RESCUE THE MISSIONARY DEPARTMENT OF THE BRIDE OF CHRIST MINISTRY WORLDWIDE FROM TOTAL COLLAPSE
This letter is written by me, Apostle Peter Odoemena, the Son of Man, the revealed and vindicated Christ, the Messiah of this generation of human beings. It is directed to all the ELECT of God scattered all over the world who before of old were chosen for full and complete salvation by the Almighty God himself through their belief of the truth. If you are not in this number as described above, though you might be fellowshipping with us either in our fellowship venues, homes or in the websites, please it does not concern you for whatever God does in every dispensation is captured by revelation by every true elect of God no matter where he or she is found? This is true because the word of God has been spread abroad and it goes out in search of God’s own children only.
This is the reason why the Prophet William Marion Branham prophesied that every true elect of God in every dispensation must be positionally placed where he will recognize whatever God is doing in his/her day and will also be a part of it. Before he appeared on the scene, children of God, elect by foreknowledge who were a part of what God was doing in their day gave not only their offerings, every first day of the week to God, but their generous gifts and to the missionary work so that they might be partakers of the work of God in their day.
2 Cor. 8:1-4 MSG Now, friends, I want to report on the surprising and generous ways in which God is working in the churches in Macedonia province. Fierce troubles came down on the people of those churches, pushing them to the very limit. The trial exposed their true colors: They were incredibly happy, though desperately poor. The pressure triggered something totally unexpected: an outpouring of pure and generous gifts. I was there and saw it for myself. They gave offerings of whatever they could—far more than they could afford!—pleading for the privilege of helping out in the relief of poor Christians. 1 Chronicles 29:6-9 KJV Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers of the king’s work, offered willingly, And gave for the service of the house of God of gold five thousand talents and ten thousand drams, and of silver ten thousand talents, and of brass eighteen thousand talents, and one hundred thousand talents of iron. And they with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasure of the house of the Lord, by the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the Lord: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.
Remember that the Lord Jesus Christ, who is alive even till today, repeated what the prophets of old foretold that the Lord God Almighty will do a work in our day which even if it is explained to people, they will not believe except the elect. Acts 13:41 Look, you scoffers and scorners, and marvel and perish and vanish away; for I am doing a deed in your days, a deed which you will never have confidence in or believe, [even] if someone [clearly describing it in detail] declares it to you.AMP “Don’t take this lightly. You don’t want the prophet’s revelation to describe you: Watch out, cynics; Look hard—watch your world fall to pieces. I’m doing something right before your eyes that you won’t believe, though it’s staring you in the face.” MSG
In these last days also, he prophesied that the devil will adorn the pathway of unbelief, error; make it so glamorous in the eyes of those that are destitute of TRUTH, thereby defeating the entire human race with the elect as the only exception. Quran 15:39-40 He said: My Lord! Because Thou hast sent me astray, I verily shall adorn the path of error for them in the earth, and shall mislead them every one, except, among them, Your chosen servants.” He made it clear that he will waylay them in their four corners, wait for them on this strait path, narrow path that is adorned by God for a few; and that by the time he would be done with them, not even one of them will have the mouth to call the name of God for they must all deny God and become Satan’s followers. Quran 7:16-17 (Iblis) said: “Because You have sent me astray, surely I will sit in wait against them (human beings) on Your Straight Path. Then I will come to them from before them and behind them, from their right and from their left, and You will not find most of them as thankful ones (i.e. they will not be dutiful to You).” The Lord God Almighty replied him saying, “Go and do that which you have planned to do. I authorize you to go ahead. If anyone abandons me and follows you, if any one abandons my way and follows your ways – for God has a way and devil has ways – take that person captive. He said that when he is done with his plans against these people that are calling themselves children of God that the only exception, the only persons that will escape will be those God Himself chose for Himself, consecrated, set apart for himself only by HIS election of GRACE. Quran 38:82-85 (Iblis) said: “By Your glory, I shall mislead them all except those of Your servants, the chosen ones from amongst them.” He (i.e. Allah) said: “This is the Truth and I only speak the Truth. I will certainly fill the Gehenna with you and with all those among them who follow you.” Romans 11:5 AMP So too at the present time there is a remnant (a small believing minority), selected (chosen) by grace (by God’s unmerited favor and graciousness).
