Latest News from Ukraine

We want to thank all our friends who have been praying for us the past 2 years. Thank you for your faithfulness! We pray that this would be a year of a great visitation from God bringing real breakthrough in all areas of your life.

We would like you to know the latest development here in Ukraine, especially concerning the false accusations against Pastor Sunday and our church.

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles (Prov. 24:17)

The story we want to share with you is not an attempt to rejoice over the fall of our enemies, but on the contrary, we simply want to share with you the results of your prayers. The former Minister of Internal Affairs, Yuriy Lutsenko, and the former Prime Minister of Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko, who were in the same Government, masterminded the persecution against Pastor Sunday and our church by opening those false allegations. Notice that these allegations were all made public, before interrogation of Pastor Sunday, without any evidence they threatened to send Pastor Sunday to 12 years imprisonment. After 2 years the case is still not taken to court for lack of evidence.

The latest news is that the Chief of police Lutsenko¹ has just been put in prison on the same charges he falsely accused Pastor Sunday. He is been threatened to be there for 12 years, which is the same as he tried to do with Pastor Sunday, while formal Prime Minister Tymoshenko² is under house arrest. This is for you to know and understand the political situation in our country. Unfortunately, this is not yet a country of rule of law, it is still a country where the "big men" - politicians and the mafia groups rule. Last year, Lutsenko and Tymoshenko were powerful people, but now they are under arrest. We are very concerned about what is going on in this country generally, not only concerning Pastor Sunday's case, but in all those cases where people are put in prison on false grounds or without court decisions.

See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. ( 1 Thess. 5:15)

Please:

1. Keep on praying for Pastor Sunday and the church that all false charges would be dropped.

2. Pray for Yuriy Lutsenko and Yulia Tymoshenko that God will have mercy on them and their families and that they will come to know the living God through these circumstances.

3. Pray for the government of Ukraine, for the political situation and for peace to reign in the country.

4. Join us in faith that in 2011 Pastor Sunday will be exonerated and have the opportunity to travel again across the world.

5. Pray that righteousness and justice will rule in Ukraine.

Thank you so very much for your friendship, faithfulness and prayers! We pray that this year will be a year of God`s visitation and triumph to you and your family. May the Lord bless you in the New Year and empower you to fulfill His will on earth!

God bless!

The Administration of

The Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for All Nations

Kyiv, Ukraine

¹ Ukraine ex-Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko arrested, BBC, Dec 28, 2010

²Ukraine ex-PM Tymoshenko charged with misusing funds, BBC, Dec 20, 2010

FEDUR: IT WOULD NOT BE INTERESTING WITHOUT SUNDAY

Source

Recently in Kyiv, a little bit forgotten but still famous person, Sunday Adelaja was remembered and in the news again. Within a few months, there were no news from him and it is logical to assume how uncomfortable it must feel - the Embassy of God pastor having charges against him. (There is no need to remind ourselves of the “King’s Capital” affair which crime officers insist involves Adelaja). However, it seemed to be Adelaja and to feel uncomfortable are two incompatible situations. This weekend he led Sunday service at his church, jumping and having fun on the stage as he always used to. Meanwhile it seemed that the investigation of the “King’s Capital” affair entered the final stage. “Obozrevatel” decided to find out whether this is true or not by asking the lawyer of Sunday Adelaja, Andrew Fedur.

- Mr. Fedur said the Head of the Investigation Department Vasily Farynnik announced that after December 5 the “King’s Capital” shall be submitted to the court. Was it done?

- I would like to draw your attention to the fact that, as the police stated today, the case is not finished. The matter is that they have taken only the proven part of the charge and passed it to the court. That’s the small one, as law-enforcement officers said… Meanwhile the investigation of the case continues. This is the official version, which I’ve got to know as a layer from the documents. The materials, which have already been sent to the court, are being reviewed at this moment and I will read them as well, as the defender of one of the accused.

- When would the review of the documents be finished?

- It is hard for me to predict, because now there is a need for renewed investigation in this part and I will declare a petition on this matter. I would like to draw attention to another thing: why have some parts of the documents already been sent to the court while the investigation of the case has not been finished yet? And the problem is that 2 men have been staying under arrest for 18 months.

- Alexander Bandurchenko and Alexander Sazonov?

