Who is a true missionary?

8. Financial problems. Money problems can tear a marriage or a family apart. Excessive Debt and Overspending create tension. Business failure does bad things to men, especially. Their agitation over financial reverses sometimes sublimates to anger within the family. Getting a grip on your finances as a couple may be one of the most practical things you can do to provide stability and security in your relationship.

• All financial decisions should be discussed as a family. There is no ‘his money’ or ‘her money.’ It’s ‘our money.’ Actually, realize that it’s all ‘God’s money.

• Don’t spend more for a house or car than you can afford, leaving too few resources for other basic things.

• Allocate your funds with the wisdom of Joseph. I suggest the 10/10/10/70 principle. Give God the first ten percent, sow ten percent, save the next ten percent, and discipline yourselves to live on 70% of your income.

• The wife should be allocated some money she can spend without asking the husband all the time. The man too!

• Teach the children about the importance of giving their money to God.

9. A lack of physical intimacy. Just as physical intimacy is a key ingredient of healthy marriages that go the distance, a lack of physical intimacy can be a marriage killer. This can drive a weak partner into infidelity which is very destructive.

32Adultery is a brainless self-destructive;

33Expect a bloody nose, a black eye, and Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua

Wact, souldestroying, hat is happening in the world today in “God’s name” is very scary. Stories of pastors who are using human rituals to source for power and manipulated miracles are no longer news. The intra-denominational and inter-denominational rivalries and conflicts in the Church are serious concerns. Today, the way and manner some pastors go about sourcing for power, positions, material acquisition call for serious enquiry into who is really a true missionary. In some other religions, terrorism has put the world in a perpetual nightmare. The terrorists claim that they are fighting for God to make everybody summit to Him. The degradation of human dignity and the natural disasters today make one wonder if the end of the world is dawning on humanity.

Jesus had given this prophetic warning: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And a reputation ruined for good. Proverbs 6:3233 (MSG)

10. Pornography. If you have Internet service at your home or office and you don’t have some type of filtering software, you need to get it this week. Pornography is a deadly destroyer of life. It opens the door to spirit spouses. Be careful what you allow into your heart or marriage.

11. Lack of commitment. My advice to young couples is simply this: Don’t permit the possibility of divorce to enter your thinking. Even in moments of great conflict and discouragement, divorce is no solution. It merely substitutes a new set of miseries for the ones left behind.

12. Interference from third parties: in-laws, ungodly friends, etc. If either the husband or wife has not been fully emancipated from the parents or relations, it is best not to live near them. I have often counselled that a couple should be left to blend for at least a year before taking in a relation or relations to live with them. Autonomy is difficult for some mothers (and fathers) to grant, and close proximity is built for trouble.

13. Business success. It is almost as risky to succeed wildly as it is to fail miserably in business. The writer of Proverbs said, “Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread” (30:8).

14. Getting married too young. Girls who marry between 14 and 17 years of age are more than twice as likely to divorce as those who marry at 18 or 19 years of age. Those who marry at 18 or 19 are 1.5 times as likely to divorce as those who marry in their 20s. The pressures of adolescence and the stresses of early married life do not mix well. Finish the first before taking on the second.

15. Demonic attack. Activities of spirit because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the entire world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come (Matthew 24: 4-14).

In this world of confusion, conflicts, pains and sorrows, there is urgent need for missionaries but how do we know a true missionary? Mission is not restricted to the vocation of the ministry in religious houses. Before any human person comes into existence, God has a purpose for the person as in the case of Jeremiah. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). The crisis of vocation in the world today is as a result of ignorance and greed for material prosperity. Because of the problems that have arisen from self-made and self-appointed religious leaders, some countries are calling for licence for religious preachers.

The ordinary way to know a true religious leader is through education and formation. It is true that many Churches have formation institutions for their clergy and missionaries. However, let us use the Catholic Church as a case study. When a person feels called to the priesthood, he goes through a psychological test and then admitted into spiritual formation for discernment of vocation for one full year. For this one year, through prayers and discernment, the candidates who show signs of true vocation are recommended to proceed for philosophical studies in the Major Seminary.

In the years of philosophy, the candidate is made to study most of the relevant social sciences in the seminary. The Seminarian is exposed to the studies of other religions and comparative religions. After a Bachelor’s degree in philosophy, the Seminarian goes into practical

pastoral experience during the pastoral year. This year enables the seminarian encounter people of different cultures and religions. After this year, the Seminarian returns to the seminary to begin theological studies for four years. During these years, he is engaged in pastoral work during the long vacation. The number of months for pastoral work depends on each diocese. In theological studies, the Seminarian studies not only Christian theology but the theology of other religions like Islam and comparative religions.

After a Bachelor’s degree in theology, the Seminarian is ordained a deacon when it becomes clear to those in charge of his formation and the Local ordinary (Diocesan Bishop) that the candidate has the potentials to be a Catholic Priest. The Bishop relying on the Holy Spirit and the wisdom of the Church ordains the deacon a Catholic priest. After secondary school, the formation of a priest takes a minimum of ten years. The Religious also have many years of formation from Aspirancy, Postulancy to Novitiate before they are finally professed and sent out on mission. The journey towards final profession takes different stages after the first profession depending on the congregation.