This is the reason why whenever God sends his word, he directs the word to those that will believe, fear and obey for these are the only people that will be made acceptable by him while the rest are counterfeits, rejects that will be disapproved in the end although they carry on in their various fellowships. In the end, that will not save them.
Now in this last minute cleansing and purification which is done by the word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ equally gave his own word to those who were physically present and also for those who were afar of as many as the Lord our God shall call. For he is not a God that is only near. He is also a God that is afar for he is not in one place. He fills both the heaven and the earth at the same time. And his eyes runneth to and fro all over the earth, beholding everything that is done here on earth and in heaven. Jer. 23:23-24 “Am I only a God nearby,” declares the Lord, “and not a God far away? Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” declares the Lord. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord. NIV When he gave his word, he said, “You are cleansed, you are purified, you are made holy by the words I have spoken to you, but not all of you” Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. John 15:3 …and ye are clean, but not all. John 13:10 KJV. For the Bible said he knew them that believed in him and them that believed him not John 6:64 But [still] some of you fail to believe and trust and have faith. For Jesus knew from the first who did not believe and had no faith and who would betray Him and be false to Him AMP. You can now place yourself rightly where you belong to.
Now, be informed that the missionary department of the Bridal Ministry is nearing total collapse because of the ancient reasons – the mixed multitudes that have always been in the majority injected into the hearts of those who became gullible to fables and their hearts became weakened concerning the things of God which reflected in their unwholesome attitude towards the work of the ministry which the Almighty God committed into our hands and we accepted it; hence we parade ourselves as co-labourers in the vineyard even when we are not laboring in his vineyard.
To say that the missionary area of the ministry of Christ is underfunded is not true; but the TRUTH is that it has never been funded for one day either as a group or as individuals for there is no man that has a family that doesn’t know what it takes to fund his family. This is because nobody has ever included the things of God in his budget, in his project, in his daily expenditure. It has always been addressed either by force or by indictment or by begging or by appeal to some people. It is when somebody is in trouble that he appeals for a bail out. If we are bailing God out, who put God into trouble for which cause we are bailing him out?
One thing is to send a farmer to the farm for farming, another thing is to arm him/her with the farming implements for a farmer cannot cultivate effectively with empty hands. It is on this backdrop that I give glory to God Almighty who has been supporting the Son of Man all these years to carry out his spiritual assignment relentlessly from the beginning till this day without looking sideways. Granted that he shrank, declined or approached the things of God like every other person, what do you think would have been the fate of this ministry? By now, it wouldn’t have gone beyond Onitsha or it must have fissiled out.
I have never seen a football team where the striker is also the goalkeeper, keeping the ball he hit to score. Football is played as a team. Others play in the field, the goalkeeper does the keeping. The back men do the defense; making sure that the defense is tight because before a goal is scored against them, the defense must be broken. Who are the players in the ministry of Christ? Among the players in a football team, everybody is in his own wing. Some are playing at the centre, some at the wing. Some are midfield players. Some are at the forefront. They must coordinate. The aim is to score a goal in order to lift up the trophy no matter the wing where you are playing – whether from the right or from the left, whether you are positionally placed as forward liners or midfield player or you are playing as a defense or the goalkeeper, the aim is to make sure nobody scores against our team. Let us outwit our opponent and lift the trophy. Now that there are no players – you get players before talking about the wingers or position anybody will be – what will be the hope of that team?
I am not in a haste when talking about my experiences with those I came to save, I came to show the way of truth, for my experiences with them have remained everything but good. Still I love them; I cherish them. I continue to do the work in their midst, praying earnestly that the work I am doing among them which they do not even acknowledge will not testify against any of them in the end.
To that effect, therefore, I want to show you a little picture of what I mean, though you should know more than that. By the missionary, what do I intend to portray? Number one, this is the very outreach and our core commission and has been the core commission of the apostles and prophets of old that God commanded him in the days of Moses, that which I have taught you, commit into the hands of faithful men who will be able to teach it to others. He committed it into the hands of the seventy elders to spread the gospel, the good news to their various locations, even in the wilderness. He commanded that parents should even join in the spreading by passing it unto their children, pasting it as posters and even to their neighbourhood. Deuteronomy 6:6-9 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates NIV. The Lord Jesus Christ appeared and even gave it as a commission in Matthew Chapter 28:18-20 and Matthew Chapter 24:14 that we should not sit down but go out to spread the gospel of Christ knowing that it must be spread throughout the whole earth as a witness that God has appeared in our day, then the end shall come. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. Matthew 28:18-20. This good news of the kingdom [the gospel] will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end [of the age] will come Matthew 24:14 AMP. In the days of St. Paul, he commanded Timothy saying, And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus 2 Tim. 2:2-3 NIV. Both in their days and our days, God commanded that the message should be spread abroad. It costs money, it costs lives.
