On Sunday 28th February, 2010, we reached out with the love of God to 12 needy families. This is in line with the central focus of all our Home Churches’ outreach activities here in Nigeria as I wrote in Helping The Helpless.  In that post, I promised a follow up with updates including pictures and other details the charity outreach.

I want to thank everyone that gave time, money, and other resources to make this mission a success, may God bless you all, in Jesus name.  My very special thanks go to the Pastors, Leaders, and members of the Citizens Family Church here in Nigeria who sacrificed so much of their personal resources, time, and energy to ensure that we brought a message of hope to some of the most neglected families in our community.  I love you guys with all my heart, and pray for God to continue to increase your capacity to be a blessing to our world, in Jesus name.

Research and Planning

This mini-outreach has been months in planning. Our target was to make a difference in the lives of at least 10 extremely poor families. Specifically, we wanted to feed each of these families for at least a month.

So we did a lot of work to determine how much food will be needed to feed a family of 7 for a month.

Our Charity crew then took a tour of our target community and met one on one with families there in order to determine their levels of needs. We did not want to depend on third party information – including the community associations – as these are prone to the usual greed and corruption that prevents aid from reaching the very people that need it the most.  Based on our research and findings, we raised the funds from within the pastors, leaders, and members of our Church.

I was overjoyed when the Director of the Charity Outreach informed me that we had raised enough money to feed 12 families for two months!

We had exceeded our goal!

Praise God!

Meeting the families

We met the families at an Assemblies of God church hall. We drove there as a church with our loads of food aid items, while the 12 families trekked from their shacks to meet us at the hall.

I was there with Pastors and leaders from our church, as well as some of our members. My children accompanied us too as I wanted them to share in the experience.

The substance of the message that we shared with those families was, "We are not here to preach to you or tell you that we are any better than you. We are here to tell you that you are not alone, that God loves you, and that you do have a future."

I read to them from Jeremiah 29:11 and Psalm 139:17,18, quoted below in Ibo language – my native dialect, and the language I used during my message to them.

“N’ihi na Mu onwem mara echiche nile nke Mu onwem neche bayere unu, (o bu ihe si n’onu Jehova puta), echiche nke udo, o bugh nke ihe ojo, inye unu odi-n’iru na ntukwasi-obi.”  ~ Jeremaia 29:11

"Le ka echiche Gi nile si di oke onu-ahia n’anyam, Chineke!
Le ka onu-ogugu nile ha si di uku ri nne! O buru na aguam ha onu, ha bara uba kari aja: Mgbe m’tetaworo, mu na Gi nanogide." ~ Abu Oma 139:17,18

We sang together with the families and even danced. The atmosphere was very friendly and cordial.

Our time with the families was a learning experience, as well as a very touching one. I became more aware of the level of poverty that can exist side by side with wasteful wealth, and how negligent of the poor our government and society is.

I was particularly affected by the sight of the little children. It’s hard to put what I felt into words as I looked into their eyes, trying to read it and discern what those eyes were saying. All I can say is that I felt them. I heard them, and I resolved that I was going to do all that’s within my power to make powerfully positive difference in their lives.

Distributing food items

Watching their excitement turn to amazement and then to tears moved me deeply.

They couldn’t believe their eyes at the volume and quality of the package we came with for each family. We tagged it ‘Family Pack’ and each contained enough food to last a family for not just a month, but two!

Glory be to God.

Most of the women wept as they received their packs, while the others tried to calm them down, as they were overcome with emotion at what they received.

I fought back my own tears. It was so touching.

Our members were so overjoyed to be a part of making a difference in these people’s lives.

Ministry

At the end we prayed for them, asking for God’s blessings upon their lives.

One of the recipients – a widow – prayed a very powerful and bible based prayer for us! She quoted whole chapters from Psalms. Sharon and I had a group hug with her afterwards.

Watching them going home with their packs is a picture that will forever remain etched in my memory.

What next?

I will write about our next Helping the Helpless mission. So stay tuned, and thanks a million for your encouragement and support to us as we undertake this task of reaching the helpless and neglected peoples of our world.

First of all, thanks to all the regular readers of this blog!

I want to thank all the regular readers of this blog for your support and the inspiration I’ve drawn from your participation in this blog.  I doubt that I’ll have sustained the motivation for churning out posts every week if it hadn’t been for the fact that I knew you were reading.  It is also my hope and prayer that somehow, the messages in this blog has helped you find direction and strength for your life’s journey.

2009 has been a great year for me, and I hope, for you too.  This has been the year that, thanks to what God did through this blog, the doors to the nations opened for me.  I made two mission trips to the United States to preach the gospel.  I spoke at several churches, events, as well as radio and television interviews.  And now, more invitations are pouring in from other nations too. 

It has been an overwhelming experience to see what God has done through this blog and the various online social networks that I’ve been involved in, such as Facebook, and Twitter.  If you’ve not done so already, you can join me on Facebook, and on Twitter.  They are fabulous networks for keeping in touch.  I’ve come to value these media now that I do a lot of international travelling as they help me stay in touch with family and friends during my long periods away from home.

Within the past year, well over a hundred thousand people have visited this blog!  I have received hundreds of emails of people who have been inspired, healed, and saved, all as a result of reading this blog.  Just to think of what God can do with the written media is mind boggling.  He has done fabulous things far above what I expected within the first year of this blog.