- No. They are directors of the “King’s Capital”. And they have been free long ago. But Kolesnikov and Golovanov are under arrest. Regarding Bandurchenko and Sazonov, as explained by former Minister of Internal Affairs Yuriy Lutsenko, they cooperated with the criminal investigation, and that is why they are free. And these two - Kolesnikov and Golovanov – do not cooperate with the investigation and do not give evidence against Sunday, so that is why they are under arrest. It was said once in an interview by Lutsenko, and I think you can easily find it online. Consequently, Kolesnikov and Golovanov have been under arrest for 18 months, and as you know, according to the law, this is the time limit. Therefore, there is a problem: it is time to set them free. So the officers invented the following legal turn in order not to allow them to go free. It is possible to keep them under arrest if the completion of the investigation of “the proved part of the charge” is announced. I believe that if the lawyers of these two accused individuals (who in my opinion have been kept under arrest illegally) will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, they will absolutely win this case.

- Let’s go back to Adelaja.

- And all this is directly related to him. The reason why Kolesnikov and Golovanov are being under arrest, as Mr. Lutsenko once said, is that they do not want to give evidence against Sunday. These two simply cannot give any evidence and never will, as they do not have any information regarding illegal activity of my client Sunday.
Regarding the charges to my defendant I must say that they are absolutely absurd, pointless and inconsistent. Moreover, I am deeply convinced that the crime investigator who works on this case (and he is an expert) clearly understands that these charges do not stand up to scrutiny and there is no evidence in the case. Therefore, sooner or later the case will be closed.

- So, was Adelaja related to “King’s Capital” or not?

- No, he was not. I have already told what impressed me personally. Here is an example. When previous crime investigator was working on this case (now he is retired), the main accused said the following. He worked at the “King’s Capital” company and had a deal with contracting. He collected the money he received from the people and get some interest. In qualifying the case, he refers to the exact amounts (which are more than one thousand UAH) – it is about the money he earned. And this man is a witness. My defendant, who is accused in this case, is neither a founder nor the owner nor the co-owner of the “King’s Capital” company, - he has never worked there, even a single day, even as a janitor.

- Who is this man you are talking about?

- It is not correct to announce his name, as then I could be accused of divulging information about the pre-trial investigation. Besides, this person didn’t give me permission to release his name. In addition, such a witness as the one I’m talking about, was not alone. And I stress again that those who directly said they were collecting money are only witnesses. I think that investigators later learned that they did something wrong then but there are still some funny moments in this case.

- If Adelaja is not involved in the “King’s Capital” affair, why is he among the accused?

- Here we need to look over the entire story. If there was no Sunday’s name– the well-known and flamboyant person in Kyiv – this case would not be so high-profile. I was recently asked by journalists, who were interviewing me, whether they would come if there was no Sunday in this case. And they agreed that they would not have come because it would not be interesting. In the very beginning of the case, another interesting name figured in it.

- What name?

- Leonid Chernovetsky. But when it became clear that it is hard to make Chernovetskiy related to this case, then only Sunday was left. At that time, as people say, was a different political situation. Today, the police leadership seems to be changed but still… Do you think it is possible for police to confess that they have missed some details and there is no crime on Sunday?!

- Maybe the person whose name you cannot tell, was related to Adelaja through his church?

- Once again, I’m telling you: this man was not alone; there were a list few of them. And all of them, as it became clear during the investigation, collected the money.

- And they were related to the “Embassy of God”?

- No, they had nothing to do with Sunday. By the way, in the indictment there is no written disposition of any article on which he is accused. It means that there is not described what exact crime Sunday had done. Nonsense like Sunday used hypnosis appears only on the Internet.

- But are Kolesnikov and Golovanov, who have been under arrest, related to the “King’s Capital” or they deny it as well?

- No, they say they have not committed any crime and have never worked at the “King’s Capital”. As I know from Lutsenko’s words, they both will be kept under arrest as they do not want to cooperate with the investigation. But even if they wanted to give evidence against my defendant, they cannot do it because they do not have any information regarding the illegal actions of my client. Because otherwise they would have "cooperated" in full swing.

- I think the name of Robert Fletcher is familiar to you. He says that some of his clients he received from Sunday.

- I hear about it for the first time. I do not know the fate of Fletcher but he does not figure in the case of Sunday anyway.

- At the beginning of the interview you said, that you are going to declare a petition to renew the investigation. When will that happen?

- In the near future. To declare a petition on some investigation activities you need to learn carefully all materials.

SOON THE CASE OF PASTOR SUNDAY ADELAJA WILL BE CLOSED!

SUNDAY ADELAJA’S LAWYER, ANDREY FEDUR, THROWS LIGHT ON THE RESONANT CASE.

In an exclusive interview, made by the social movement "Voice of Truth", Andrey Fedur, a famous Ukrainian lawyer, expressed his opinion about certain episodes that took place in a criminal case against the senior pastor of the Embassy of God Church, Sunday Adelaja, proceeded in 2008.