Many died while spreading the gospel, not because of persecution. Some died of hunger; some died of sickness; some died of accident. Some were attacked by robbers. In the days of St. Paul his own canoe capsized, he had a shipwreck.
Acts 27:39-44 MSG At daybreak, no one recognized the land—but then they did notice a bay with a nice beach. They decided to try to run the ship up on the beach. They cut the anchors, loosed the tiller, raised the sail, and ran before the wind toward the beach. But we didn’t make it. Still far from shore, we hit a reef and the ship began to break up. The soldiers decided to kill the prisoners so none could escape by swimming, but the centurion, determined to save Paul, stopped them. He gave orders for anyone who could swim to dive in and go for it, and for the rest to grab a plank. Everyone made it to shore safely.
He was attacked by robbers several times. He was flogged by communities that did not welcome him and his message. I’ve worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death’s door time after time. I’ve been flogged five times with the Jews’ thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I’ve been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I’ve had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I’ve been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I’ve known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 MSG. Some vowed to kill him. The next morning some Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul Acts 23:12 NIV. So it is with others. John the Baptist died; Stephen died. They committed no crime, only because of the gospel. Matthew 14:3-12 Herod had arrested John, put him in chains, and sent him to prison to placate Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. John had provoked Herod by naming his relationship with Herodias “adultery.” Herod wanted to kill him, but he was afraid because so many people revered John as a prophet of God. But at his birthday celebration, he got his chance. Herodias’s daughter provided the entertainment, dancing for the guests. She swept Herod away. In his drunken enthusiasm, he promised her on oath anything she wanted. Already coached by her mother, she was ready: “Give me, served up on a platter, the head of John the Baptizer.” That sobered the king up fast. Unwilling to lose face with his guests, he did it—ordered John’s head cut off and presented to the girl on a platter. She in turn gave it to her mother. Later, John’s disciples got the body, gave it a reverent burial, and reported to Jesus MSG.
Acts 7:54-60 When the council members heard Stephen’s speech, they were angry and furious. 55 But Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit. He looked toward heaven, where he saw our glorious God and Jesus standing at his right side.[a] 56 Then Stephen said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right side of God!” The council members shouted and covered their ears. At once they all attacked Stephen 58 and dragged him out of the city. Then they started throwing stones at him. The men who had brought charges against him put their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. As Stephen was being stoned to death, he called out, “Lord Jesus, please welcome me!” 60 He knelt down and shouted, “Lord, don’t blame them for what they have done.” Then he died. CEV
Check the gospel, it has been dripping with blood. The Lord Jesus Christ dodged death many times before his time came, all because of this gospel truth. Luke 4:28-30 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way. NIV Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested and put in prison, He withdrew into Galilee. Matthew 4:12 AMP.
What can we say about Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him)? He suffered too many persecutions because of the truth and that never deterred him from accomplishing his mission. The followers of the new religion started to grow, and so did the concern of the Quraysh towards them. The elders of Quraysh send Abu Talib, the trusted uncle of the Prophet to him, asking him to stop his call for this new religion, and in return they would give him whatever he wanted. “If you want wealth, we will give you as much as you want, if you want women we will marry you the most beautiful women of Arabia, and if you want position and status we will make you the owner-king over us.” When Abu Talib conveyed the message of the elders of Quraysh to his nephew-prophet, the Messenger of Allah replied, “I swear by the Almighty that if they put the Sun in my right hand and the Moon in my left on condition so that I desist from this affair I would not leave it until Allah causes it to prevail or I die in the process.” Then the Messenger of Allah began to weep and rose and made to leave, but Abu Talib called him and said: “Come back my nephew. Say what you like my nephew, for by Allah I will never hand you over to them ever.” The Quraysh realized that they were dealing with a true and determined prophet. From then on, open hostility towards this new religion, its prophet, and its followers started to increase. Lady Khadijah dedicated all her wealth and resources for the cause of her prophet-husband’s mission. The extent of this hostility reached blatant persecution of the followers of the new religion and its prophet. …The Quraysh imposed total and complete embargo against the Prophet and his followers in all its forms; social, economic, political, etc. No citizen of Mecca was allowed to buy from or sell to them, no one was allowed to marry anyone of them, or even befriend or socialize with them, not even help them. Nor would a peace settlement be accepted from them ever, nor they would be shown any mercy until they had handed over the Messenger of Allah to be killed. Sayyid Muhammad Sadiq Al Shirazi; The Prophet muhammad, a mercy to the world; Ahlul Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project.
