Wilson Adekumola
For four days, pastors, church workers and church founders were treated to a menu of God’s word which bothers on kingdom culture by the International Institute of Church Growth. The theme, Kingdom Ministers, Kingdom Ministry presented an opportunity for the organisers to redirect the ship of the church and bring church leaders to an understanding that they have been called to live the kingdom life and serve the kingdom purpose.
The well-attended conference which spanned four days from Wednesday September 5 to 8 turned out to be a revival sort of as participants were woken up to the reality of a long forgotten order in the church. Such exciting topics like: Are you using God or God is using you, Kingdom and non-Kingdom Churches, the seduction of the Africa church, kingdom culture versus other cultures among several other topics were explored.
Participants at the conference which held at the Foursquare Camp, Idimu, Lagos for those four days which also featured the graduation ceremony of students of the institute; also had the opportunity of listening to messages on Kingdom sexual wholeness, Kingdom politics and politicians, Kingdom business and kingdom money principles. They were also treated to exciting breakout sessions where they were exposed to several practical issues that were designed to enliven their ministry life and Christian experience.
The high point of the four-day conference was perhaps the message on kingdom culture versus other cultures that was handled by the President of the ministry, Dr. Francis Bola Akin John. He noted that the point of departure for many pastors is there lack of understanding of what kingdom culture really entails.
He started off by explaining that the Old and New Testaments are complimentary stressing that the minister of the gospel must be able to marry the two testaments together. Quoting from Jeremiah 10 he pointed out that God had warned that the children of Israel should not learn the ways of the heathen because they are being carried away by the signs of heaven.
Citing several instances in the Bible on how people adhered to cultural practices Dr. John defined culture as the total summation of the lifestyle of a people. He said, “When pastors preach and don’t understand how to differentiate between the culture of their host community and kingdom culture they go into error. We must note that when we embrace Christ we are being called out of our culture to the culture of God’s kingdom.”
He noted further that cultures have both positive and negative implications. The challenge according to him however is the need to identify the culture that aligns with the Bible and discard the bad ones. Culture according to him sometimes make people to do stupid things. He cited several cultural practices that are anti-God’s kingdom which should not be encouraged. He emphasized the need not to compromise the culture of the kingdom with that of local cultures where we find ourselves. He observed that cultural gospel is a gospel that employs local culture which according to him is Nicolatian Gospel which Jesus spoke against in Revelation. It is the gospel that says we can do the things in our culture and also preach the gospel alongside.
He lamented further that the church in Nigeria has embraced worldly cultures that has made the gospel of no effect while pleading with participants to promote the culture of God’s kingdom in their various fields of operations.
The conference which featured several other speakers from within and outside the Church Growth International Institute. It is the second part of the conference with the same theme: Kingdom ministers kingdom ministries. Teaching Resources on the Kingdom of Christ have been written on it with the following topics:
Season 1
Lecture # 1: Kingdom of God: Defined
Lecture # 2: Kingdom of Light, Kingdom of Darkness
Lecture # 3: Kingdom Minister, Kingdom Lifestyle
Lecture # 4: Personal Demons of Kingdom Ministers
Lecture # 5: Kingdom in Church, Church in the Kingdom
Lecture # 6: Kingdom Mandate, Kingdom Growth
Lecture # 7: Kingdom Money Stewardship
Lecture # 8: Secret Cult or Secret Place
Lecture # 9: Kingdom Ministries and Harvest
Lecture # 10: Kingdom Power, Kingdom Warfare
Lecture # 11: Kingdom Leaders and Leadership
Lecture # 12: Spirit and Power of the Kingdom
Lecture # 13: Kingdom Redemption of your Land
Lecture # 14: Kingdom Praying and Intercession
Lecture # 15: Kingdom Promoters and Sponsors
Lecture # 16: Kingdom Marriages and Homes
Lecture # 17. Who are you Moving with, Who are your Friends
Season 2
Lecture # 1: Using God or God Using You
Lecture # 2: Kingdom Ministers First
Lecture # 3: Kingdom Churches and Non-kingdom Churches
Lecture # 4: Kingdom Gates and Territories
Lecture # 5: Seduction of The Church in Africa
Lecture # 6: Kingdom Cultures Versus Other Cultures
Lecture # 7: The Man Jesus Christ
Lecture # 8: Kingdom Overcomes and Victors
Lecture # 9: Kingdom Money Principles
Lecture # 10: Kingdom of Integrity and Truthfulness
Lecture # 11: Kingdom Sexual Wholeness
Lecture # 12: Kingdom Five-Fold Leadership Gifts
Lecture # 13: Kingdom Preaching and Teaching
Lecture # 14: Exceeding Power of The Kingdom
Lecture # 15: Kingdom Church Planting
Lecture # 16: The Kingdom Politics and Politicians
Lecture # 17: Ministerial Stress and Burnout
Lecture # 18: Kingdom Business
Lecture # 19: 21 Grave Mistakes that God Servant Makes
Lecture # 20: Modifyable Risk Factor
Lecture # 21: 21 Principles of Healthy Living
Get the Teaching Resources and the MP3 messages in soft & hard copy call Seyi on 08056126914 or in our office @Growth Centre, 6/8, Mukadaz Close, Iyana-Odo, Bus Stop, Isheri-LASU Road, Lagos