It seems not only Ukraine but the whole world today is watching events unfolding around the Embassy of God church and its leader Pastor Sunday Adelaja. Such interest is not surprising, since Sunday Adelaja is a person of transnational scale, who took part in session with well-known and influential people of our time, and attracted attention of such leading media as the Wall Street Journal, BBC and Associated Press.

Being only an onlooker in this situation, the international community is still puzzled why the Sunday Adelaja case still exists if the fact is obvious that all the charges are inflated just like a soap bubble, without any foundation. Moreover, with a frequency of one time every three to four days national media and law enforcement agencies continue to escalate the situation around Pastor Sunday and the church in general.

Why the case of Sunday Adelaja is still not closed?

Lawyer Andrey Fedur answers one of the intriguing questions:

"In the course of the investigation materials being studied, I can tell my client has nothing to do with it. In my opinion, Pastor Sunday is still pursued today only for one simple reason: someone has found him to be a real threat. Pastor Sunday is a Head of a serious enough and powerful religious community in Ukraine. It seems someone does not like it, as well as it is not included in someone’s plans. This is my personal opinion, I am deeply convinced of it.

We have cardinally changed Government. Formerly there were some prerequisites, but for now the case of Pastor Sunday is still in progress, and there is no objective decision. I came to the next conclusion: the case is in the Sunday Adelaja person. If there had not been such a religious community today, which Sunday Adelaja leads, there wouldn’t have been so much interest in this man.

From the perspective of law, this case should have been closed long ago. During two years, investigators have not produced one piece of evidence of Pastor Sunday’s guilt. There is no guilt and cannot be. Why? Because there is no evidence of committing a crime. Pastor Sunday did not commit those crimes he is accused of. Legal investigator also understands that the charges against Pastor Sunday are futile ... "

Pastor Sunday Problem is inside of him ... I guess it is his energy, unbridled desire to reveal God to the Ukrainian people and to enlighten the eyes of Ukrainians, uncompromising, persistence and determination in achieving the desired goals. He can be a serious threat to those who used to keep people in ignorance and slavery.

In the second part of article series about lawyer Andrey Fedur opinion of the situation surrounding Pastor Sunday, you can learn why Pastor refrain from public statements and comments on the investigation, as well as which case against Pastor Sunday has already been closed and others

Movement of the “Voice of Truth "

www.golospravdi.at.ua

Pastor Sunday Adelaja: HOW DO YOU MAKE YOUR PRAYER LIFE EFFECTIVE

(theses of the anointing service for December)

December in our church is the month of fasting, prayer and personal prayer retreat. And as Jesus’ disciples, we should learn at His feet.
Matthew 6:8-10 says: Therefore do not be like them, for your Father knows what things you have need of, before you ask Him. Therefore pray in this way: Our Father, who is in Heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.

Here Jesus is teaching His disciples how to pray, or to say it right, how to pray effectively. An effective prayer is the prayer that induces action, the one that the Lord sends an answer to. In this Scripture, Jesus reveals to us the main secret that makes a prayer effective. This principle, is the corner stone on which all our prayers (including regular daily prayers), fasting and personal prayer retreats are based.

Unfortunately, as many Christians do not consider this principle (which the Lord Himself reveals to us), I could say that about 80% of all their prayers remain unanswered. The reason to that is that people either do not know this principle or do not pray according to this simple truth.

We can see the secret in verse 10: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”. So what is the principle of effective prayer?

Jesus teaches us that our prayers should be concentrated and focused on praying through the things that are God’s will. The target of all our prayers should be bringing God’s will to earth, i.e. the desires of His heart.

We should always pray about the desires of God that are already in His heart or those that He wants to fulfill or has fulfilled in the spiritual world, because God’s desires will not come to earth without a prayer. Everything that God wants to see on earth starts in heaven and prayer is used to bring the desire of God’s heart to earth.

However, it often happens that we pray for and declare the desires of our own heart, our own will, asking God to fulfill them in heaven but it is supposed to be the other way around – the starting point of changes on earth is heaven, not our own will. We pray to fulfill and establish on earth the things that have been fulfilled and established in heaven. In other words, we are merely instruments in God’s hands to carry out His business on earth.

How do we become God’s instruments on earth? The most essential thing is to find out what His desire is. And then we pray for this desire to be fulfilled on earth. Examine your heart desires to make sure that everything you are praying about is meant to only glorify His name and have God’s will be fulfilled on earth!