Now, this is our own day. Christ came and frustrated all those things in keeping with his word that when he will be here in the last days, with the word of his mouth, he will end persecution by destroying the anti-Christ who had the power of persecution. And then the lawless one (the antichrist) will be revealed and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of His mouth and bring him to an end by His appearing at His coming. 2 Thess 2:8 AMP
“IT SEEMS TO BE THAT HE IS NOT GOING TO DRESS IN A RABBINIC MANNER, and HE IS GOING TO BE A YOUNG MAN and not an old man with a long beard.” ……. “THEMESSIAH AS CONQUERING THE WORLD WITHOUT FIRING EVEN A SINGLE BULLET,” ……. “Although initially the Messiah will not be acknowledged when he is young [less than 12 years old], but later, WHEN HE IS OLDER, HE WILL BE RECOGNIZED BY ALL OF ISRAEL AS A RABBI AND SCHOLAR, AND THEN HE WILL BEGIN TO ACT AS THE MESSIAH.” ……. “THE COMING OF THE RIGHTEOUS REDEEMER, WHOSE INFLUENCE IS SPIRITUAL RATHER THAN MILITARY, AND THE REVOLUTION HE BRINGS TO THE WORLD WILL BE SPIRITUAL, INCREASING WISDOM,…” Excepts from the MegillatSetorim (“Scroll of Hidden Things”) a 200 years secret by the revered Rebbe (Rabbi) Nachman – the founder of the Breslov branch of Orthodox Judaism revealed on the fifth day of the month of Av [between July and August] in 1806, to two disciples during a long carriage ride in Ukraine.
Also, since the strange circumstances and fearsome activities of the Antichrist’s regime, and the covert organization and government that he founds, have been narrated as referring to his person, their true meaning has remained obscure. For example, “He will be so powerful and longlived that only Jesus (PUH) will be able to kill him; nothing else will be able to.”THAT IS, IT WILL ONLY BE A REVEALED, ELEVATED, PURE RELIGION THAT WILL BE ABLE TO OVERTURN HIS WAY AND RAPACIOUS REGIME, AND ELIMINATE THEM. Such a religion will emerge among the true followers of Jesus (PBUH), and it will follow the Qur’an and become united with it. On the coming of Jesus (PBUH) and EMERGENCE OF THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, the Antichrist’s irreligious way will be wiped out and will cease. The Antichrist’s person could otherwise be killed by a mere germ or by influenza. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi,The Rays: The Fifth Ray – pg.101
Today, you move freely without any persecution, does it mean the end of the gospel? You are now better placed than your predecessors who preached under strict and under embarrassing situations, horrifying conditions. A good number of them were imprisoned. Some were used to feed animals. Acts 16:22-23 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. Acts 12:1-4 Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people KJV. Today, you are not afraid of any amazement by day or by night.
What is more? Do not allow the polytheists, the heathens you call the Pentecostals or the orthodox church members to be our condemnation; that those that started in AD 70’s like the Roman Catholic and Anglican have never grown tired. They are still vibrating; the zeal is always there. Instead of lowering their standard, they are going higher; expanding their branches. Not even one has grown tired, including their infants, a church that started AD 70’s. But a good number of you have not lasted for ten years in the faith. Even if you have lasted for ten years in the faith, you knew nothing about the faith. But because the Roman Catholics know what they believe, that is why they find it very difficult to compromise, both young and old. That is why it takes a seed of God to jump out of them on hearing the truth. Up till today, they are still doing house to house preaching. They are going on evangelism by organizing crusade, organizing seminars. They are doing everything, if it is possible, to win the whole world to their side. Apart from that, more of those counterfeit churches are still springing up every day with their different styles and people are still rushing there.
