BY: VITALIS UGOH, Calabar
A one-day spiritual conference for ministers and workers of God’s Arena Of Liberty (G. O. A. L) has ended in Calabar, Cross River State.
Declaring the conference open at its headquarters at Atimbo, the General Overseer and Vision carrier, Prophet Sunday Obi, said the conference was organised to update and uplift the spiritual capacities of ministers and workers in the outreach.
He said that this is the first in the first quarter of 2020, hoping that more shall be organised in due course.
The Vision carrier therefore urged the over 50 participants at the conference to tape from this golden opportunity offered by God to enrich their spiritual lives and impart same to the society and members of the outreach.
He declared, “I said it is a golden opportunity because of the calibre of men of God that have been invited to speak on different topics concerning the Ministry of God”.
Prophet Obi therefore urged them to make good the opportunity offered by listening to the great men of God as they deliver their lectures..
Delivering the first lecture entitled “Discipleship”, the Chaplain of NAF Protestant Church, Airport Base, Calabar, Rev. Edet Akpan, said the church unfortunately is not teaching its people according to the teachings from the Bible.
Today, he said, “there are so much struggling in the church due to lack of discipleship. Discipleship is transferable. It is the principle of multiplication that can stand the test of time. It is also Biblical “.
Discipleship, he said, “is somebody that is vested with the word of Jesus Christ. One who can be entrusted with position in the church “.
He decried the pursuit of multiple and the urge for money by some men of God who have Ministries. According to him “once you link up with God, the Ministry will grow naturally”.
He cited Mathew 4:18,Rom:8:28-29, 2Timothy 2:1 in the Holy Bible to buttress his points.
Also quoting from the Book of Acts 4:13 which dwelt on humility, he said “discipleship must keep one around Jesus Christ .The fear of God is needed in a disciple and unless he is a born again, he or she can not be a disciple”
Speaking on the topic “Church Administration “, Pastor Uduak Tommy, of Shepard’s Pord, Akai Effa, Calabar, referring to the Books of Acts 6:1-7,1Cor12:28,1Cor14:33, said the church is an organisation and as such can not function properly without Order or Rules governing it.
He said “God loves order and it is as a result of lack of proper administration that brought confusion and crisis into the church . He thanked God for sending the Holy Spirit to intervene in solving the crisis.”.
Rev. Tommy who spoke extensively on church administration, said “it is a gift, it checkmates, it gets people to be involved, it provides safety in the church, it deters coax, helps to simplify ministers and provides an effective running of church administration “.
In his own presentation “Shaped For Serving God”. the Secretary General of (GOAL), Rev. Dr. Iwara Okoi, referenced the Book of Job 10:8.(NIV) “Your hands shaped me and made me” to buttress his lecture.
He went on saying, “God never waste anything. He would not give you abilities, interests, talents, gifts, personalities and life experiences unless He intended to use them for His service and Glory”.
According to him, “whenever God gives us as an assignment, he always equips us with what we need to accomplish it. This custom combination of capabilities is called “Shape”.
He quoted the Bible as saying, “He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others”
Presenting his lecture entitled ” Stewards Of God Grace”, the second in command, Pastor Tony Tah, reading the scripture from 1Peter:4:10, said “a steward of God Grace is a person that God gave a specific responsibility or an assignment to fulfill a particular task in a particular place at a particular time”.
He defined God’s grace as an unmerited favour God bestowed upon a man to fulfill His assignment on earth (2Cor:10:18).
“Therefore, your stewardship grace is a privilege gift as recorded in Eph. 2-8-9, Eph 4-7. It is a privilege trust from God. You are the only one God has anointed for that particular task in that particular place at that particular time”.
He admonished ministers and workers to be more committed, focused to merit God steward grace, adding that “sacrifices means the price you must pay as a steward of God grace as recorded in Phi 2-5-8 citing Jesus Christ as our perfect example.
Earlier, Prophet Julius Ayuk Eyong from the Republic of Cameroon, in his lecture “The Source of Anointing, Sustaining and Growing the Anointed “, said “usage of Oil is symbolic to Holy Spirit as Jesus was anointed with Holy Spirit.”.
He described anointing as God’s empowering force. It is the product of “Power”. Some men of God like big titles and go all out to buy them but cannot perform one single miracle to prove that he is of God.”.
“Practical use of the anointing power is to cause people to know that Jesus Christ exists, he added”.
He said that both the prophet, pastor, minister or worker has the right to perform miracle, but the problem lies on its sustainability. Sampson had the power and ability, but he could not sustain it”.
He ended by advising that “it is not how you go in the ministry, but how well you end. The secret is the ability to sustain the good stewardship and discipleship you started with in your ministries, he added”.
The highlight of the occasion was the anointing of new ministers and workers to pilot the affairs of their different departments in the year 2020.
Prayers and songs were rendered to God for His mercies, protection and guidance of His people inspite of the ongoing killings of Christians across the country.
