LESSONS FROM HAITI

Part One

Just before 5 p.m. on Tuesday, January 12, 2010, a devastating earthquake hit Port-au-Prince, the Capital of Haiti, causing untold dead and suffering.

The Haiti's President, Rene Preval, called the death toll "unimaginable" as he surveyed the destruction wrecked by the earthquake. He told The Miami Herald, “Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed. There are a lot of schools that have a lot of dead people in them. All of the hospitals are packed with people. It is a catastrophe.”

Limbs protruded from disintegrated concrete. Groans and muffled cries came from deep inside the wrecks of buildings. Hundreds are arrayed in a macabre tangle of limbs outside a morgue in Port-au-Prince near the grievously wounded. In every street were rows of fly-blown corpses and crowds of wandering refugees, seeking a place to lie down for the night with their few remaining possessions.

On Thursday, The International Red Cross said the quake had killed between 40,000 and 50,000 people, while Haitian officials had warned that the overall death toll might top 100,000.

Terrible? You can say that again!

I will say this much for the catastrophe, it teaches us some important spiritual lessons.

Lesson One

Life is short. It can come to an abrupt end – when one least expect.
Like most other people of the world, the Haiti earthquake victims welcomed the New Year 2010 with joy, singing and dancing. Little did they realize they would never see the end of the first month of the year.

James 4:14, Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
1Peter 1:24; 1John 2:17; Psalm 103:15; Isaiah 40:6.

When you consider the brevity of life, you will see to it that you don’t waste it on frivolous things, things that do not have eternal value, things that you will lose when you leave the world, things that cannot benefit you after this life.

Lesson Two

Life has a way of changing the best of plans of man. The well-made plan of man does not impress death. Disaster does not consult a man before it strikes.

James 4:13-14, Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow…

Needless to say, all, or at least, most of the victims of the Haiti earthquakes have good plans made for this year. They entered the new year with great hope for the future. But hardly had they entered the new than disaster struck and all the carefully-laid plans could no longer be pulled off, nor even be considered anymore.

This shows us that plans can only be made and fulfilled with the consent of God.

They behave stupidly who make plans for years to come without God, counting on long years to accomplish their worldly objectives and enjoy the fruits of their earthly efforts, in disregard of the fact of the shortness and uncertainty of human life.

Psalm 127:1, Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

We must look up to God for help and grace to accomplish every plan we make. We must learn to trust Him from day to day.

But the most important thing is that our plans should focus mainly on things that will bring us eternal reward when we leave the world. It is folly to spend our lives planning for what won’t profit us at the end of this life. We must always be prepared for eternity.

Raphael Oye. Taiwo

http://www.ucevam.com/

http://www.ucevam.wordpress.com/
http://www.gmission.wordpress.com

OPERATION GLORIOUS MISSION 2010

When a year is packing up, getting ready to move out so a new fresh year can move in, most people begin to think about and plan for the incoming year. People begin to ask themselves, “How can I better my life in the in-coming year?” “How can I do better in the approaching year what I have been doing?” “What corrections and restitutions must I make when I enter the new year?”

I am no exception. As a year moves towards its end, my mind begins to think of the coming year and to ask the Lord about His plan for me in the year.

When we got to the middle of December, 2009, I began to seek the mind of the Lord about His will for my God-given Ministry in the in-coming year. My mind began to ask the Mighty One, “Father, what specific things would you like for me to do in the coming year 2010 so I could help fulfill the Great Commission? What, Lord of the host, is your battle plan for me in the new year?”
In answer, words flowed into my mind from the Throne of Mercy, “Embark on Operation Glorious Mission.”

Operation Glorious Mission!

Well, what are the objectives of Operation Glorious Mission 2010 as the Spirit of God makes it clear to me?

The objectives of Operation Glorious Mission 2010 are that by the end of year 2010,
*A million people from many parts of the world will have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Word of God from Operation Glorious Mission 2010 team to be led by me,
*A minimum of 100 new churches will have been planted,
*At least eighty percent of the existing UCEM Churches will have grown spiritually and numerically.

A tall order? I felt so.