However, in our own, God alone does the preaching; he does the traveling; he does everything. Do you know what it takes to build a cathedral, maintaining the cathedral and building more branches everywhere? Every church is trying to dominate the other. Money men are now sponsoring churches including politicians. But God himself quietly said we should not make noise on the street. Our voices will not be heard on the street. Isaiah 42:1-4 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope.” NIV
He devised a secret way of reaching his own throughout the whole world and he has done it. While the work is going on, we withdrew completely from the faith. That God assumed the whole responsibilities, does it mean that these messages can go out without being funded?
Now see the breakdown currently; a carton of the A4 bond paper we use, which is not even the highest gramage costs N21,000. We use on the average, 5 to 6 cartons weekly depending on the volume of the message being printed. Sometimes, a particular message will be up to three volumes of 200 or more pages each. We must print all because having one volume of the message without the other makes it incomplete. We produce just 100 books to serve the entire members of the Bride in Nigeria according to local assemblies. From the same 100 copies, we reserve some copies for the libraries with some copies that the Son of Man gives free to some individuals. Is it not a shameful thing that the less than 90 copies remaining will not be collected by brethren who said they are serving God? Hence, left over from 100 copies printed will be imposed on local assemblies that do not even ask for a copy from year to year.
If what you are hearing directly from your platform as audio message is enough, thank you. You can put all of them in your library, then making God a liar who said that we should write and store his message in book form like other ages did, as our reference point, as food in due season. For a time must come when there must be scarcity of the word of God; and now, we have entered into that period proper. Where is the word of God in the whole world today? Can you use your audio message to form a library? Can you mark any salient point in it? Can you cross-reference from one message to another message using audio? How many audio messages can you assemble together if you want to talk to your people or your family? To say that the books are not achieving anything is completely self-deceit. To say that you have no need of them is another self-deceit. You have need of them, in life or in death. The prophet said any day the saints are translated and taken away, not an iota of the word of God will remain here on earth. He said what will it remain for? On that day, you will know what the word of God is. Not a statement from God will remain here. He said God will take all away; that when God departed from Egypt, he never left a word in Egypt. He went away with all, otherwise Egypt would have laid hands on them. Not even a scroll was left at the command of the Lord.
That was why Titus noticed that the treasures of God are recorded in books, in parchments and that they were kept in his temple, so he invaded the temple in Jerusalem and carted all of the away, but God saved some. Through Islamic Museum, God saved a chunk of what we are using today. That is why Judaism was preserved in Islam, otherwise there won’t be any record of the Jew. And we can never talk about the gentiles without talking about the Jew.
Apart from the A4 paper mentioned above, a carton of black and white tonner costs N21,000 and each carton contains just 12 small bottles of tonner. We now talk about the coloured side. The glaze card used in printing the cover costs N27,000 At a time, we were not able to laminating our covers again because high cost of materials. The coloured tonner costs N3,500 and you must buy the four colours for the printing to register properly. Each of the cartridges, both coloured and black/white makes use of a censor that is sold at N1,500 What can we say about the stapling pin and the gum used in binding which we normally buy the big bucket? Because we are using fairly used printers, the cartages have maximum number of papers they will roll out and you must have to replace them, else they will keep on frustrating the work. The black and white cartage costs N21,000 while that of the coloured costs N35,000 This is aside the maintenance costs of the printers themselves which must be serviced from time to time because of constant usage. Sometimes, the computer systems also develop faults that either need repairs or outright replacement. For instance, currently, one of our systems’ hard disk crashed and the price of 500gb hard disk is N15,000 When we are working on big sized messages, we normally print the A3 covers outside using Direct Imaging machine which we do not have and printing just 100 copies costs between N15,000 and N20,000
We now come to power sector. We procured two lister power generators without the assistance of anybody. A liter of diesel costs between N850 and N950. What can you say about the maintenance of the generators? What of the electricity, the rent, the misery pitant we pay those that are working there as remuneration? I call it misery pitant because it is more or less a voluntary work. Put all these costs of production together, check the little amount we are to realize if all the books are to be collected and paid for at the same time. But this never happens as they are never collected at the same time and those collected are not paid for at the same time.
Unfortunately, many find it difficult even to pay for books they collected for many months. Some don’t even collect at all; hence we have the left over from 100 copies as if the believers are less than 100 in number. What a shame? What a supreme disgrace?
From this same missionary, the websites that involve millions of naira are financed. From the same missionary also, needy brethren among us are assisted; and even those outside our midst for the scripture says, As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith Gal. 6:10 KJV. You are my witnesses that the Son of Man obeys this scripture. I obey all that is written concerning me for the Lord Jesus Christ went about doing good to everybody and obtained favour from God and from men. He helped needy people. He paid taxes; he was eating, he was drinking, he was even buying food.
