight is for the betterment of the work of God.
We have in the last ten years seen pastors who have misled congregations and have caused enmity between congregations;
they have divided the flock into camps based on ethnicity or theology or personality - and all for selfish gains. We have also
seen ministers who do not care about the health of the church, the beauty of the mission compound, the cleanliness of the
church, the tidiness of the altar, the chancel, the vestry and the vestments - but who specialize in criticising everything else in the
Diocese. We have encountered lazy and arrogant ministers who are extremely mischievous; they specialize in complaining and,
like King Herod, when they are troubled they want everybody else to be troubled with them. They complain so very bitterly as to
how the church must look after them; how everything must dance around them; but they will not allow anyone to point out their
unproductivity in the Kingdom.
Our pastoral letters attest to the fact that we have had to struggle to encourage ministers of the gospel to prayer, early morning
prayer, noon-time prayer, evening prayer and to make a whole life-style out of depending on God, and on his strength alone,
through prayer. We have admonished clergy to grow deeper and deeper in the study and knowledge of the word of the Lord; to
study related materials that will encourage and build up their lives and ministry, and to insist that what we study affects the way
we live our lives. We have further pleaded with clergy to build up congregations and to feed them with the word of God, that they
be discipled for Jesus Christ. We have also insisted that, in accordance with our call, we must mobilize clergy and laity for
mission, to reach out to the neighbourhoods, to the villages and to any groups of people who have not heard the gospel, that we
may bring them into the fold. This is a very serious business, but, alas, in our ten years we have seen pastors who have never
come out with us on mission, who do not even read our pastoral letters to their churches, who have no interest in all the things
we feel led of God to admonish, encourage and insist that the church should know, pursue and stand upon. I have wondered:
what are these people seeking - if they are seeking anything at all? Are they seeking the Kingdom? If they are, is it the first
thing in their lives?
It needs to be said that a more disturbing aspect is on the increase, and this concerns the area of the family life of the pastor.
There is a growing lack of commitment to the mission of the gospel in the family life. Not much attention is being paid to the
biblical family life-style which promotes the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Consequently, crises in ministry actually begin from
the homes and are projected on to the ministry until finally they are blamed on whoever or whatever the families concerned
choose to blame. On the other hand, a Christian family whose commitment is to the mission of the gospel will always strive and
work for the growth and progress of the mission at all times. Such families will make whatever sacrifice may be necessary,
looking up only unto Jesus, who has promised to be with us even unto the end of the age. We have a responsibility in the family
to raise not only our immediate families, but also the congregations to become children of God.
We have taken a bird's eye view of the life of those who should lead the people - and this is what we see. The ministers of the
gospel have a huge problem and if we do not change drastically and begin to seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness,
then our labour is lost. As we look at this situation we now understand why the congregations are the way they are.
While this may not be true of all the ministers of the gospel in our Diocese, we nonetheless have to point out this potential
danger that will paint a picture and affect the general image. We are drawing our observations from our experience in order to
warn all of us (including myself) so that we do not LOSE FOCUS. Our focus must not slip, but must be firmly fixed on
Seeking first the Kingdom of God
and his righteousness.
I am convinced that if we who lead make up our minds and desire, as of a priority, the search for the Kingdom of God and his
righteousness, then the people we lead to Christ will necessarily be taught, trained and discipled to "seek first the Kingdom of
God and his righteousness", and the problems which the church and the society face will not only be reduced, but will be put
where they belong. A distinction will rise, without a doubt, between those who belong to Christ and those who do not, between
light and darkness.