A situation where a person begins a ministry with the claim that battled financial challenges. But we prayed together. We will sit in the evening and pray for hours in tongue. We fasted together. We had devotion together. We went to church together. We served together in church. Our relationship was and is centred around Christ. Families that pray together stay together. Jesus is not just a welcome guest in the home; He is the Lord of the home.

If divorce were not an option, I think people would be a lot more careful about choosing a mate in the first place.

I have seen marriages with what would seem like insurmountable obstacles make it and I have seen others, with far less significant problems, crumble in divorce. What’s the difference? Put simply, one couple has decided they will not take the easy way out. They are committed to making their marriage work and they will do whatever it takes to make that happen with God’s help. That’s the difference.

Guard your relationship as though you were defending your very lives. Value your mate and value your marriage. You can make it. Not only can you survive, not only can you keep your love alive, but it can in fact thrive, given the proper time and attention. I believe that investing in your marriage is an investment that will pay rich dividends for generations to come.

Marriage may be made in heaven, but it takes some down to earth maintenance to keep it working properly. There’s not a couple reading this message who can’t do it if you decide it is right, it’s worth it, and it’s what you intend to do. Pray to that end. God give you fresh wine in your marriage, in Jesus name! husband/wife (hidden spiritual marriages in place). Invisible marks of hatred placed on the husband or wife. This makes one repulsive to the other and vice versa - after only a few years of marriage. Influence of territorial spirits: Immorality and conflict are commoner amongst certain people in certain localities. Some people are victims of collective captivity of family and community. “Blood of Jesus, wipe off all handwriting of hatred and rejection from my life in the name of Jesus.”

16. Unresolved ancestral curses. Marital problems transferred from one generation to another... using such vehicles as unbroken curses and unknown covenants. Break up or divorce either in the husband’s family or on the wife’s side or both. Negative altars. Blood covenants - known and unknown. Pronouncements or curses from people with relational authority. “O Lord, divide the tongues of all those targeting my marriage for destruction.” - see Ps 55:9.

17. Delayed or late arrival of children. This is often the cause of pressure from family especially on the woman who, by the way, may not be responsible for the problem. Couples must work together to find a solution rather that apportion blames and fight each other. Embark on prayer and fasting, seek for deliverance, pray together especially in tongues day in day out. Children will come if you trust God and wait. Take advantage of my ministry to parents-in-waiting every first Friday of the month. There is absolutely nothing wrong in seeking for medical assistance.

18. Not making Jesus the glue of the family. We had all sorts of problems in the first few years of our marriage: I had to separate from my brother who was living with us to make for peace and respect. We contended with witches who targeted our marriage for destruction. We he or she heard a voice of God from heaven is unscriptural. It is an abuse of mission. Every discipline of life like law, medicine, engineering etc, requires training for a person who feels inspired to a particular career before the degree is conferred on the under-graduate. No one confers an academic degree on oneself. Jesus took serious the ministry of teaching in his life time. Even death did not end his pastoral formation for his followers. On the road to Emmaus, Jesus Christ and his disciples walked side by side. On the way he began to teach them again to remind them that his death is the fulfilment of the Old Testament Prophecy.

His teaching made a deep impression on them and their hearts burned within them. This teaching and scriptural exegesis opened their eyes to recognize that it was Jesus who broke the bread for them to eat. The Scriptures prepares the Christian to encounter Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.Ignorance is a gateway to encountering the forces of darkness. The effect of the dialogue of encounter on the road to Emmaus was a humble request for the perpetual presence of Jesus who was in their midst. “Stay with us Lord, for night has fallen” (Luke 24).

Without Jesus and his teaching, the night and darkness of ignorance would cloud the minds of the ignorant followers of fake pastors and prophets. Saint Paul told the Ephesians that the essence of Christ’s teaching is to give capacity to “the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers and his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ” (Ephesians 4: 11-15).

The tendency to source for food is human but some source for wants instead of needs.When Peter and the disciples returned to their former fishing business, the resurrected Jesus revealed himself to them at the Sea of Tiberias (John 21:2-14). In this encounter, Jesus made Peter to confess his love for him three times and in the process gave them the summary of the contents of the mission he had entrusted to them. He told Peter to feed his lambs and care for his Sheep after which he said: “Follow me” (John 21: 15-19) and remain fishers of human beings (Matthew 4:19). A true missionary is a person called by God, trained and formed by human agents and sent on mission in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. A true missionary is aware that the call demands a continuous responds hence, he or she must never cease to develop his or her potentials through prayers, learning and works of charity. Failure does not end the work of mission hence a true missionary is a person who keeps on the struggle relying on God for continuous renewal until he reaches heaven to meet God the author and owner of the mission.