Who will ever think that the money Jesus used which Judas was the treasurer was the money he realized from the carpentry? Who could think that way? Everybody was contributing generously. Then, Judas became the treasurer. In the days of the apostles, all of them, starting from Apostle John, people gave generously. Philippians 4:10-11, 15-18 How grateful I am and how I praise the Lord that you are helping me again. I know you have always been anxious to send what you could, but for a while you didn’t have the chance. Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to get along happily whether I have much or little. … As you well know, when I first brought the Gospel to you and then went on my way, leaving Macedonia, only you Philippians became my partners in giving and receiving. No other church did this. Even when I was over in Thessalonica you sent help twice. But though I appreciate your gifts, what makes me happiest is the well-earned reward you will have because of your kindness. At the moment I have all I need—more than I need! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me when Epaphroditus came. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that pleases God well. LB. In the days of Paul, they were giving generously in support of the work of the ministry, which included helping the needy among them and the needy without. They not only helped the needy among them, they helped some of the needy they met out there. Hence they commanded respect within and without; and this is what I am doing and will remain doing. I not only help the needy among us, I extend the bowels of my mercy to the needy outside our cycle. It is a part of the missionary work.
Then, since all that volunteered to be helping in a little group I called to help me to see whether we can help our destitute and handicapped students, handicapped in the sense that their parents are financially handicapped but they are very brilliant. They need upliftment; they need encouragement; they need help, not only those in the schools and colleges. Some may be apprentices. I summoned few brethren that will come together and see what we can do to help them. That was when Bishop Moses died. I summoned them for the sake of one of his children, not all. Even that one and the rest, as we journeyed along, less than two years after, those who subscribed started pulling out until everybody pulled out remaining Brother Isaac Utuk who doles out N10,000 every month into that coffer. All backed out; they got tired and those who were opposed to this proposal turned out to be the greatest beneficiaries of the program. So it has been in all the ages. All that oppose God’s programmes have been proved to be the greatest beneficiaries of God’s program whenever the programs are accomplished. Sanballat and Tobiah were they not those that kicked against the temple reconstruction. But immediately it was completed, they rushed to be made ministered in the same temple they kicked against. Nehemiah 4:1-6 When Sanballat heard that we Jews had begun rebuilding the wall, he became furious and began to ridicule us. In front of his companions and the Samaritan troops he said, “What do these miserable Jews think they’re doing? Do they intend to rebuild the city? Do they think that by offering sacrifices they can finish the work in one day? Can they make building stones out of heaps of burnt rubble?” Tobiah was standing there beside him, and he added, “What kind of wall could they ever build? Even a fox could knock it down!” I prayed, “Hear how they make fun of us, O God! Let their ridicule fall on their own heads. Let them be robbed of everything they have, and let them be taken as prisoners to a foreign land. 5 Don’t forgive the evil they do and don’t forget their sins, for they have insulted us who are building.” So we went on rebuilding the wall, and soon it was half its full height, because the people were eager to work. GNB Nehemiah 13:4-9 The priest Eliashib, who was in charge of the Temple storerooms, had for a long time been on good terms with Tobiah. 5 He allowed Tobiah to use a large room that was intended only for storing offerings of grain and incense, the equipment used in the Temple, the offerings for the priests, and the tithes of grain, wine, and olive oil given to the Levites, to the Temple musicians, and to the Temple guards. While this was going on, I was not in Jerusalem, because in the thirty-second year that Artaxerxes [a] was king of Babylon I had gone back to report to him. After some time I received his permission 7 and returned to Jerusalem. There I was shocked to find that Eliashib had allowed Tobiah to use a room in the Temple. 8 I was furious and threw out all of Tobiah’s belongings. I gave orders for the rooms to be ritually purified and for the Temple equipment, grain offerings, and incense to be put back GNB.
From this same missionary, some of our destitute students are taken care of. Hence a good number of them who came from classless families financially have become graduates. With the little contributions from their parents and the little contributions from this missionary, too many of them who couldn’t have written their examinations wrote their examinations.
Then, at the end of it all, the question arises: what and what are the bridal sources of income that formed this missionary account? Is the Son of Man borrowing money from above or from any country in the world which he is using to fund all these? Since nobody cares to know, local assemblies can gather as they wish but they only discus their private affairs; not even one ever discusses the affairs of the ministry committed into their hands. They discus only their welfares.
