Sage Voice

"And to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless." (Ephesians 5:27 NIV) Let us carefully follow the message that the eminent Apostle Paul presented to the church at Ephesus in the passage below: Ephesians 5:22-27 KJV 22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23  For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. 25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. Here in this passage, Paul's aim is to enlighten husba...

  " As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message" (Galatians 2:6 NIV).  Modern Christianity is orienting the Christian away from the belief that the Bible is the highest authority for faith and doctrine toward a belief that a spiritual father is the highest authority for faith and doctrine.  What is the basis for the belief that a father is a covering for the Christian? Is this belief based on the Bible or is it based on a doctrine that a father in the ministry advanced? Some fathers in the ministry have died from gory road accident. Others have died in a plane crush. Still others have lost biological children, sons and daughters in the ministry, in a most painful way. The popular televangelist and healing minister, A. A. Allen, is said to have died after a heavy drinking binge. Autopsy report showed that he died of kidney failure resulting from excessive alcohol intak...

All disciples of Christ are called to witness for him, just as Jesus commanded his Apostles to witness for him. Certainly the eleven Apostles that remained with Christ after the resurrection could not carry the gospel to the "ends of the earth" by themselves. So every believer is commanded to share the good news of Christ as he or she goes about daily activities.  Mission work typically involves witnessing to people in whom Christ is not richly formed, and witnessing in places where Christ is not dominating by the gospel, or places where Christianity is not firmly established.  Missions involves proclaiming Christ along cross-cultural lines. To preach cross-culturally means to preach to people of different language, tribe, colour, class, religious persuasion or geographical location from your own.  Missions also involves preaching the gospel with the intention of planting churches. So a Christian missionary may spread the gospel and plant churches in foreign countries or ...

"After the king was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, he said to Nathan the prophet, 'Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent' " (2 Samuel 7:1‭-‬2 NIV).  By 'achievement-based ministry' I mean doing church with the aim of gratifying your personal interests, usually by achieving financial success and amassing material possessions at the expense of the well-being of church members, or to the neglect of the plight of Christians under your care.  Ministry that is achievement-based is driven by what you can accomplish by your own power and affluence instead of the Holy Spirit. Ministry is "not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD Almighty" (Zec 4:6).  As an emerging leader, you do well to note that God is not gratified by works but by obedience.  God spoke to king Saul by the Prophet Samuel and said, “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and s...