2010…

As you can imagine, the consequences of these breakthroughs and results are greater exposure and opportunities for me.  It means more international travels, more speaking engagements in seminars, conferences, retreats, churches, television, radio, and so on.

In fact, we already have a major event scheduled for April 10 at the Westin Convention Centre in Pittsburgh USA.  It’s titled ‘The Ultimate Experience Summit 2010”.  The event is billed to be a revival summit, a season of reconciliation with God, healing, and refreshment for God’s children from around the United States.  I will be giving you more details about the event and how you can participate.

For the moment, if you live in the United States, you can join the ‘Awaken America’ prayer campaign immediately.  Simply become a fan of the Pastor WD Favour page on Facebook.  Something is stirring!… More on that later.

Of course, there will also be major events in my home country, Nigeria, particularly in the areas of charity and rural missions.  I will also post details and updates of these missions and projects as soon as I have them.

This blog…

Sure!  I’ll continue to blog!
Writing is my strongest medium of expression and I find a lot of fulfilment sharing God’s love and wisdom through this blog.  So, I invite you to continue visiting, reading, and commenting!  I love reading your comments, by the way.

However, I intend to make some slight adjustments to the theme, style, and content of this blog.  Don’t panic, it won’t be anything unsettling to you. It’s just that I want it to be more personal, interactive, and inspiring than it has been so far.  I think you’ll love the changes.  Suffice it to say for now that I want this blog to be a place where you can be inspired into greater intimacy with God, a place to discover yourself, and a place to be empowered to pursue and achieve your dreams. 

Like it?

You and I

I want to stay better in touch with you and be a blessing to you in the coming year.  You are in my thoughts and in my prayers, I promise.  I invite you to be a part of this blog regularly in 2010 for more empowering and inspiring articles, as well as updates of my missions in the USA, Africa, and other nations.  Don’t miss anything.

Within the week, I’ll be giving you some solid, wise, and biblical counsel on how to position yourself to advantage for 2010 and beyond.  Please, stay tuned for my last posts of the year 2009.

God bless you.

At the junction of Venetia Road with Route 88 one mile south of Finleyville, PA, stands one of the most historic churches west of the Allegheny Mountains. In the days when Indians hunted where children now meet the bus, adventurous settlers counted among their blessings the right to worship God.

About 1782 the bravest of the Mingo Creek settlers gathered near the present site of the Mingo Church posted sentries and began the services of Christian worship "in the open air" which have continued there uninterrupted to this day. 

A log meeting house was erected on the site of the manse in 1786. The Mingo Creek Militia assembled there in the early days. Many important meetings, dealing with the historic Whiskey Rebellion, were held at Mingo.

Sometime in the early 1780′s, the church was organized under the Presbyterian order.
The present brick church was built in 1831.

Preaching at a historic church…

On the morning of Sunday, 23rd of August 2009, I had the privilege of preaching God’s Word at the Mingo Creek Presbyterian Church in Finleyville, PA.

I felt honored to be invited to preach in this Church where one of America’s greatest evangelists – Billy Sunday – had once preached.

I presented a message from the Lord titled, ‘Beyond Ourselves’ and I’m glad to share it with you in this report.

Below are the exact wordings of the sermon transcribed from the video tape and published without any alterations.

Beyond Ourselves

Genesis 12:1-4

God has asked me to bring us a message today that will take us beyond ourselves.

[Read text] The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.  I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Abraham was called away from his native home at the age of 75 by God. And one of the things God told him here was that he was going to make Abram a blessing to the nations. Not only was He going to bless him, but He was going to make him a blessing.

God has called you and I to be a blessing. He didn’t just call us to bless us, but we have been called by God to be a blessing to others, beginning right from our families, to our communities, to our nation, and to the rest of the world. And that will not be a possibility until we are able to move out of our comfort zones. Before God could begin to use Abram as a blessing, He had to call him away from that which was familiar, away from that which he was comfortable with, away from that which he was already used to. And that is the same thing that God does with anyone that He chooses to make a blessing.

Become the light that others see

God has chosen you to be a blessing. God has called you to be a blessing. And if you want to be a blessing, it is important that you do a little of what God told Abraham to do – leave, move away from that which you’ve been used to; from your little narrow world; move beyond yourself; move into new places in God.

I want you to know this today that you and I, according to Jesus, we’ve been called to be a light. Jesus said to us as Christians, ‘Ye are the light of the world.’ And in order to shine brightly and affect people’s lives, we must go beyond ourselves to be a light to the nations, to be a light to others, and to bring glory to God who has created us.

Helping others, serving God through helping others, actually, is the only way to give meaning to your life. A life that is not lived in service to God and to others, is actually a meaningless life. God didn’t just call you to sit in a church, He didn’t just call you to sit down here every Sunday and hear the sermon, He didn’t call you here just for you to have your prayers answered, He didn’t bring you into this world so that you can eat nice food and wear nice clothes and drive nice cars and feel good. No! He has something larger for you; He has something bigger for you. He wants you to step out of your own life and become a blessing, become the light that others see, become the glory of God that manifests in other people’s lives.

We can have a relationship with God that is so personal…

Several years ago I had an experience that left me with an overwhelming passion to give my life to God as a gift to bless other people. And I want to share that experience with you this morning, briefly; and my prayer is that God would use that experience to create in you a hunger and a desire to live a life that is larger than your little world, to go beyond yourself, to go beyond your own needs, to go beyond your own personal life and begin to affect the lives of other people around you.