It is possible, and should never be impossible, for God to find faithful men and women, ordained and lay whose word can be
trusted in business, at home and wherever they find themselves. These kinds of people know what it means to seek the
Kingdom of God first. There should be in the Diocese of Jos people of honour, whose desire is no more than to seek the reign
and the rule of God for their lives and in all that they do. Are there, in fact, pastors like this? Let me further ask if there are
carpenters, builders, tailors, plumbers, electricians, teachers, doctors, civil servants, nurses, labourers, musicians, politicians
and so on, who will do nothing if the Kingdom of God is not established wherever they are. The pursuit of the Kingdom changes
the total world view of any person who truly encounters Jesus Christ. This encounter is what Paul calls transformation and this
transformation leaves no room for anything except seeking the Kingdom (first of all) and striving for the righteousness of God to
be established at work, business, home and everywhere. For such persons the Kingdom is at the heart of every matter, because
what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses the Kingdom? What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole
political power, but loses the Kingdom? What shall it profit a man if he spends his time seeking everything under the sun but
does not seek the Kingdom of God first - only to discover that those things which he sought are ultimately lost.
As pastors there is no alternative to seeking first the Kingdom of God and establishing his righteousness in our primary areas of
assignment. We must preach Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection together with the importance and implications of that
single event for us. Conversion, sanctification, holiness, walking in the Spirit, Spirit-filled life, Bible study, prayer, mission: these
will be our themes. We shall seek first to preach on those things that decide our eternal destiny, and we shall seek to capture
the hearts of the people for Jesus Christ. Until the heart is convinced there will be no conversion; until the matter is settled in the
heart, all the outward conformity is mere show (James 1:4; Mark 7:17-23; Jeremiah 17:23).
There is so much preaching today, but the fruit is lacking. We must work harder, looking inwards. The time has come for us to
confront ourselves. No-one should ever need to tell us who we are, or to ask what we are doing with our call and ministry, or
what we are doing with God's people, or what our priority in life is. Mission and evangelism are the greatest assignments in which
we can be engaged, but what about the missioners? Will God be pleased if the missioners are doing their work not with joy, but
because it is a "must"? Will the Master be happy when the missioner's heart is full of sin? What will be the joy of heaven if the
missioners are hypocrites who go out on mission as saints, but go back to their stations and take up all over again the old habits
of adultery, lies, anger, bitterness, jealousy, contention, strife, malice, cheating, filth, discouragement and so on? Can you
imagine what will happen to whose whom you evangelize when they discover that this is who you are? When they saw you
evangelizing you were great, an angel, gentle and loving, but now that they have come into the fold in the diocese, you coach
them to become rude, unco-operative, indecent and you change their direction from heaven to hell. You teach them to have one
life for mission and another for themselves. Do you know that you can pack a church full of people, and still thoroughly displease
the Lord?
"I spurn with loathing your pilgrim feasts;
I take no pleasure in your sacred ceremonies.
When you bring me your whole offerings and your grain offerings, I shall not accept them. nor pay heed to your shared-offerings
of stall-fed beasts.
Spare me the sound of your songs;
I shall not listen to the strumming of your lutes."
(Amos 5:21-23)
This is where legalism begins. Outward requirements become a covering for the inward rottenness and corruption of the heart.
Things get done not out of love for God and service to him, but because it is required, in order to seem to belong. This goes for
church activities as well as dressing. Love which is the very important ingredient what makes everything we do for God or man
beautiful is lost and so everything that is done, no matter how well it may be done, is made unattractive.
When, however, we make a conscious and deliberate decision to please the Lord we shall seek first him, not church activities,
not church land, not even buildings, not vestments or even ordination, but we shall seek him first!
"If you would live, make your way to me, not to Bethel; do not go to Gilgal or pass on to Beersheba; for Gilgal will surely go into
exile, and Bethel come to nothing. If you would live, make your way to the Lord, or he will break out against Joseph's
descendants like fire, fire which will devour Bethel with no-one to quench it."
(Amos 5:4-6)
The fruit of this seeking will be evident:
"Seek good and not evil,
that you may live,
that the Lord, the God of Hosts, may be with you,
and as you claim he is.
Hate evil and love good;
establish justice in the courts;
it may be that the Lord, the God of Hosts,
will show favour to the survivors of Joseph."
(Amos 5:14-15).
My dear fellow leaders in the Church of God, have we so quickly lost all fear of the final judgement of the Day of the Lord? Is it
not a fearful thing to fall in to the hands of God? (Hebrews 10:31) Consider when we first came to surrender to Christ, remember
how humble, gentle, willing to serve, willing to learn and submissive to the things of God we were. No sooner had we
demonstrated leadership potential and been made leaders, than we turned our backs on those very things that made God
choose us in the first place.