To tell the truth, I put a cross on the written objective two times, saying, “God, this is unrealistic goals.” And each time, the Lord would respond, “With man this is impossible but with God, all things are possible.”

The problem I was looking at was money. I knew very well that spiritually and mentally, my people and I were capable.

Thirty years experience on the Lord’s battle-field has taught me how to serve the Lord effectively in the face of hardship, persecution and discouraging problems. Holding mass open-air evangelistic meetings is not new to me. Ministering to people in the open is a regular practice of mine. I am not inexperience at planting churches. When it comes to writing, preaching, teaching, counselling and praying, I am in my elements.

But operating money!

That’s the real gnawing problem that most ministers in my part of the world have to deal with. And it is what made me doubted in the beginning the possibilities of accomplishing these objectives.

For this project, a lot of money would be needed to acquire the necessary gospel and mission equipment and do other necessary things.

We will seek to achieve this objective mainly through:
intensive prayer warfare
*aggressive mass evangelism
*Campmeetings
*the internet
*evangelical video productions
*electronic media and printed pages.

I decided in the last weeks of December to share this vision with my fellow Christians and trust God to provide $100,000 through them.

How about being a part of Operation Glorious Mission 2010? Will you help out financially?

I want to raise 100,000 U.S. Dollars for this Project. I have collected many valuable Christian and other helpful ebooks and softwares for free download by those who contribute to Operation Glorious Mission 2010 - as a ‘thank you’ gift.

You see, when you plant a seed through a donation, you reap in many ways:
*God will bless you in one way or the other in this world for it
*God will reward you for it in eternity
*You will receive the joy of helping to fulfill the purpose of God on earth
*You can download, without charge, valuable materials - Christian ebooks, educational ebooks and helpful softwares - as a ‘thank you’ gift.

When you make a donation, we'll send you a special url where you can download one, two or even all of the materials.

Our supporters shall receive monthly reports of how we use the money towards the accomplishment of Operation Glorious Mission 2010.

You can donate securely through paypal.

To donate or to read more about Operation Glorious Mission 2010 and the gifts I have for the supporters of the Operation, please visit: http://www.ucevam.com/ogm2010.html.

You can leave your comment for me on Operation Glorious Mission 2010 on this blog or contact me through http://www.ucevam.com/contact.php .

Thanks. God bless you.

Raphael Oye Taiwo
http://www.ucevam.com/

WHY JESUS CAME TO THE WORLD

I trust you really enjoyed the last Christmas.

I did, even though I spent it travelling about teaching, ministering and praying for people. You ought to see me on the motor-bike on the highway, fighting for right of way with numerous four-wheel vehicles of all kind. Thanks to my bone-shaking, life-tired car that I had to ditch in the end.

Even though I didn’t have time to sit around with loved ones, tucking into mouth-watering ‘Christmas specials’ and sipping drinks of various sorts, I thanked God for the Christians all over the world who were doing so in celebration of the great day when the birth of God the Son into the world as a human being was being celebrated.

Ah, Christmas day! Even large numbers of non-Christians from most parts of the world refused to be left out of the eating and drinking and dancing with which Christmas is often celebrated.

The painful thing is that many Christmas celebrants do not really understand what Christmas stands for. Nor do they really care. For all they are concerned, Christmas is no more than a time of wining and dinning, spending time with the family and having good times with friends.

Whenever I got the opportunity during the festive period of Christmas, I talked about the real meaning of Christmas: why Jesus came to the world.

Jesus came to the world to give man eternal life - John 3:16; John 3:36.

When a man repents and accepts Jesus as his Lord and Savior, He is reborn by the Holy Spirit. Being reborn, the man (or woman) receives, as his birth right, eternal life, which is the nature of God.Unlike the physical life that a man receives when he is born into the world, eternal life enables the receiver to go on living with God after this life - for ever and ever.Because it is the nature of God, eternal life enables a person to live the godly life – the God kind of life.

Jesus came to the world to destroy the work of the devil - 1 John 3:8.

The Lord Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, which includes:

destruction of human soul and body – 1 Peter 5:8; Rev 9:11. One of the names of the devil in Hebrew is Abaddon, which means destruction. That is why the Lord called him the murderer in John 8:44. Jesus came to the world to destroy this work of the devil by saving human soul and protecting human body from the evil one. Heb 2:14.