When I was a teenager, I had an experience in which I met God, not in a physical sense, but I had an experience where I had an encounter with God in my spirit, and it brought into my life a very personal relationship that I continue to share with the Lord till today.

And one of those days I was going to the church to pray. I usually would go to the Church and spend some time with the Lord just praying to God, thanking Him and appreciating Him for His goodness in my life. But as soon as I walked into the Church, I began to feel pain in my heart; not a physical pain, but something in my emotions – I began to feel sorrowful, I began to feel sad, to the point that I began to cry. I now lay at the back of the Church on the floor and I began to weep. I didn’t know why I was crying.

But suddenly, I began to feel in my spirit that God was actually crying. I began to feel in my spirit that God was sad, that God was sorrowful. And instantly, I began to ask God, “What’s the problem?”

…because many of us don’t really know that we can have a relationship with God that is so personal. You know, when I get up in the morning, I really don’t say “Oh God thank you for today, help me to go through the day.” No. The first thing I say to God when I get up in the morning is, “Father, how are you today? Are you ok?” because we do have a relationship. It’s not a religious thing, it is a personal relationship.

And that is what God wants each of us to share with Him – a relationship that is real, a relationship that is personal.

Visions of pain and suffering

And I was asking Him, I said “Lord, what is the problem? Why are you sad? Why are you sorrowful?” And He was quiet. But the intensity of the sorrow continued and I continued to weep, I didn’t know why. So I kept saying, “Lord, tell me what is going on. Why are you sad, why are you crying?” He said, “Do you really want to know?”

And in an instant, I was taken into a vision. And it was like I began to move around the world. The first thing that I saw, was that I saw a little boy of about 12 years. He was crossing the street and he was hit by a truck, and the child died, and his blood began to flow on the streets; that was a drunk driver driving past. And I began to see hundreds of people dying on the streets.

And instantly, I was in a hospital. I began to see hundreds and hundreds of people in pains, some going through surgery, some in the pains of cancer, some having problems with their bones, so much cries, so much weeping, and it began to break my heart.

I began to see people in many places. I saw young girls who were mutilating their bodies, who were abusing themselves. I began to see all of these things

]]> http://wdfavour.com/beyond-ourselves/feed 4 http://wdfavour.com/testimonies-from-awka http://wdfavour.com/testimonies-from-awka#comments Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:19:00 +0000 Pastor WD Favour http://wdfavour.com/testimonies-from-awka On this page, I will be presenting all of the individual reports of supernatural healings that occurred during my missions trip to Awka here in Nigeria, this December, where I spoke and ministered at the Pneuma Bible Conference.  It was such a great experience for me and everyone that attended.  The presence of God was [...]]]>

On this page, I will be presenting all of the individual reports of supernatural healings that occurred during my missions trip to Awka here in Nigeria, this December, where I spoke and ministered at the Pneuma Bible Conference. 

It was such a great experience for me and everyone that attended.  The presence of God was so manifest that many people were moved and touched. We prayed for those who were sick and there were so many healings and miracles. 

I will continue to update this page with the stories and testimonies of these healings and miracles as we receive and verify them.  My hope and belief is that as you read this stories of genuine healings and miracles performed through the power of the Name of Jesus Christ, you will also receive the faith and inspiration to trust God for your own healings and miracles. 

I believe that stories reproduce themselves! So, as you read these testimonies, may you experience healings and miracles too!

Remember that you can write to me for prayers and help with any health or spiritual issues that you may be struggling with at this time.  I have prayed for many over the phone and via the internet who have experienced tremendous help from the Lord.  Also feel free to follow me on Facebook, and Twitter so we can stay better connected.

You can also make plans to meet with me live at any of my conferences, retreats and other events near you and around the world.  Visit this page for updates to my itinerary 

Thanks for your continued prayers and support as I travel around the world spreading the love and power of Jesus Christ.

Healed of partial deafness!

 “I want to appreciate God for his HEALING. I had a big challenge with my right ear. It was a big problem to me because I could hardly hear with it. It was so bad that I couldn’t even clean the ear for the pain hurt so badly. When Pastor WD Favour laid hands on me and prayed for me during the conference, God healed me. Afterwards, I noticed that – unlike before my healing – I could make calls with that ear and the sound was clear. Now I can clean my ears without pain and I don’t have any more problems with clearly hearing sounds! Praise be the name of GOD!”

Okafor Kenechukwu
Intimate vessel’s church,
Awka, Nigeria.

Technorati Tags: missions,healings,miracles

]]> http://wdfavour.com/testimonies-from-awka/feed 3 http://wdfavour.com/mission-reports-from-awka http://wdfavour.com/mission-reports-from-awka#comments Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:09:37 +0000 Pastor WD Favour http://wdfavour.com/mission-reports-from-awka The past weekend was a great time for me. I travelled with Sharon (my wife) to the city of Awka, about 45 minutes from where we live here in the south eastern part of Nigeria. I was there as the guest speaker at the Pneuma Bible Conference – a Holy Spirit retreat hosted by a [...]]]>

The past weekend was a great time for me. I travelled with Sharon (my wife) to the city of Awka, about 45 minutes from where we live here in the south eastern part of Nigeria.