Take Jeroboam, for example. Jeroboam was not a prince; he was not an heir to the throne; he was a commander of the army
and according to 1 Kings 11:28 Jeroboam was a man of standing and when King Solomon saw how well the young man did his
job he put him in charge of the whole labour force of the house of Joseph. He was no doubt a rising star, a man of skill,
intelligent and well endowed with physical abilities. It was not difficult to spot someone like Jeroboam. His abilities worked for him
and he was identified and given a leadership position.
Sometimes our very endowments can work against us. Jeroboam soon organised a rebellion against King Solomon. Without
Jeroboam's connivance, God, through the prophet Ahijah, promised to make jeroboam King over ten out of the twelve tribes of
Israel. This was a huge political prospect and the temptation to keep the prophecy to himself became impossible. The story may
have leaked to the palace of the king, and Jeroboam had to flee for his life from Solomon to Egypt. However, after the death of
Solomon, Jeroboam came back and thanks to the foolishness of Rehoboam, the one-time single kingdom of Israel under the
dynasty of David, according to the word of prophecy, broke into two, with Rehoboam having just two states and Jeroboam ten.
Jeroboam soon forgot the Lord God of his prophecy, the Lord who endowed him and the Lord who owns history. His abilities
played over his intelligence and sadly 1 Kings 12:26 records, "Jeroboam thought to himself ..." and that was his biggest undoing.
He no longer could trust God. He began to think to himself as to how to work to keep his ten states together for himself and to
keep his people under control. His panic sent him to look inwards and so he thought of building shrines, one in Dan and one in
Bethel, so that his people would no longer go to Jerusalem where perhaps they might begin to change their minds and follow
Judah and Jerusalem. Both in Dan and Bethel, he made calves and appointed priests. What an abomination! Fear of failure
actually leads to failure, unless there is an unshakable faith and trust in God.
Jeroboam continued in his error until his son became ill and, not knowing what to do, both he and his wife decided that his wife
should disguise herself and go to the prophet Ahijah for a word of prophecy and healing from God (1 Kings 14). Having
abandoned the prophet of God for so long, it needed a disguise to pay him a visit and it was Mrs.jeroboam who was to visit now
that there was trouble. the end of Jeroboam and his dynasty was not a good one. The sick child will die, says the prophet
Ahijah; the whole family will be wiped out and a new king installed.
This story carries a profound teaching, warning and admonition, especially to me as the Bishop of Jos and leader of God's
people, and I share it with you so that, together, we may encourage one another to
"Seek first the Kingdom of God,
and his righteousness"
at all times, in all places, and to hold each other's hands as we journey along in these difficult and troubled times in our
generation. May we never be deceived by our thoughts, but always hold on to the truth and facts of God's word and put our trust
in him. Always remember that you are not serving the Bishop or any man, but you are serving the God who called you, the One
who saved you. He is the One who knows the way through the wilderness and all we have to do is to follow:
When we walk with the Lord
In the light of his word,
What a glory he sheds on our way!
While we do his good will
He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey!
For there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and obey.