Some of them even say they give the Son of Man money monthly for his welfare, the question is – how many of you and how much? When did the Son of Man turn out to be a beggar? You were the ones that yoked yourselves with an oath. You made a pledge; and all of you that made the pledge, if you were 20, not even 2 are still keeping it. If you want to know your pledge and how you are redeeming it, it is all in your records. You can meet Pastor Thomas for that. He will give you every detail you will like to know including how many of you, whether as individuals or collectively. If the Son of Man is to wait for whatever you will give him, he would have died long, long time ago for whatever you think you are giving him cannot buy fuel for his vehicles neither can it even refurbish any of the power generators he is using for the work of the ministry.
I am not talking about his feeding. When you hear about his feeding, he is not feeding himself. He is feeding your children. He is feeding the brethren. Whatever he buys today in the name of feeding, is for your children, who are nothing but your brethren. I am laboring night and day so that they will eat and at the same time, training them so that they will be useful, yet they belong to all of us. They are my responsibly, but what are they doing here which I cannot hire a labourer for a pay at a cheaper rate? Is there any money yielding venture I am suing the for? How blind we are! How unreasonable we are!
Be it know to everybody that if I live today, I live for all of you; if I die, I die for myself. From the look of things, it is evidently clear to me that if the Almighty God will take me away now, that will mark the end of this Bridal Movement; reason being that there is not even one who is committed to keep the light glowing, to keep the candle stick burning. Not even one. In the days of St. Paul, he lamented that everyone had deserted him and went to their various businesses in the world; searching for their own satisfaction, all except St Luke. Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. …At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. 2 Timothy 4:9-11, 16-18 AMP.
In the days of old, the Lord God Almighty reprimanded them saying, you live in your citadel buildings, you eat to your satisfaction, you enjoy the pleasures of this world and allow the temple of God to be in ruins, in shambles. The Lord Almighty said to Haggai, “These people say that this is not the right time to rebuild the Temple.” The Lord then gave this message to the people through the prophet Haggai: “My people, why should you be living in well-built houses while my Temple lies in ruins? Don’t you see what is happening to you? You have planted much grain, but have harvested very little. You have food to eat, but not enough to make you full. You have wine to drink, but not enough to get drunk on! You have clothing, but not enough to keep you warm. And workers cannot earn enough to live on. Can’t you see why this has happened? Haggai 1:2-7 GNT. In short, we behave as people that do not believe that there is a retributive God who pays everyone back according as his work shall be. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be Rev 22:12 KJV. Quran 3:30 The Day every soul will find what it has done of good present [before it] and what it has done of evil, it will wish that between itself and that [evil] was a great distance. And Allah warns you of Himself, and Allah is Kind to [His] servants.” Quran 4:40 “Indeed, Allah does not do injustice, [even] as much as an atom’s weight; while if there is a good deed, He multiplies it and gives from Himself a great reward.” Q. 24:38 That Allah may reward them according to the best of their deeds, and add even more for them out of His Grace: for Allah doth provide for those whom He will, without measure. Yusuf Ali.
We behave like the shrewd servant who was of the opinion that employing God’s gift in serving the Lord means enriching the master. While others served and got interest, he buried his own. Accusing God that he reaped where he never sew. On the day or reward, reckoning, that which he buried in the ground was exhumed and the Lord, after upbrading him sheared it among those who used their own. The rich became richer. He who was poor became poorer. Not only that, he finally bound him hand and feet and threw him into the outer darkness where there would be groaning, mourning and gnashing of teeth day and night, forever and ever.
Matthew 25:14-30 “At that time the Kingdom of heaven will be like this. Once there was a man who was about to leave home on a trip; he called his servants and put them in charge of his property. He gave to each one according to his ability: to one he gave five thousand gold coins, to another he gave two thousand, and to another he gave one thousand. Then he left on his trip. The servant who had received five thousand coins went at once and invested his money and earned another five thousand. In the same way the servant who had received two thousand coins earned another two thousand. But the servant who had received one thousand coins went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.