I was there as the guest speaker at the Pneuma Bible Conference – a Holy Spirit retreat hosted by a young couple, Pastors David and Angela Akanwa, who are the founding Pastors of a young and growing Church called the Intimate Vessels Church. 

As always, my principal objective in these retreats is to inspire my audience into deeper intimacy with God. I was especially eager to speak at this conference because it draws a 100 percent audience of young men and women almost entirely below the age of 30. Helping lay a godly foundation in the lives of young men and women, and thus help shape their future, is a calling I feel so honoured to undertake.

This conference attracted well over a hundred young adults, mostly from the Nnamdi Azikiwe University there in Awka.  So, as would be expected, the audience was predominantly comprised of university undergraduates.

I spoke on a wide range of issues, but always with the core purpose of challenging these young people to put God first in their priorities.  I called upon them to forsake negative habits, to re-dedicate their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ, and to open their lives to the grace and power of the Lord. During the Saturday morning session, I spoke on the subject of integrity in life and leadership – a major emphasis of mine when speaking to Nigerian youths.

It was a great weekend. We prayed for those who were sick and there were healings and miracles. Many of these youngsters walked up to me to share their experiences. Someone who had been raped found peace and healing from the pain. She also found the grace to forgive.  Someone who had known no joy for over 6 years felt like a heavy  load was dropped from her heart and felt as happy as she had never felt in her life before!

A young man who had been burdened with lust and guilt found strength to walk away from inordinate relationships.

It was truly a weekend of transformation for everyone. I was so excited that I turned the closing moments of the conference into a dancing galore!  And, oh, how we all rocked…lol!

Thanks for all your prayers.

Please click here for the updated stories of more healings and miracles that occurred during this mission.

Technorati Tags: missions

]]> http://wdfavour.com/mission-reports-from-awka/feed 7 http://wdfavour.com/giving-that-works-3 http://wdfavour.com/giving-that-works-3#comments Thu, 11 Jun 2009 09:58:24 +0000 Pastor WD Favour http://wdfavour.com/giving-that-works-3

In this week’s blog series on giving, we’ve been studying the answers to the question, “Why do I give my offerings and sacrifices without receiving the promised supernatural rewards?”  I’ve already stated so far that the answers fall into any of the following two categories:

1. Problems associated with the giving side, and
2. Problems associated with the reaping side.

Read any of the topics of this week’s series by clicking the quick links below:

How To Sow And Reap Fast and Fabulous Harvests
Giving That Works 1
Giving That Works 2

Giving to God as an act of worship, is a sacred duty and must be in harmony, alignment, and perfect compliance with the instructions and nature of God.  In Tuesday’s post, I introduced the four elements of fruitful giving – unselfishness, a cheerful and generous attitude, consistency, and sacrifice.  I’ve already written  about the first three of these elements in the posts of the last two days. Today’s post is about  the fourth one – sacrifice.

Never offer to God any offering that cost you nothing…

Sacrifice is a very important element of the kind of giving that pleases God.  A lot of people offer to God out of their own convenience, yet they expect to reap massive rewards.  That’s foolishness.  If your giving costs you nothing, it will bring very little benefits and rewards to you. 

In fact, the true value of any gift is the cost of the gift to the giver.  Even as individuals, we feel so valued when we realize that a certain gift we received from someone cost them so much.  It’s not necessarily a matter of the content or quantity of the gift, as it is about what it cost the giver to give it.  Sometimes, a gift might be intrinsically worthless in terms of it’s dollar value, yet it becomes invaluable in the light of the sacrifice that went into the gift.

This same principle applies with regards to our gifts to God.

I love the attitude of King David towards giving offerings to God, as expressed in his statement below:

“No, I insist on paying you for it.  I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” ~ King David, 2 Samuel 24:24

Think about your gifts to God – whether it’s in terms of time, money, talents, and so on; how much personal sacrifice is involved in the gifts that you give to your God?  Do not sacrifice to the LORD your God burnt offerings that cost you nothing.

In summary so far, the kind of giving that works, the kind of giving that is rewarded abundantly by the Almighty God, is giving that is:

1. Unselfish
2. Done with a cheerful and generous attitude
3. Consistent, and
4. Sacrificial.

Click here in order to receive all my postings on this series via your email…

]]> http://wdfavour.com/giving-that-works-3/feed 1 http://wdfavour.com/giving-that-works-2 http://wdfavour.com/giving-that-works-2#comments Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000 Pastor WD Favour http://wdfavour.com/giving-that-works-2

Giving to God as an act of worship is a sacred duty and must be in harmony, alignment, and perfect compliance with the instructions and nature of God.  In yesterday’s post, I introduced the four elements of fruitful giving – unselfishness, a cheerful and generous attitude, consistency, and sacrifice.  I wrote about the first two of these elements yesterday. Today’s post is about  the next two.

This is actually a series and you can always look at the previous posts by clicking at the links below:

How To Sow And Reap Fast and Fabulous Harvests
Giving That Works 1

The next important element of fruitful giving is consistency.

You must be consistent in your giving…

Giving to God should never be done in an erratic manner.  Until giving becomes your lifestyle, it will not profit you at all.  You must understand one principle of life which is that whatever does not enter the habitual dimension within the framework of your personality, will not be able to profit you. 