Seeking first the Kingdom is a daily search, at every moment and in every aspect of life, and this search will continue until we
leave this world. Let me plead passionately in the name of God to all leaders in the church, whether catechists, pastors, Council
members, Girls' Guild, Mother's Union, Women's Guild leaders, those in charge of Boys' Brigade, music, children's ministry, AYF,
EFAC and all who lead in one form or another. Please consider this. the day you feel unwilling or unable to contribute to the
growth of your church or group in whatever form, please do not destroy the church or group, or bring it down; at worst, leave it as
you met it, and honourable, with the fear of God, say so and step down. This plea goes for how we handle choir robes, church
musical instruments, church buildings and furnishings, vicarages and church vehicles and property in general. In fact, let it be
said after you leave a place that you were faithful in adding to the blessing in that place when you were there and that whatever
was in your charge enjoyed the betterment of your care, including the flowers and trees. Let the persons coming after you
THANK GOD for what you did when you were there so that you successors will learn to keep up the standard, or even do better,
and so promote the spirit of carefulness, maintenance and resourcefulness. It is not right to give a big responsibility to anyone
who has been incapable of managing a small one:
"for those who have will be given more" (Lk.8:18)
Let me conclude the call to the leadership of the church with a call to return to prayers. Let us renew again our commitment to
the traditional "CMS" early morning prayers and evening prayers as families. Where there is a congregation we appeal to all
members to do all they can to gather in a church regardless of denomination, as long as Christ is preached, worshipped and
glorified. We encourage you to assemble for early morning prayers, In some placers the 12 noon prayers are observed. We
encourage you to join in. After the evening meal do all you can to gather your family and close the day with Bible reading and
prayers. One of the remarkable things with the discipline of prayer is that slowly, steadily and surely the word of God begins
actively to participate in the lives of those who pray. Even when the practice is done with impure motives, the Lord still takes his
proper place. By the way, God is no fool! No-one should take the Lord's long suffering for granted. He has always been in the
business of changing lives and will continue to act in this way if we sincerely seek him first in prayer and ensure that our prayer
life is reflected in what we say and do.
The other part of seeking the rule of God is seeking the rule and reign of God and seeking his righteousness as well. Seeking
the righteousness of God is on an equal footing with seeking the rule of God. It is not just enough to seek only the rule of God,
but his righteousness must also be firmly established, first amongst his people and then amongst the rest of the community.
Throughout the Scriptures, it is righteousness that God requires of his people, as Amos says in chapter 5 verse 24:
"Let justice flow on like a river,
and righteousness like a never-failing stream."
Isaiah 1:1-16 gives a catalogue of the failures of Judah and Jerusalem. They are great worshippers, great singers, they even
bring sacrifices, but they have rebelled against the Lord (v.1). In practice their lives are full of evil and corruption and they turn
their backs willfully against God. The sin and guilt they carry around does nothing for their consciences even when they come to
worship. They offer sacrifices, observe all the festivals and even have the audacity to spread their hands in prayer, but God
says that in spite of all this seeming religiosity, "though you offer countless sacrifices, I will not listen" (v.15b). What the Lord
requires (v.17) is a person who learns to do right, pursuing justice, guiding the oppressed, upholding the rights of the fatherless
and pleading the widow's cause. Brethren, righteousness needs to be learned and needs to be taught, and this is the time to
seek to learn righteousness, to teach righteousness and to live it.
It has become disturbing to me how very filthy some church compounds, vicarages and church schools have become. It has
even become acceptable, with children and adults alike, for the skins of bananas or oranges, sugar cane, sweet papers, "leda
bags" (polythene bags), pieces of paper, tissues and all kinds of things to be thrown down carelessly, without a thought, just like
that! Let us face it: is it right to be dirty? And even if we must be dirty, is it God's compound that we will keep dirty? Where are
the teachers of righteousness?
As a matter of fact, the school of righteousness begins with individual, small right-ness. When you are in such a position or
circumstances that nobody sees you, but you choose to do the right, then you make it a point to teach others to turn away from
wrong and do what is right. And before you know it, righteousness is established. We in this generation must establish
righteousness in our common etiquette by being polite to one another, kind in word and deed, caring and compassionate as we
present our gospel, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, to a lost world. This is a necessity in the world of today, where humility,
politeness and kindness are considered as weakness and cowardice. Even in Nigeria, politeness and humility are not
considered to be virtues. In fact, when you show love, it is difficult for that love to be received because the Nigerian context
believes that nothing goes for nothing. But I urge us not to give up. Let us do it, and teach it to our children in schools, at home,
at business, in politics and everywhere. We may be called fools, but this is precisely what Jesus meant when he said:
"whoever calls his brother a fool deserves hell-fire" (Mt.5:22)
The truth is that we are not fools, we are seeking the righteousness of God and we must establish the righteousness of God
wherever we are. It is common knowledge that in business and politics and even the civil service, it is said these days that
nothing right can be done. Satan has deceived even the children of God into believing this lie and so the devil has made it look
as if there can never be righteousness in business. For example, it is very sad indeed to know that Christian traders make it an
unwritten policy to sell substandard materials and collect the price of standard materials. Plumbers bury old pipes and collect the
price of new pipes. Electricians do a shoddy job thereby posing a risk of future fire accidents. The point is: the devil has almost
succeeded in convincing even church members that unless they do things his way, they will never succeed in life. This is a lie! It
is the same situation we face in public service, the private sector or even in politics.