For instance, if you are praying for good health, then it is to help you serve the Lord. If you are praying for a job, then it is not only to earn money for yourself and to fulfil your desires but to spread the Kingdom of God and establish His will. And also to spread His principles to your place of work. If you are praying for your future spouse, then you must be certain that through this marriage you want to glorify God by establishing His principles and desires. In other words we must be sure that in prayer the motives of our hearts are targeted to fulfill God’s desires on earth. If we pray that way, then the percentage of answers to our prayers will be much higher than we can only imagine.

Apostle James had this same revelation. James 4:2-4: You desire, and do not have. You murder, and are jealous, and cannot obtain. You fight and war, yet you have not because you ask not. You ask and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it upon your lusts. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever desires to be a friend of the world is the enemy of God”.

If our prayers are concentrated on satisfying our own carnal needs and desires, then there is no chance that such prayers will be heard in heaven. This is because far above everything, God answers prayers that are targeted at fulfilling His intentions and will on earth.

James 4:13-15: Come now, those saying, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and spend a year there, and we will trade and will make a profit, who do not know of the morrow. For what is your life? For it is a vapor, which appears for a little time, and then disappears. Instead of you saying, If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.

In the passage above, Apostle James is telling us that we cannot dictate to God what He is to do from/in heaven. But it should be the other way round - we receive His orders. We, as obedient servants, can only listen to God’s orders/will and fulfill them on earth.

Even Jesus could not pass over this truth. John 6:38: “For I came down from Heaven, not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me”. Jesus announced it publicly that this is the only lifestyle He dedicated Himself to. He came only to carry out what God intended to fulfill through Him. And all His actions were focused on fulfilling the desires of the Father revealed to Him in prayer.

James 5:19: “Then Jesus answered and said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, The Son can do nothing of Himself but what He sees the Father do. For whatever things He does, these also the Son does likewise”. In this Scripture Jesus explains His prayer. First Jesus prays for God to reveal to Him His desire, His will. Then once Jesus would see God’s will for Him, He prayed to bring it here to earth. And only after that Jesus went on and carried out the will of the Father through certain deeds.

Apostle Paul also explains to us the secret of answered prayer: “And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him” (1 John 5:14-15).

We can always have answers to our prayers if we know for sure that we are praying through God’s desires and intentions which He has seen and determined in heaven. By so praying, God answers and fulfills what we are asking for.

The most important for God is the fulfillment of His will. And only what is done to glorify and establish His Kingdom on earth counts in heaven. Imagine, Jesus does not even call His mother and brothers His own if they do not fulfill God’s will on earth. “For whoever shall do the will of My Father in Heaven, the same is My brother and sister and mother” – that is what Jesus told his disciples when they brought His mother and brothers to Him. (See Matthew 12:46-50)

So we become closer and dearer to God when we become more and more dedicated to fulfilling His will on earth, giving ourselves fully to realizing God’s programs, God’s projects, God’s desires and establishing God’s glory on earth. It is this dedication that defines our closeness to God.

If you see someone who is dedicated only to bringing the glory to the Creator: it is the person who will have authority on earth and in heaven. But whoever is trying to use God for their own interests will be “found wanting” in the sight of God (Dan. 5:27).

God’s authority on earth and in heaven belongs to those who seek for fulfillment of God’s will on earth. May God help us that our prayers and daily actions be dedicated only to finding and fulfilling the will and desires of our Heavenly Father on earth, as it has been done in heaven.

We recommend the following books to study this topic deeper: “Mighty Warrior” by Sunday Adelaja; “The Final Quest” by Rick Joyner.

May the Lord bless you and your family!

Pastor Sunday Adelaja: MONTH OF MANIFESTATION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD
(theses of the anointing service for November)

I never saw, heard, nor read, that the clergy were beloved in any nation where Christianity was the religion of the country. Nothing can render them popular, but some degree of persecution. (Jonathan Swift)

The month of November in our church is called month of manifestation of the Kingdom of God. Manifesting the Kingdom of God daily in our lives is part of what we are called to by Christ. In establishing and taking the Kingdom of God to the world, we will face temptations to keep silent or be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This world have lots of reasons to reproach believers and point out the things we should be ashamed of: of the Gospel that we preach, of the leader we follow, and, after all, of the church that we go to. However, as Jesus said, if we are ashamed of Him here on earth, He will be ashamed of us there in Heaven. Temptation is unavoidable for all true believers. But any believer that does not overcome this shame cannot be a bearer of the Kingdom of God.

2 Timothy 1:8 says: Be not ashamed therefore of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but suffer hardship with the gospel according to the power of God.

