We
welcome you to another packed-full issue of your favorite publication. It’s the
early edition, and we really give thanks to God Almighty for seeing us through
2024 and crossing to see 2025 in good spirit and sound mind.
In
the face of all that is going on in the country now, it is indeed a thing of
joy and thanksgiving to be in a stable albeit free condition to still be up and
around seeking improvements here and there. God alone deserves all the praise.
It
is quite difficult to describe in accurate terms the state of the nation right
now, economically, politically and also spiritually. Economically, some of the
indices tend towards the positive curve, but politically, with Lagos House of
Assembly drama and the Supreme Court judgement on Governor Fubara’s government
and the eventual declaration of a state of emergency by President Tinubu, not
to talk of the show of shame at the Red Chambers over Senator Natasha Akpoti’s
allegation, it is difficult to say we are making progress politically as a
nation. Spiritually, it simply looks like God’s glory has left the Church!
Nigeria
today is one of the most religious countries in the world, yet the alarming
rate of ritual killings, internet fraud, drug trafficking, corruption of very
debased magnitude amongst government officials and political leadership is
legendary. Suffice to say that there definitely isn’t a dull
moment within the Nigerian space these days. I did allude to the
reality that politics would come earlier than normal as for the very
first time we have a politician at the helm of affairs. Hitherto it had
always been a secondment so to speak.
Mr President’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State,
goes further to raise questions as to how shallow our democratic experience is
so far.
The
Church has chosen building projects and monuments as its assignment in
disobedience to “Go ye and preach” commandment - occultists demanding
followership and manipulating the hearts of many against the very God that
ought to be their focus - now pervades many of our Churches, from among the
members and even in the leadership - it is not new though - listen to Ezekiel’s
record here.
In
the message God revealed to Ezekiel about what was happening behind the scenes
in His temple. “He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house, and
there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar,
were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and
their faces toward the east, and they were worshipping the sun.” (Ezekiel
8:9-17).
Elders
were involved in heavy occultism as opposed to what God had ordained for the
temple. They did all these behind the scenes and this led to the glory of God
leaving the temple and by extension the land.
God
said further to Ezekiel: “Son of man, did you see what they are doing? The
great abominations that the house of Israel commits here to make me go far away
from my sanctuary? Now turn again, you will see greater abominations.” (Ezekiel
8:6).
He
said to me, “Have you seen this, O Son of man? Is it a trivial thing to the
house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have
filled the land with violence, then they have returned to provoke me to anger.
Indeed they put the branch to their nose.” (Ezekiel 8:17).
Indeed
this is a parallel to what we see in Nigeria today. God said it was the ungodly
practices being carried out in the temple that caused Him to go far away from
the temple and ultimately the land.
NOW,
these occultic practices that we see in the book of Ezekiel transpose to the
teachings and practices of material prosperity, hyper-grace as opposed to
Christ likeness which have eroded the values of the Kingdom of God even that
which the Lord said we should learn of Him. “Learn of me for I am meek and
lowly in heart and you shall find rest for your souls” Matt 11:29.
This
is what we are supposed to be emphasizing in the church; being conformed to the
nature and character of Christ. It has become the definitive face of
Christianity in our time. These aberrations have ultimately caused God’s glory
to leave the Church.
In
this edition, as in the time of Ezekiel, we shall be featuring on our discourse
section, the Addictions of the 21st century Church. What are some of
the addictions? What are their origins? What are the significant evils behind
all of these fads? Or are the many who have delved into them done so, just
because they have seen others do them? These and many more of above questions
are what we try to serve you in this issue. It is our prayer it will be worth
your while.
On
the cover, the metamorphosis of a child prodigy - is an interview with Da Capo
multi-talented, America-based STELLA AWARDS Nominee for Best Gospel Rap Album
in 2007. It is an eye-opening interview touching on self-discovery, music entrepreneurship
and youth empowerment ideas especially in the face of all-time, ever-increasing
rate of massive exodus of Nigerian productive population being experienced
currently. In our search for mentorship on leadership, we are presenting a talk
we had with one of our pioneer Editors And Father figure in the faith - Rev.
Dr. Samuel Tugba (1943 - 2015). He is our Religious Figure for the edition. He
spoke to Countdown about two decades ago, tagged - ‘You cannot serve God with
Pride.’ We believe it is an evergreen piece, thus, we are re-presenting it for
its aptness as the exigences in leadership circles in all spheres of governance
in our polity today as a nation unfolds. The clouds hovering over Nigeria today is indeed very dark and pregnant, and only the discerning and courageous will be able to respond adequately. We pray that you find this edition an
interesting and instructive read.
Bonne
lecture
Taiyelolu
Ojo, anipr
Editor @ Large
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