As a result, medical care givers go on strike and make good business for the mortuary, and the devil is happy, because the thief
comes only to kill, steal and destroy. Are there no Christians among these people? But the devil has so deceived the world that
nothing right can be done unless we adopt the world's pattern of doing things. "Christian" politicians are said to go into covenant
with Satan for power. Teachers are unfaithful in their vocation, not to mention carpenters, tailors and so on. These have all
swallowed the lie that righteousness is impossible and consequently, you find this kind of unfaithfulness being passed down
through families from one generation to another.
it is most unfortunate that even in ministry, people who wish to go into ministry will go through some godfather or some influential
personalities. If the call is genuine, where is the place for other influential persons? If it is an authentic call, you are called to
prove yourself and not to adopt the world's methods. Those who adopt the world's methods (and I must say that they are on the
increase) have lost the total purpose of the call which is that we are called to serve and not to be served. We are called to give,
to offer and even to surrender our lives for the sake of the gospel. Our call is real and must be kept authentic. that is why we
must turn from the world's methods and seek the Kingdom of God as a priority.
The lie has been further expanded to make everyone believe that unless you participate in unrighteous acts you will never
"make it". As a result, men and women seek everything else except the righteousness of God.
The church is full to capacity. There is much clapping, singing and dancing; launching upon launching has taken over the
worship of God, and with all these seeming religious activities you would have thought that pensioners would get their salaries,
civil servants would be paid as and when due, contractors would do their jobs very well according to the terms of the contract -
but, alas, such assemblies with all the songs, clapping, dancing and donations only annoy God because of the lack of
righteousness. The pastors who should teach righteousness and train the people how to do right are only interested in the
offerings:
"For men hang on the words of the priest and seek knowledge and instruction from him, because he is the messenger of the
Lord of Hosts. But you have turned aside from that course; you have caused many to stumble with your instruction; you have set
at naught the covenant with the Levites, says the Lord of Hosts. So I in my turn shall make you despicable and degraded in the
eyes of all the people, inasmuch as you disregard my ways and show partiality in your interpretations of the law."
(Malachi 2:7-9)
Seeking the righteousness of God is a non-negotiable prerequisite if the blessings of God are
to flow even in practical terms when you look at Plateau State as a prototype of this country, you will see a very hard-working,
strong, energetic, intelligent people - but where is all this energy, intelligence and hard work going? Is it not the same picture in
our country as a whole, with so many intelligent, hard-working and gifted men and women scattered throughout the world? But
because of the lack of righteousness our blessings are blown away as soon as they begin to appear. Let us return to
righteousness and teach righteousness to our children. Our churches must learn to do right in the household of God and
outside. Only then shall all other things be added unto us, says the Lord. Only when we are seeking the righteousness of God
are we truly seeking the rule of God, because you cannot seek the rule of God and not seek his righteousness. To attempt to do
the one without the other would be "419" and fraudulent, and will bring no blessings, but only sorrow.
"Seek first the Kingdom of God
and his righteousness."
FROM SEPTEMBER TO DATE
We were thrown into a state of shock between the dates of 7th and 12th September 2001, when unexpectedly, after Friday
prayers, Muslims descended on Christian lives, businesses, churches and property, and destroyed as much as they could. The
retaliation that followed was just as bad. We in the CAN Executive had sensed a political tension for which we went to the State
Police Commissioner both to receive assurance and to receive clarification in case we were wrong. I still cannot believe that if we
as civilians and ordinary churchmen could feel the way we felt, that a crisis of such magnitude would have taken the law
enforcement agents and government by surprise. Every good measure taken after the crisis was belated. We had had cause to
advise government as we do again today.