A lot of people think that because they’ve given to God or others at one point or the other, then that makes them givers.  They then begin to freak out when they don’t see their imagined harvests and rewards.  These are merely foolish, selfish and deluded people

The fact that you’ve given money to God, or anyone for that matter, does not make you a giver.  You can only be accurately referred to as a giver when that act defines your personality. 

Does writing a single article and sticking it up on a blogspot or wordpress free site make you a blogger?  Of course not!  How about claiming to be a lawyer simply because you won an argument at a drugstore?  Or saying you are a medical doctor because your guess as to the drug for a particular ailment worked?  

The reality is that in order to be any of these professions, you must have mastered the principles that regulate those activities, gained adequate skills in them, and are practicing those skills, engaging in those activities on a consistent basis, and according to their guiding principles and disciplines.

It is in this same way that you’ll never be qualified as a giver except you’ve mastered the principles that regulate giving – whether you do this deliberately, or you are unconsciously aware of them is inconsequential.  The point is that if you want to reap abundant harvests from your giving, you must master the principles of giving, gain the necessary skills of giving, and give consistently according to those principles and disciplines.

Consistency in giving is a mult-dimensional concept…

It means that giving must permeate every aspect of your life.  In other words, your giving is not just about giving money in Church, but also involves giving your time, your words, and all else that you have, in order to glorify God and bless your fellow human beings.

Consistency also means that you give regularly in every dimension of your being.

Now think about these few questions:

1. Have you been faithful in giving to God and your fellow human beings?
2. Has your giving been consistent or generally erratic?
3. Do you give in every dimension of your life?  Or do you only give in one area and neglect other areas?

Then take time and determine how to move into the dimension of consistency in all areas of giving in your life.

We’ll continue tomorrow.
Remember you can receive a daily update of this and other series via email.  Just click here.

]]> http://wdfavour.com/giving-that-works-2/feed 0 http://wdfavour.com/giving-that-works-1 http://wdfavour.com/giving-that-works-1#comments Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000 Pastor WD Favour http://wdfavour.com/giving-that-works-1

I began yesterday to address myself to providing answers to the question, “Why do I give my offerings and sacrifices without receiving the promised supernatural rewards?”  And as I wrote yesterday, I believe the reasons millions of religious people fail to reap abundant harvests from their offerings and sacrifices can be grouped into two categories:

1. Problems associated with the giving side, and
2. Problems associated with the reaping side.

Giving to God as an act of worship is a sacred duty and must be in harmony, alignment, and perfect compliance with the instructions and nature of God.

Four Elements of Fruitful Giving

In order for you to enjoy fast and abundant harvests from your giving, it must have the following elements: – Unselfishness, A cheerful and generous attitude, consistency, and sacrifice.  Let me deal with each of these elements separately.

First of all, Your motive must be right…

If you are giving just to get a harvest, then you’ve missed the entire point.  I’ve taught and continue to teach that many are so focused on getting the rewards of their giving and alms that they miss the blessings.  Forget about the harvest and reward part.  If you are focused on that part in your giving, your giving attitude would easily become corrupted with greed and selfishness. Rather, trust God to fulfil His own part of the deal!  Just enjoy doing your own part.

If you want to reap fast and abundant harvests from your offerings and sacrifices, as a religious person, please understand that you must be unselfish.  Your motive in performing alms should be to:

• Honour God, the Creator of all the ends of this universe, and
• To bless others.

As I taught my 8 year old daughter recently, if you sacrifice your own life to God, for the good of the greater portion of humanity, then and only then would you be truly blessed.  The ultimate joy is that of looking back over the course of your life and knowing that you’ve lived a life of value to God and your fellow men.  So the right reward to look forward to, really, and one which will preserve you from greed and selfishness, is to gladden the heart of the Father with your offerings, and also to positively impact other people.

Let your motive in giving be to glorify God, fill other people’s lives with pleasure, and pleasure yourself too.

Secondly, you must give cheerfully, and generously…

Our offerings and sacrifices must move beyond the point of mere ‘religious obligations’ and rituals. 
It must become a pleasure! 
As a Christian, I believe that my relationship with God is not a religion, but rather a love affair!

If your religion is a mere list of ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’ then you are just another slave.  You must evolve into the state where it’s all a love affair between you and the Almighty God.  When this happens, your offerings and sacrifices become acts and expressions of love; pleasurable acts of spiritual worship.

God actually loves a cheerful giver!  Not the grumbling murmuring slavish type.

“…for God loves a cheerful giver.” ~ 2 Corinthians 9:7

Give cheerful, generously, with an unselfish motive, for that’s your surest path towards fabulous and abundant harvests.

I’ll continue with the other two elements of fruitful giving tomorrow.   And, remember that you can have my daily posts on the current series and others sent directly to you via email, just click here

]]> http://wdfavour.com/giving-that-works-1/feed 0 http://wdfavour.com/how-to-sow-and-reap-fast-and-fabulous-harvests http://wdfavour.com/how-to-sow-and-reap-fast-and-fabulous-harvests#comments Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000 Pastor WD Favour http://wdfavour.com/how-to-sow-and-reap-fast-and-fabulous-harvests

My favorite part of each Sunday service is usually the time for the offering – that time-segment in any religious service when we give our monies as acts of worship to God. Offerings, sacrifices, and all other forms of material and non-material giving have been an integral and essential aspect of religious life and worship for as long as man has walked the length and breadth of this planet.