Putting people in darkness. He covers the world in foul darkness, causing the people of the world to walk in darkness. That is why he is called the ruler of the darkness of the world.Jesus, the Light, came into the world to deliver people from the darkness of the devil and translates them from the region, dominion, realm of darkness into His kingdom of light - John 8:12; Col. 1:13.

Leading people away from God into eternal suffering in hell – John 12:40; 2 Cor. 4:4; 2 Cor. 11:3.The major work of the devil is to lead people away from God and eternal joy and peace into eternal suffering and torment. Jesus came to destroy this work of the devil by leading people back to God – Rev. 5:9.

Jesus came to the world to save the sinners - 1 Tim 1:15.

Jesus came to the world to save the sinners by calling them unto repentance - Matt 9:13. Jesus knew the evil power of sin over the people of the world.He knew that they must be called to repentance or else they would suffer for the sins for all eternity - Luke 13:3, 5. So, He came into the world to call sinners into repentance.By helping the lost sinners to recognize themselves as sinners, to understand the terrible reward of sin and to repent of their sins, He saves the lost - Matt 18:11.

Jesus came to the world to save the sinners by washing them with His blood – Rev 1:5; 1 John 1:7. When a sinner repents, the blood of Jesus cleanses him from his sin.

Jesus came to the world to save sinners by redeeming them from sin and Satan – Titus 2:14; Eph 1:7; Col. 1:14; Heb. 9:12.

Jesus came to the world to reconcile man with God - Col. 1:21-22; Rom 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:18; Eph 2:16.

Jesus came to the world that man might receive the Holy Spirit - Matt 3:11; John 14:16-17.

Jesus came into the world so that human beings might enjoy the unique experience of the baptism with the Holy Spirit and have the Holy Spirit abiding in them.

Jesus came to the world so that we might be able to sit on God’s throne - Rev 3:21. Who is man that he might hope to be given the opportunity to come anywhere near the throne of God. But because of the unspeakable love of God for us, Jesus came into the world that He might not only make us worthy to come near the throne of God, but that he might make us worthy to sit with Him on the resplendent throne of God alive with extraordinarily great power of the Almighty.

Raphael Oye Taiwo

Unity Christ Evangelical Ministry (UCEM)
http://www.ucevam.com/
http://www.ucevam.wordpress.com/

DON’T STRAY FROM YOUR PROTECTOR

I was sitting in the backyard of a hut at a village – one of UCEM Rural Mission Field – enjoying the evening tropical breeze and heroically resisting the numerous midges which were trying to get into their tiny bodies some of my precious blood.
Suddenly, my attention was drawn to a giant ant crawling along near my feet. For no reason I myself could explain, I fixed my gaze on the creature as it inched its way away from me.
What I didn’t immediately realize was that I was not the only observer of the ant. Two lizards at the wall of the hut were following her with their sharp eyes from different directions. But they wouldn’t dare an attack because of my presence.
As she moved further away from me, they moved down the wall. I could imagine the lizards saying, “Good boy, get away from that monster human being. He has nothing to offer you. Get wise, dummy, come to us! We have some great plan for you!”
For some reasons known only to the ant, she would turn about and head towards me, though she wasn’t aware of the two lizards stalling her. The lizards would beat a hasty retreat back up the wall. Then the big, black creature would turn round again and move away from me. The observant lizards would retrace their steps down the wall.
I suddenly felt protective towards the ant. But I made up my mind that I would protect her from her deadly enemy only if she stayed around me. I wasn’t ready to run around chasing away some lizards because of some dumb giant ant.
Oh, how I wish the ants would stay in my immediate area! How I wish it would not give the lizards the opportunity they needed to gobble her. But oh, no! The ant, like the fools of the world, chose to abandon her protector and move into the enemy territory.
It kept going until she had moved far from me – far enough for the lizards to decide it was safe enough for them to get their dinner.
When the lizards were sure that their prey had left enough distance between us for them to make a safe attack without risking my intervention, they moved in.
As quick as a striking adder, one of the two lizards struck and devoured her. And it was the end of the one who would not stay in the area of her protector!
Some Christians are like the giant ant. For one foolish reason or the other, they move away from their eternal Protector, Jesus Christ, and stray into the territory of the enemy of their soul.
The Bible warns, ‘Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour’ 1 Pet. 5:8for .
There is no doubt about the fact that the devil is your enemy. He hates you as no human being can ever hate you. His desire for the destruction of your soul is indescribable. He doesn’t want a moment of joy for you in the world. Eternal suffering in the burning lake of fire is his full desire for you.
The devil lures many foolish Christians away from the protective area of Jesus - the Captain of Salvation, the defender of the people of God - with money and luster of worldly glory. They stupidly move away from Jesus to the enemy of their soul in the hope that the enemy will help them get the good things of life they desire.
Jesus warned strictly, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” John 15:5.
Inside Jesus is the ‘Safe Territory.’ Outside Jesus is the enemy’s territory, the danger zone. If for any reason you move away from Jesus, you move into trouble.
Don’t give the enemy the opportunity he needs to destroy you body, soul and spirit. Stay with Jesus whatever happens.
Fellow, ‘with purpose of heart… cleave unto the Lord.’ Acts 11:23.
Never let anything separate you from your Savior, Defender and Protector. The Apostle Paul asks a thought-provoking question, ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?’ Rom. 8:35
To this question every genuine child of God should give an unequivocal answer: “Nobody and nothing.”