1. That government should take very seriously the security situation of Plateau State. This is necessary for obvious reasons
in the wake of the crises in other northern states where Christians have been thrown out, and the natural place to come is
Plateau. Muslims who also have moved out of trouble zones of the north have found abode on the Plateau. Unfortunately, both
these groups have also come with hangovers of their political, economic and religious biases. Having found a comfortable
playing ground on the Plateau, they introduce their bigotry. Needless to say, there are also those who have come with the sole
agenda of introducing shari'a by all means on the Plateau.
2. Government must take the rule of law and protect the tights of citizens as provided for in the Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria. The constitution and indeed the national polity take cognisance of people indigenous to areas within the
geography of the national entity of Nigeria. Therefore should any laws be made, or should there be laws that have been made
and put into effect, but they are not observed impartially, then government should be ready to face a lawless state with attendant
insecurity, crime and so on.
It was a good move by the Plateau State House of Assembly to remove beggars from the streets by law, but that law lasted only a
few weeks. It was also a good move by the government to put a focus on religious crises, but it failed to identify which religion
goes to pray and after prayer goes to wart. Slowly but surely those who obey the law are being made scapegoats and are being
treated as fools for being obedient. When government and law enforcement agencies do not show respect for those who obey
the law, then very soon more people will show disregard for the law and very few if any will be left to obey the law.
3. From my experience in crises of this nature, it is the practice of those who want to score a political point to recruit the
jobless, a couple of rascals and hoodlums who have no idea about what they are fighting for, but would have been given enough
money, drugs and implements of harm, to cause havoc. As is always the case, these young able-bodied misguided miscreants
will be arrested and their political godfathers will pt pressure for their release and they will be released. With each crisis and as
often as they get involved, they acquire experience and as long as they are guaranteed release (and they do get release), they
will continue to be available or these kinds of misdeeds. Let me assure government that these kinds of crises will never end
unless and until government musters the courage to deal first of all with these hoodlums and then to pursue their mentors until
they are dealt with according to the law, and they see that violence can never solve any problem.
4. Religion has become the latest tool in the hands of politicians and government must understand that as long as she caves
in to those who use religion to threaten peace, religious crises will never end. After September we were told that the crisis was
not necessarily religious, but by May 2, out of a PDP Ward Congress, we lost one Anglican member: he was not a politician, he
was faithfully sewing in his shop that day. He was killed by Muslims. Several Christian homes and businesses and lives were lost
- again all within a few hours. As I write this Charge, Holy Trinity Church, Rikkos is unsafe for any Christian. Our signboard to
the church has been broken down and destroyed and the Muslims have threatened the lives of our pastor and members. This is
now the third week that church services have not been held in Holy Trinity, Rikkos. Government seems unable or unwilling to
protect lives where muslims are in the majority, but are forever ready to provide security where Muslims are in the minority. In
that same Rikkos last September we had lost 9 Christian lives: their bodies were chopped to pieces and thrown into the river; up
to today we have not recovered their bodies.
5. We advise government to match its words with actions. We as a Christian church are ever ready not only to support
government, but to make it easier for government to rule its subjects. We love Plateau State; we love Nigeria and God alone
knows how much we pray for our governor, President and those who lead us. Do not take our prayers for granted. If we who
work for peace and pray for government are killed or incapacitated in one form or another, the rest will be history.
Soon after the September crisis, when 162 of our members lost property, when 13 of our people lost their lives, we wrote to
admonish and encourage the faithful to remain in Jos. some members had lost spouses, but still had some business to do in
town. some members lost homes but still had shops in the market. Others lost homes and business premises but still had their
lives. Just as we were ready to pick up the pieces, the Jos Main Market, the mainstay and centre of business in Jos, was gutted
by fire on Monday 11th February. A majority of the people are suspicious that it was no ordinary fire. There again, members of
St.Paul's Church, St.Michael's Katako, St.Luke's Cathedral, New Covenant Anglican Church, Holy Trinity Rikkos, but especially
St.Paul's lost a great deal of wealth and business in the market. Through the grace of God and by his mighty power working in
us, members again were encouraged to look up to Jesus and to move by faith.