I believe that the worship of God, and fellowship with Him is incomplete without generous and sacrificial offerings.  God Himself said so in the Holy Scriptures,

“…No one is to appear before me empty-handed.” ~ Exodus 34:20

If you believe in God, and if you worship Him sincerely with all of your heart, these things should not be hard for you to understand.

I also believe that when we give to God, we receive His blessings upon our lives.  This is what Jesus Christ Himself taught us.

“Give, and it will be given to you.  A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap…” Luke 6:38

So why then is it, as I’ve often been asked by many particularly within the religious circle, do most people give offerings and sacrifices but do not get the promised abundant harvest?

I’ll address myself this week to answering that question.

This site already contains several insights on the subject of giving and abundance, so why not take out a little of your time today to go through some of my own personal favorites as listed below:

How To Create Wealth
Enjoy Giving
The Easy Way To Abundance And Wealth
Make More Money Fast
How To Manifest More Of What You Want In Life
How To Experience More Personal Success

I believe the reasons millions of religious people fail to reap abundant harvests from their offerings and sacrifices can be grouped into two categories:

1. Problems associated with the giving side, and
2. Problems associated with the reaping side.

I already told you I believe that the worship of God, and fellowship with Him is incomplete without generous and sacrificial offerings.  I also believe that when we give to God, we receive His blessings upon our lives.

This week, I’ll love to show you how to sow and reap fast and fabulous harvests!

To have my daily posts on the current series sent directly to you, click here

]]> http://wdfavour.com/how-to-sow-and-reap-fast-and-fabulous-harvests/feed 2 http://wdfavour.com/why-bad-things-happen-to-good-people http://wdfavour.com/why-bad-things-happen-to-good-people#comments Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:00:00 +0000 Pastor WD Favour http://wdfavour.com/why-bad-things-happen-to-good-people First of all, there are no good or bad people...there are only right and wrong actions.

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One of the toughest questions I’ve ever been asked as a Pastor during seminars, conferences, and personal counseling is this, “Why do bad things happen to good people…and why do good things happen to bad people?”

Well, I have four answers to that question:

First of all, there are no good or bad people…there are only right and wrong actions.

The question, “Why do bad things happen to good people, and why do good things happen to bad people?” is basically flawed because it’s based on a wrong premise – the assumption that there are good and bad people. In reality, there are no good or bad people, there are only right and wrong actions (I like to include thoughts as actions because they have consequences).

Based on some narrow dogmatic interpretations of religious writings, you and others of your kind may label people as good or bad. Well, that doesn’t make them so. This is why the Creator of this Universe doesn’t seek any individual’s opinion before giving out favors or curses to inhabitants of our planet.

I know a lot of people might not like this answer because we all like to feed our egos and claim that we are good; we also like to point our fingers at the other fellow and say that that he or she is bad. Yet, in reality, there are no good or bad people, there are only right and wrong actions.

This understanding is basic to unraveling the riddle of why bad things happen to good people and vice versa. Before you throw your flames at me for my assertion, read what Jesus Himself said when someone called Him, “Good Master…”

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good – except God alone.” ~ Luke 18:19

One reason I do not subscribe to organized religions (I referred to them as ‘religious uniformities’ somewhere) is because they reinforce the base human instinct of branding those outside our circle of belief as evil.

Once upon a time, I was called a devil and labeled a false prophet by the Christian denomination to which I belonged, simply because I dared to think for myself and pursue my personal convictions. It was then that I came face to face with the wickedness and hostility inherent in organized religion.

Organized religion has for centuries been a tool for the oppression, suppression, and subjugation of the free will of man. Centuries of murders, wars, treachery, and betrayals, have borne out the fact that organized religions are bastions of ignorance and intolerance used to suppress free thought and retard human progress and evolution. One of it’s chief enterprises is the branding and labeling of individuals and groups of people as good or evil based on some silly and foolish fantasies and superstitions.

When any of the brainless drones of any of these organized religions peer out of the narrow confines of their religious cells and see those outside their cocoons and caves thriving and flourishing, they ask, “Why do good things happen to ‘bad’ people?” And when they observe the wretchedness and barrenness of any of their kind – usually the natural result of ignorance and adherence to hollow and meaningless traditions – they wonder, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

In a sudden burst of elevated awareness, an ex-religious bigot made this statement:

“I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.” ~ St. Peter, Acts 10:34,35

Peter in essence realized these basic facts:

• God does not show favoritism. This is quite contrary to what religious bigots think.
• He accepts men from every nation, as long as they fear Him, and do what is right. Again this is contrary to what most members of each organized religion believe. They would rather that God accepted only members of their narrow circles.

In reality, however, God is not a respecter of persons; He is rather a respecter of the principles and laws He has set in place to govern the Universe. This article emphasizes the aspect of ‘what is right’, but I promise you another post would dwells on the aspect of they that ‘fear Him.’

Secondly, the rightness or wrongness of any action is not a function of religious beliefs, or human traditions; it is rather a function of the immutable and self-evident universal laws of nature

For this reason, I encourage you to invest more time in trying to understand the universal laws and principles of life, than you do trying to become another religious bigot.

There are many categories of laws; I’ll divide them first into two broad categories, then I’ll subdivide the other one into more subs.