“After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. The servant who had received five thousand coins came in and handed over the other five thousand. ‘You gave me five thousand coins, sir,’ he said. ‘Look! Here are another five thousand that I have earned.’ ‘Well done, you good and faithful servant!’ said his master. ‘You have been faithful in managing small amounts, so I will put you in charge of large amounts. Come on in and share my happiness!’ Then the servant who had been given two thousand coins came in and said, ‘You gave me two thousand coins, sir. Look! Here are another two thousand that I have earned.’ ‘Well done, you good and faithful servant!’ said his master. ‘You have been faithful in managing small amounts, so I will put you in charge of large amounts. Come on in and share my happiness!’ Then the servant who had received one thousand coins came in and said, ‘Sir, I know you are a hard man; you reap harvests where you did not plant, and you gather crops where you did not scatter seed. I was afraid, so I went off and hid your money in the ground. Look! Here is what belongs to you.’ ‘You bad and lazy servant!’ his master said. ‘You knew, did you, that I reap harvests where I did not plant, and gather crops where I did not scatter seed? Well, then, you should have deposited my money in the bank, and I would have received it all back with interest when I returned. Now, take the money away from him and give it to the one who has ten thousand coins. For to every person who has something, even more will be given, and he will have more than enough; but the person who has nothing, even the little that he has will be taken away from him. 30 As for this useless servant—throw him outside in the darkness; there he will cry and gnash his teeth.’ GNT
Did God collect a dime from those people who used their own wisely? Was God envious of the interest they made? Rather, God has been thinking good concerning them; for his thoughts towards them are thoughts of good and not of evil to give them the best of the best. Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future NIV.
However, those people that thought that doing God a service according to his will means making him to become greater than what he is, they must regret at the end. There is nothing anybody can do now or has ever done in the past or will do in the future that will make God to be something else than what he is. He has come to stay. Anybody can be unstable, not God.
My prayer is that at the end, which we are about to get to – for we are on the move everyday – when we get to the end finally, that this write-up, this paper, this letter will not testify against us for willful neglect and abandonment of our responsibilities as elect of God.
For more than one month now, we have been out of production because of lack of fund. This will not prevent us from catering for our rent because we never packed out. It will not also hinder us from taking care of those we placed there because we never laid them off. What can we say about all these?
At this juncture, I must have to congratulate the few that still have the revelation and are devoted and committed to the course of Christ. They recognized the enormous work and challenges before us and gave themselves fully for transcribing, typesetting, editing and proofreading. I also congratulate the few who normally come to our rescue, from time to time, especially when we are in a deplorable condition such as we are now. I encourage you all to keep it up for your labour of love will never go unrewarded.
3 John 1-10 From: John, the Elder. To: Dear Gaius, whom I truly love. Dear friend, I am praying that all is well with you and that your body is as healthy as I know your soul is. Some of the brothers traveling by have made me very happy by telling me that your life stays clean and true and that you are living by the standards of the Gospel. 4 I could have no greater joy than to hear such things about my children.
Dear friend, you are doing a good work for God in taking care of the traveling teachers and missionaries who are passing through. 6 They have told the church here of your friendship and your loving deeds. I am glad when you send them on their way with a generous gift. For they are traveling for the Lord and take neither food, clothing, shelter, nor money from those who are not Christians, even though they have preached to them. So we ourselves should take care of them in order that we may become partners with them in the Lord’s work.
I sent a brief letter to the church about this, but proud Diotrephes, who loves to push himself forward as the leader of the Christians there, does not admit my authority over him and refuses to listen to me. When I come I will tell you some of the things he is doing and what wicked things he is saying about me and what insulting language he is using. He not only refuses to welcome the missionary travelers himself but tells others not to, and when they do he tries to put them out of the church LB.
As for me, while I live and God lives, the work of the ministry must continue. Even if it is not in the highest speed, let it be in the low speed; for nobody has ever abandoned his project because of harsh economy. No matter how harsh the economy is, nobody volunteers to abandon his laudable project. Everybody is trying to make sure he accomplishes his project, but God’s project is treated as no man’s project to those who are strongly against God. But to all sons and daughters of God, God’s project is their project; and the project is nothing but evangelism, making the entire universe to hear and know the truth. That is the biggest project.
If this letter does not concern you, please feel indifferent. If it concerns you, do something. If you are led to monetize whatever support you want to give to rescue the missionary section of the ministry, forward it to Eze Thomas Ogechukwu (Pastor) in-charge of finances. First Bank 3030052331. If you do, please text him for the Son of Man’s book of record. Thank you.
Apostle Peter Odoemena, The Son of Man.