This is not to mention the fact that as a result of an electrical fault, the girls' hostel at St.Helen's Convent, Pankshin, was gutted
by fire in the middle of the night. Again we saw God's great hand upon us. The miracle of Daniel and his friends happened
again and the children will live to tell the story. All the girls were said to have prayed, sung and run through the fire with only a
few light injuries.
As if our faith were being testes, we kept encouraging the brethren until May 2nd when again Christian businesses and lives
were lost. And shortly after that on Saturday 4th May, when the EAS Airline BAC 111 carrying passengers from Jos to Lagos via
Kano, crashed in Kano. In that aircraft we lost friends, relations, government officials, members of clergy and business people.
Even those on the ground who knew nothing about flying also lost their lives. It was a big blow and a tragedy that befell the
church on the Plateau, the government and the general public.
I have wondered whether from September to now God was not speaking and calling our attention to seek him that we may live.
Quite a number of loves have been lost in less than one year, and there is a systematic destruction of the morale and confidence
of the people on the Plateau for which the church must seek the |Lord in order to live. We must pray and ask God to turn our
hearts from cheating and defrauding one another in common business and daily transactions at work, in the market or at home.
Husbands must be faithful to their wives, wives must be diligent in home making and caring for children and raising up a godly
family. The church must frown at sexual immorality, indulgence in wild leisure activities; the church must preach against greed in
high and low places. We must all rise and destroy the Asherah poles and the high places of Baal. These are gods of immorality,
corruption and idolatry. Clergy must be reconciled with one another from the altar, and they must preach the truth, supported
with facts of the gospel, in love. We must reject every temptation to slander one another and flee from all destructive criticisms
and the pursuit of unhealthy rivalry. We must condemn what is not true and uphold righteousness and justice.
From september to today we have received warning signs, and if we repent and return to God and sincerely do so with all our
heart, then when we seek we will find, when we ask we will receive and when we knock the door will be opened unto us.
In this context, we will pray and ask God to uproot any covenant made contrary to the new covenant of the gospel, and it shall be
destroyed from Plateau State. We will pray and ask God to fight against all the forces - whether they be economic, political or
religious - that militate against the gospel, and God will answer. We will pray for God to revive his church and return his people
to the word of God, to prayer, to evangelism and to the total mission of the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. We shall see
the fruit of the gospel and Plateau State shall be saved. The Lord is calling us now to get rid of all filth from our homes, from our
lives, to remove from amongst us any form of falsehood, envy, malice, hatred, bitterness, cheating, fornication, adultery,
selfishness, greed, pride, idleness, laziness, drunkenness, and seek the Kingdom of God with all or hearts, and his
righteousness, and we will see the blessings of God chasing after us. Let us make up our minds to be enemies to sin. Let us
take up the challenge to follow god whatever it may cost. Let us make a resolve to build up the church of God and to live and
work in holiness until we are called to glory.
TOWARDS 2003
Our experiment with democracy shows that there is no alternative to democracy. I am convinced that all that it takes for
democracy to collapse is for Christians who truly believe in God to despair and give up, but worse than that, for Christians not
only to despair but also to discourage others from going into politics.
I must say that there are several levels of political involvement. Not everyone should go into partisan field politics, but even
there, there must be committed, educated, civilised, well-behaved, honest, dedicated Christians. The absence of such
committed Christians will leave us in the hand of the bad politicians and we will groan under them for ever. The politics I
admonish Christians to participate in is for each to know their level of involvement. There are those who will not be able to go
beyond decision making; others will not go beyond advice; some cannot participate beyond prayers, But every Christian must
vote and every Christian must go out with confidence to vote and participate in elections in any political party of their choice, from
the ward level to the state and national levels. Furthermore, all Christians must participate in General Elections when we vote
our Councillors, representatives and leaders in all offices at local, state and national levels. I make this admonition passionately
so that we do not come back later in church and ask for prayers when we get leaders we did not vote for. To be forewarned is to
be forearmed.