• Manmade laws: The majority of religious, traditional, and cultural laws that we find in organized religions and ethnic cultures, are simply man-made laws. They bind people and enslave millions without offering any significant benefits – in fact they impede human progress and hinder true insight into the real spiritual and material principles that govern the universe. This is why slavish adherents to organized religious laws tend to live such impoverished and un-productive lives.
• Universal spiritual and material laws: These are the authentic laws and principles governing all aspects of human and non-human interactions at all levels of being in the universe. They are self evident for those who have the eyes to recognize them. They do not respect creed or culture. Adherence to these set of laws enrich, empower, nourish, and prosper those that live by them unlike the man-made laws.

Universal spiritual and material laws can further be sub-divided into more categories according to the different aspects of human interactions that they govern. Here’s a very brief list to give you an idea of what I have in mind:

• Moral laws: honesty, integrity, justice…
• Economic laws: Parkinson’s, demand and supply…
• Laws of relationships: tolerance, understanding…
• Health laws: Diets, exercise, rest…
• Physical laws (scientific): Gravity, motion, floatation…

Of course, there are others.

An action is right or good when it is in positive alignment with the universal spiritual and material laws; in the same vein, an action is bad or wrong if it is in negative alignment with the universal spiritual and material laws. My aim is to get you to shift your thinking from ‘good and bad people’ to ‘right and wrong actions.’ I also want you to align that thinking with the universal laws rather than religious beliefs.

Thirdly, positive consequences attend right actions, and negative consequences attend wrong actions.

This is simply the law of sowing and reaping in action. There are practically two broad categories of human experiences – fortunes, and misfortunes. Fortunes are the results of good understanding and masterful application of the principles governing the universe – in other words, of right actions. Misfortunes, on the other hand, are the consequences of violating (knowingly, or ignorantly) the principles governing the universe – in other words, of wrong actions.

The wise man Solomon noted that:

“Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard.” Proverbs 13:15

Another word for wrong action is ‘sin’ – one of the most commonly misunderstood and abused words of all time. ‘Sin’ is a popular word among certain religious groups. But they define it in narrow terms – the violation of some man-made religious rules and views. Yet, sin is a universal concept. It’s not even a religious concept at all. In my way of thinking, sin is fundamentally a scientific concept.

I define sin as any violation of any truly universal spiritual and material principles. I really don’t care if you buy this definition or not, it doesn’t change a thing!

“Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law for sin is a transgression of the law” ~ I John 3:4

I can almost hear someone screaming that the law here speaks of the law of Moses, and that’s exactly my point; you define a good person as someone who slavishly and ignorantly adheres to a set of humanly biased and prejudiced interpretations of religious writings. That is why you wonder when bad things happen to your so-called ‘good’ people.

My friend, you can paraphrase the Scripture I just quoted to read; “sin is any violation of any genuine universal spiritual and material principles.” That’s the more enlightened view of the concept. And when you understand it, the puzzle as to why bad things happen to good people, and vice versa, vanish. You then understand that there are no good people…there are only right and wrong actions.

A sinner is someone who violates any of the governing laws of the universe – knowingly or ignorantly. When some one performs a wrong action with respect to a true universal law, the fellow has sinned, and there are consequences. This Universe is governed by principles and laws. Anyone can avoid, or at least minimize suffering if they understand and diligently apply the principles governing this universe. Hardships and unnecessary suffering in life come from transgression – the willful, or ignorant violation of universal laws and principles.

You may think that you are righteous because you hold certain religious creeds and affirmations…I can only pity you because thats why you would never understand the cause of your misfortunes.

For instance, what happens when an individual jumps off a 100 storey skyscraper? Thats a clear violation of the Law of Gravity; in other words, the fellow has committed a sin against a planetary law of physics! Now the universe does not know whether the fellow is a pagan, Hindu, spiritualist, Christian, or Moslem, it gives them exactly the same reward – broken bones!

So it is in other aspects of reality. There are laws governing every aspect of interactions in this Universe and at any time you violate any of them, you introduce hardship and suffering in the sphere of life that they govern.

Imagine the measure of suffering that is in this world as a result of people violating the laws of health. Those laws don’t make any distinctions based on religious affiliations.

The laws of economics and wealth creation do not recognize religious affiliations either. This is why so many slavish adherents to the world’s organized religions languish in poverty, and suffering.

On ‘incurable’ diseases and ‘disabilities’

What about those that are plagued with serious illnesses – such as, cancer, AIDS, and those other illnesses that have been labeled as ‘incurable’ by medical experts? Am I saying that they brought it on themselves and that they are being punished for some sin? What if they were born that way, how is that their fault?

Well, first of all, no disease is ‘incurable.’ So, the moment you accept a mindset that insults the capacity and power of God, you’ve performed a wrong action. When you elevate the opinions and expertise of men above the power of God, that’s idolatry (a wrong action). You now understand why I say that sin is not a religious, but rather a scientific phenomenon.

I cannot in anyway blame someone who’s going through pain and suffering as a result of illness for their physical condition; but I’ll hold them responsible for their attitude and mindset towards their condition and the possibility of their getting better and living normal lives. You do not violate the principles of the universe just by doing the wrong thing, but also by failing to do the right things . So, when a sick person gives up hope because of the medical reports of a fellow human being, I believe that’s a wrong action that can worsen that condition, intensify suffering, and prolong the process of recovery.

