Sage Voice

Is this really the church of Jesus Christ that the bible talks about? Sage Broadcast Today's broadcast answers another Frequently Asked Question (FAQ).  Many Christians in this generation have been asking themselves, "Is this really the church of Jesus Christ that the bible talks about?" How about asking yourself, "Am I really the Christian that the bible talks about?" The answer will guide you to make a proper judgment of the church today.  The Scripture says, "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? (2 Corinthians 13:5 NIV) The forte of Christianity is to be aware and awake to the reality that Christ Jesus is in you. Hence you must regularly do a test of your awareness and awakening to the reality that Christ is in you. "Is Christ in me? How does this truth show out?" Self-examination is a spiritual exercise that leads to insight...

Sage Broadcast Leadership and Offences Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! Matthew 18:7 NIV Welcome to today's broadcast! It is another lovely topic. Since offences are common in the body of Christ, I thought it wise to broadcast a message on it. And being the Lord's leading, I have not hesitated. Come on board! The biblical definition of offence is unlike what we find in the dictionary. From the Greek "skandalon", it literally refers to a trap stick, or a snare; something placed in the way to cause a person to trip over and fall.  According to Thayer's definition, offence is "any impediment placed in the way and causing one to stumble or fall, (a stumbling block, occasion of stumbling)". Figuratively it is used to refer to Jesus Christ, whose person and calling were so contrary to the expectation of the Jews concerning the Messiah that they rejected him...

Sage Broadcast Answering the Questions of "Can" in Christianity II In the first part of this message, we answered the question, "Can the Christian commit sin?" In this second part, we're going to answer the question, "Can the Christian get sick?" You'll enjoy today's message as you did the first part.  As it was with the first part, the emphasis is on "can", meaning "able to". Therefore is the Christian able to get sick or not able to get sick?  To answer this question correctly, let's first tackle the question, "Who is the Christian?" Some say the Christian is the spirit man living in a vile body. Others say the Christian is the glorified man living in an unglorified body. Still others say the Christian is the savedman undergoing constant transformation in a vile body. Mind you, the Bible does not clearly define the Christian, so all of these definitions stem from the way people conceive the Christian.   Those...

Sage Broadcast PERFECT MEANS COMPLETELY GOOD Today's message is based on the story of the rich young ruler found in Matthew 19:16-22. You may pick up your Bible to refresh your mind with the story before you get into today's message.  This story has, for a long time, been thrown out of balance. The rich young ruler actually loved Jesus and greatly admired him. Addressing Jesus as "Good Master" (KJV) tells it all. He had observed Jesus and come to conclusion that Jesus was completely good, so he turned to him to learn more about what further good thing he could do to be completely good to get eternal life. Mind you, he had obeyed the ten commandments since his youth, and he was not bragging. In fact, Mark's account of this event adds that Jesus looked at him and loved him (10:21), implying that what he said was not untrue, for Jesus would not love a liar and a braggart.  One thing to note here is that Jesus took advantage of the man's own words to reveal a prof...

THE SPOTLESS AGENDA: 016 Balance in the pastoral ministry  The pastoral ministry plays out in two forms basically, namely; personal development and infrastructural development. Personal development focuses on helping the people to grow up in their well-being whereas infrastructural development focuses on helping the church to grow up in infrastructure and other social amenities that will benefit everyone.  What is the focus of your pastoral vocation? Is it about personal development or infrastructural development? Well, a good pastor is balanced in their provisions for the personal development of the members and the infrastructural development of the church as a whole. Choosing one over the other demonstrates that the pastor is less skillful to lead the people to realise their full potentials.  In Africa as a whole and in Ghana particularly, some spiritual leaders practise spiritual fatherhood only in the sense of chastising and disciplining spiritual sons and daughters. ...

THE SPOTLESS AGENDA: 015 Doctrinal Balance By far, the greatest problem in the ministry of the gospel is the practice of overemphasizing portions of Scripture above others often in the best interest of the teacher and not God. This phenomenon is referred to as doctrinal imbalance. For instance, must the Christian ask the Father for wisdom or not?  According to James (1:5), you may ask the Father for wisdom and he will give it to you freely and bountifully. But in the writings of Paul (Ephesians 1:8 particularly), we see that the Christian is filled with wisdom and prudence, hence, does not have to ask the Father for what he already has in fullness. So where lies the problem? Understand that the problem does not lie in the text of Scripture but in the interpretation of the text. All Scripture is God-breathed, hence they are true and consistent. So when you interprete biblical texts in a way that makes the Scriptures seem to contradict themselves, then you make yourself unskilled tea...

The Spotless Agenda: 014 Apologetical Ministry of Jesus Often we hear more about the preaching and teaching ministry of Jesus, but less about his apologetical ministry.   Well, the reason for the scanty information about his apologetical ministry might be that many preachers feel apprehensive to venture into apologetics. They think that apologetics is about organising debates to debunk other people's opinions about Jesus.  Many preachers think that apologetics is not spiritual but rather, only scholastic or academic. They say that it requires in-depth scholarship or avid reading and research. So they leave it for scholars and specialists.  To state plainly, Jesus had the best apologetical ministry. Besides preaching and teaching, Jesus also answered those who asked him to give reasons for the hope that he had. This is what apologetics is about - answering those who ask you to give reasons. Apostle Peter wrote to the entire Christian community then - they were followe...