Let me offer some advice to Christian politicians to do their best to show the light of Jesus Whenever they are given the chance
to serve or to lead. It has become customary for politicians to keep people waiting for hours at functions and even at their
offices. this kind of leadership may be a demonstration of power but, believe me, it is oppressive and an insult to those who
voted you in, but most of all, it is ungodly. showing respect to those who elected you into office and treating them as fellow
human beings will endear you to the hearts of the electorate far more than will any demonstration of power. Again, let me say
that there is no need for any politician to imagine that on getting into the office, the doors are open for quick money. This is a lie
from the pit of hell. let me advise Christian politicians to be faithful, just and honest while in office. God who has put you in that
office is forever faithful, and by your faithful service you will gain favour from God and people, and sincerely you will be blessed
spiritually, financially and even physically. let me further add that power us ephemeral and transient: let no Christian politician be
deceived by any pressure group, no matter how tempting, because as we have seen in the past, several leaders have come and
gone but the office has remained. Therefore your testimony as a Christian is far more important than anything the office will
offer. What you do or do not do with God's opportunities is what will count at the end of it all. As we prepare for 2003 elections
no amount of prayers we say now can be too much. This is the time to lift up to God the state of the nation, our future and in
particular our own State. Let us fervently make our requests known to God and he will answer our prayers.
BISHOPSCOURT, DOGON DUTSE
We have had to move out of 11A Dogon Dutse since it has been sold. My family and I moved to our own house at 3 Argak
Close, Mary Lot Estates, Sabon Bariki, Jos (073-281558) in December 2001. Our tenency with our new landlords expired on 31
march 2002; we finally moved the office from Dogon Dutse to The Quiet Place, 4 Temple Close (off Miango Road), Jos on 30
April. We have since been finding our feet and doing our best to settle. The structure is yet to have ceilings, windows, internal
doors, water and phone, but we are happy and grateful for the provision of God for us. We remain eternally grateful to Baba
Kehinde who with generosity beyond human understanding has provided accommodation for the Bishops of Jos since the
inception of the Diocese.
DIOCESAN MERIT AWARD
Rev.Canon Elisha Peter Dah and Mrs. Teresa Dah
A faithful worker like Canon Dah is difficult to find. He and his wife are like Priscilla and Aquila. Both of them are tireless,
non-complaining, diligent, faithful and effective dispensers of the word of God. In their years of ministry with us since Canon Dah
was ordained deacon in 1981, they have almost literally made the tour of the whole of Jos Diocese. They have been posted to
virtually all the stations in this diocese. It is with a sense of gratitude to God that at our tenth Anniversary we put up these godly
examples in ministry and present them with the Merit Award of the Diocese of Jos.
The last year has been most trying for us as a diocese, but we want to thank God for all the members of this diocese for standing
firm in the faith. We are most grateful to every member of this diocese who rallied round to shower love onto one another and to
support each other in these trying times. Sometimes I wish we were like that every day! Much as I hate the crisis and problems
that befell us, yet I love the Christian care, concern and support we have shown for one another.
Our One Day synod charge contains a list of our donors and benefactors. Our
gratitude knows no end for out prayer partners who have been pillars of support up to this point. We are greatly encouraged.
Our financial position has been badly damaged by the various forms of crisis that befell us but amazingly we have not starved,
and it was in such circumstances that we moved from Dogon Dutse. The Lord is faithful.
As we were still grappling all of this, there came the shocking news that the Rev. Canon G. U. Njoku had been shot by armed
robbers and that to the glory of God his life was spared, even though he bled very badly. God brought smiles to our faces when
his wife, Nkechi, who was nursing her husband was put to bed and delivered of a baby boy.
Such are the ways of our Lord God Almighty. Glory be to his name. We have lost many friends, relatives and compatriots. Our
hearts go out to those who mourn, and we offer our heartfelt condolences, especially to General Useni, the Demap's, the
Dadirep's, the Aku's, the State Government and all who at this time mourn the loss of dear ones. May we rise.
May the souls of the faithful departed
rest in perfect peace.
Amen.