The right action is to have a positive attitude and expect a miracle!

Miracles…

When we speak of miracles, I do appreciate that we are making reference to occurrences and manifestations that transcend the present understanding of universal laws by some, and that’s ok. In this sense, I do believe in miracles. Technically speaking, though, there really should be nothing like ‘miracles’ because everything is natural. In my way of thinking, miracles do happen and they are perfectly in harmony with universal laws and principles.

I was miraculously healed of five debilitating diseases as I wrote in Supernatural Healing ;medical science had given me practically no hope. I’m also a healing evangelist and have witnessed and continue to witness all kinds of miracles in my meetings. Yet I agree with St. Augustine when he says that “Miracles are not contrary to the laws of nature, but are only contrary to our understanding of them.”

At the age of 24, I became the youngest self-published author in my state of origin here in Nigeria. My book, ‘Rivers in the desert’, earned me hundreds of thousands of Naira, lots newspaper publicity, as well as a tele-speech to Nigerian youths in Washington and Maryland, USA. Let me quote a line from that book:

“…the dictionary didn’t say that miracles are against the laws of nature. No. This is because those laws were instituted by God and are the very laws that hold the entire universe together. The dictionary rather says that miracles do not follow the known laws of nature. They are beyond the realms of man’s present knowledge and understanding at any point in time. In other words, humans at any point in time do not know all there is to know of the laws of nature; so any occurrence beyond the borders of our knowledge is considered a miracle. So miracles follow divine, natural, eternal laws, but are usually beyond the realms of human understanding at any point in time.”

My point in making reference to miracles is to give you hope if you are going through some challenging physical sickness and suffering. I’m saying that the right action for your situation would include a belief in the possibility of miracles to pull you out where the doctors have given you no hope. I’m saying that it would be wrong to accept a man’s statement that your case is incurable and hopeless; that would be an insult to the power of the God who created the Universe. You’ve got to do whatever you can to cultivate faith and a positive attitude in your heart. I’ll encourage you to read this post, “Supernatural Healing,” as it will boost your faith and point out some practical steps towards experiencing miraculous and supernatural healing.

People on sick beds love sympathy – wrong action .
I understand that because, as I’ve already written, I was in that state for the greater part of 17 years.
But what sick people do need is greater responsibility over their lives - right action:).
They may like to play the victim; so when you offer sympathy, you reinforce their feelings of helplessness and hopelessness.

What sick people need is the challenge to change their mindset and take more responsibility over their lives and outcomes. They need solutions, not sympathies.

I’ve been a pastor and healing evangelist now for 18 years. I have visited several hospitals and continue to make pastoral visits to the sick in hospitals and homes. I’ve had hospital presidents come to my office to ask me to visit their hospitals to talk and pray with their patients. I’ve seen thousands of undisputable healings and miracles take place throughout my ministry. So I’m not insensitive to the ordeals of sick people, as you might be tempted to think.

Besides, I was sick for 17 years. I was so tortured by pain and infirmities that I contemplated suicide several times. So I understand what sick people want, versus what they really need. They want sympathy and pity; but they need inspiration to greater responsibility, right thinking, and effective solutions.

Jesus said to them, “Rise and be healed…” He also said to them, “Your faith has healed you…” And that’s exactly my message to you if you are in such a situation, or you do have a loved one in such a situation. Rise and be healed, in other words, assume responsibility for your situation and do something about it, even if so-called experts have given you no hope. It is your faith that counts; it’s what you believe and think about the situation that matters. I believe that there’s hope for you and that you can be healed and live a normal life.

And even if you don’t get healed in the form of a miraculous restoration to total physical wholeness, you can still enjoy a happy and fulfilled life by developing and maintaining a positive, grateful, and thankful attitude for the various blessings that you already have.

Fourthly, faithful adherence to one category of universal laws does not spare you from the painful consequences of violating some other set of laws.

You can keep your so-called religious laws faithfully – and thereby qualify yourself as a ‘good’ person – but if you violate the laws of health, you’ve committed sin against those laws. The consequence may be sicknesses and diseases, depending on the gravity of your offense.

Your religious group might brand you a righteous man because you pay your dues to the system and adhere blindly to their silly rituals, but if you violate the laws of wealth creation, you’ve committed sin against those laws. The consequence may be that you’ll live in poverty, and lack.

I believe you get my point. Faithful adherence to one category of universal laws does not spare you from the painful consequences of violating some other set of laws. For instance, what would be the fate of a man who has become wealthy as a result of masterful application of the universal laws of wealth creation, but who violates the laws of health? He’ll end up as a very rich, but very sick person. This is why balance is very important in life.

In Conclusion…

There’s really no injustice in creation…in the natural order of things. Everything proceeds according to precise and set laws, even if we do not have a perfect understanding of these laws. So the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people, and vice versa?” suggests the presence of injustice in the Universe, and so is fundamentally flawed.

The challenge, in my point of view, is for you and I to pursue an expanding and growing insight into the laws governing all aspects of creation. That way we’ll live richer and happier lives, and quit passing judgments on other people.

I also discourage blind adherence and passive allegiance to the ignorant and uninformed dogmas of organized religions. Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, understand the true laws of creation, master them and live like the god you were designed to be.

So there you have it: my four dimensional answers to the question of why bad things happen to good people, and why good things happen to bad people.

So what do you think? Share your thoughts…

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