LEARN TO OBEY GOD'S VOICE

OBEY MY VOICE

Jer 7:23
But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.

God is not a cruel task master whose servants are heavily-laden with unreasonable demands and commandments (Mat 11:28).
God is a good Lord who cares for His people. He doesn’t make unnecessary demands on them. He doesn’t burden His people with callous laws and inconsiderate commandments. He does not desire to break His people’s neck with heavy yoke of insensitive decrees.
He, however, desires that we obey Him implicitly when He speaks.
You and I must realize that God has a right as our Lord to tell us what He wants us to do and what He wants us not to do. And we, as His servants, have a duty to obey Him absolutely.
If you have being in the Lord for about six months, you must have heard about the ‘Ten Commandments.’ So, when you hear me talking about obeying the Lord, your mind probably automatically goes to Exodus 20 where the Ten Commandments are listed.
That is o.k. But I don’t want you to think that the Ten Commandments are all you have to obey. The whole Bible is full of instructions and orders from the Lord to his people – instructions and orders we are duty-bound to obey.
But that is not all. Many times in the course of our lives, the Holy Spirit speaks to our heart or reveals to us in some ways certain things the Lord wants us to do.
These revealed instructions may make no sense to us. We may even consider the instructions from the Holy Spirit downright stupid because of what we think the people around us may say or think if we go ahead and obey God’s voice. But we will do well to obey the words from the Spirit of God, just as we will obey the words of the Spirit of God in the Bible.
I am not saying you should obey every voice you hear or every vision you see. I have seen too many people get into serious trouble by following every kind of voice and vision and dream and prophecy, to ask you to do so. Not only is it stupid, but it is dangerous, to obey every voice we think we hear, or every prophecy or revelation we receive, without making sure that they are from the Lord. The Bible warns:

1 John 4:1
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

But when you are rightly certain it is the Lord speaking, go ahead and obey the Lord.
It may be a little nudge from the Holy Spirit to do something that will bring glory to the Lord. It may be a silent voice of the Holy Spirit in your heart that is urging you to take a certain action. It may be a deep impression, from the Holy Spirit, to turn around and move in another direction. The leading may come in several other ways. As soon as you are convinced it is from the Lord, go ahead, and obey the Lord.
Let me give you two examples from my recent experience:

About three weeks ago, I went to a town to worship on Sunday with my fellows in one of UCEM Churches.
At the right time, I was called to the pulpit to preach. I got behind the pulpit, saluted the people, reminded them about this and encouraged them about that.
Anybody who observed me closely would realize I was tired. The day before and the day before it (Friday and Saturday), I had conducted a 2-day monthly programme, Victory Revival. I do most of the preaching and ministering in this monthly programme. This sometimes leave me tired on Sunday, as it now did.
As I stood behind the pulpit on that Sunday, I felt exhausted. And the heat in the place wasn’t helping the situation.
I announced to the congregation I would only preach a little, then close the meeting. Knowing some might feel disappointed that I would not be ministering to them – especially, praying for the sick - I said in a placating voice, “Next time, I will come and hold special meetings for you where I will preach the Word of God and minister to you.”
Heads nodded in agreement, understandingly.
I preached my little sermon and was about to pack it in when the Holy Spirit urged me to pray for the people en masse. “Well,” I said to myself, “I’ll just make it brief and quick.”
As I prayed, I sensed the presence of the Lord.
“Through this prayer,” the Lord said, “I have touched many people here. There is a person here especially who has been suffering from severe pain for some time. I have healed the person.”
“Thank you Lord,” I said, eager to close the meeting. Then I knew the Lord really wanted me to announce this. I was reluctant to do this because I knew one thing would lead to another and I might have to spend the next thirty minutes ministering in the spirit.
But I also knew the folly of disobeying the Lord’s expressed will.
I told the congregation what the Spirit asked me to announce. No sooner had I ended the announcement than a man put up his hands.
Oh no,” I thought. “The fellow wants to ask a question or ‘make a speech.’”
I was ready for neither of these. So, I ignored him.
But he wouldn’t be stopped. He jumped to his feet, came out and testified to how the Lord had healed him of a severe pain especially in the neck as I prayed.
“When I heard the message about the healing of a serious pain,” the man said. “I knew the Lord wanted me to tell publicly what He has done for me.”
Then another woman jumped up and testified to how the Lord had healed her when I was praying.
I began to thank God for enabling me to obey His voice to pray and declare the words of knowledge He gave me.
Last week, (it is now about two months at the time of preparing this special edition of the Victorious Giant), I was ministering on Saturday evening at the Rural Mission Outreach of UCEM Students Fellowship. At the end of my message, I began to pray for different groups of people.
I asked a group - which I thought would be the last group I would pray for - to stand up and place their hands on their heads as I prayed.
They complied.
“In the Name of Jesus,” I began to pray. Then the Holy Spirit cut me short. He wanted me to pray over a more urgent matter.
For a moment, I remained silent. Here were these people laying their hands on their heads, expecting me to go on praying for them. And here was I being directed to ignore them for some time and begin to pray for some other thing.
It was an open-air revival meeting. I knew that apart from those on the revival ground, there were many other people lurking in dark places in front or at the backyard of their houses, who were following what we were doing with their ears. What would they think?
I decided to obey the Holy Spirit. I said over the loudspeaker, “Sorry, you people who have your hands laid upon your heads. Please, hold on, the Lord asks me to pray concerning an untimely death that is about to happen around this place. Someone will die suddenly and the whole community will be shaken because of the tragedy, unless the Lord intervenes. Now, let’s pray that the Lord will intervene and the tragic thing will not happen.”
I prayed. The people were shouting “amen” after each sentence of prayer. Then we carried on with the meeting.
The second day, I left the village, after Sunday Service in our church there.
Three days later, I received a text message thanking me for the prayer. A person had just escaped death narrowly around the place where we held the revival meeting. It happened in a way that made the people there, even the unbelievers, agreed that it was the case I mentioned and prayed about.
A Muslim Alhaji came to our people in the community to express his surprise at what the Lord did through us. The Alhaji said, “I was sitting in front of my house when that Man of God was praying for the people. I heard when he stopped the prayer and mentioned the case of someone who was going to die tragically at that place. And when he prayed that the Lord would prevent the thing from happening, I joined others to say ‘amen.’ Now, seeing what followed, I know without doubt that God is with you people. And you are doing His work.”
I thank God for helping me to obey His voice that evening, not caring about the negative reaction that might come from anybody because of the unusual way I acted. A person’s life was spared and at least a Muslim leader was convinced that Christ was alive and was with His people.
See some of the promises of God to those who obey Him:

Ex 23:22
But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.

Isa 1:19
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

Luke 11:28
But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

*Read more up-lifting, soul-building and life-changing messages at http://www.ucevam.com/