Just as Apostle Paul knew much about such temptation and problem, he admonished Timothy, one of his best disciples. Being an apostle, with all humility and self-abasement, he asked him to stay with him and hold on to the confession of faith and message of the testimony of the Gospel.

Why is Paul talking about it? It was the period when Paul was imprisoned for preaching the Gospel; he was accused for something he did not do, for a crime he did not commit; and many of the so called ‘disciples’ of Paul denied him even long before his imprisonment. If you’ve heard about Paul’s ministry, then would have seen how mightily God moved through him and how the power of God strongly manifested through his ministry. But it could have been uneasy for Paul’s disciples and followers to withstand and some of them would have been tempted seeing what was happening to him. He was bound with chains for something he didn’t do. “Where is that power of God now? Where is God?” they would have asked. It would have been easy for them to allow the thought that possibly Paul had sinned or had not pleased God in something, or stumbled in something, or the other way around – that the Gospel he preached was not the true gospel, and possibly that is why God did not come to help him. It is well-known fact that our Lord Jesus Christ had similar reproaches from the warriors and guards. They reproached Him that He was not the Son of God – otherwise God would have delivered Him from all those troubles. We too face similar temptations today.

Apostle Paul realized how much temptation Timothy was going through to follow him, therefore, he did not expect Timothy to encourage him. Instead, he decided to encourage and support Timothy himself. Looking back over the centuries, we know that God allowed this situation with Apostle Paul. Through Paul’s chains God brought the Gospel to the Roman Empire, even to the Palace of Caesar; and by the word of Paul’s mouth the Gospel spread to the ends of the earth. Now we know that this story with Paul did not happen because the Gospel was not the true gospel. God knows what we do not know and we must allow God to make the decision, which He sees, because He can see better. Whatever God allows is always better and always works together for good, in all cases.

So, Apostle Paul challenges Timothy. There are several lessons in his words:

Firstly, Timothy was not supposed to be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because the Gospel of Jesus Christ is living and active.
Sometimes God allows evil to overcome for sometime in order to have more good. Sometimes something bad needs to happen to prevent a terrible outcome. Sometimes, God can allow a problem to deliver a greater redemption. Therefore, we might not understand what God is doing, but still we should never be ashamed of the Gospel, because the Gospel is the only true thing in this world.

Secondly, Timothy was not supposed to be ashamed of Paul as a messenger of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the Gospel. It is easy to fall for a thought that God was not with Paul anymore when he became a prisoner. You should remember here that there were enemies of Paul, who used this incident as an argument that God was not with him and that the Gospel he preached was not right and that he was an impostor. In such a situation, Timothy could easily get confused – where is the truth? That is why Paul wrote to him saying that he should not be confused or ashamed of the Apostle as his teacher and mentor.

And the third instruction that we can see in this verse challenges Timothy even more. Timothy must be ready to suffer for the Gospel. It’s not only that Timothy was not supposed to be ashamed of the Gospel and God’s messenger, but he also was supposed to be ready to suffer together with Paul in this situation.
Here we should remember the words of Jesus, who tells us these golden words: “Therefore whoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My Words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man shall also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38).

I personally believe that the Lord will take all of us, believers, through such situations, circumstances, when we will have to overcome shame and disgrace for the benefit of the Gospel. We will either deny God in such situations or endure all these troubles for His sake so that He could confess us before His Heavenly Father.
Every believer, who is not ready to endure affliction, insults, shame and disgrace for the sake of the Lord here on earth has no chance of inheriting the Kingdom of Heaven. For Jesus takes no responsibility for such.

In this verse Jesus gives a clear condition applicable to every believer – not to be ashamed of Him, His Gospel, His Church and His followers.
As a confirmation to all mentioned above let me quote the words of Martin Luther King Jr., freedom fighter in America: “I submit to you that if a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live”. That is because if you are not ready to die for something, you have no point in living.
We should be ready not only to endure shame and sufferings for believing in Jesus Christ, but also be ready to die for our faith. And you must be quite certain that in this entire situation, after all, God will be glorified.

2 Timothy 1:8: Be not ashamed therefore of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but suffer hardship with the gospel according to the power of God.
The Bible says that suffering for Christ will be “according to the power of God”. In other words, His power is with us when we go through sufferings and tortures for His sake; His power is with us to go through affliction and shame; His power is with us to go through death if we have to.

Philippians 3:8, 10: But no, rather, I also count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord… that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death.

These words of Apostle Paul make it clear that he consciously went for such a sacrifice for the sake of the Gospel and fulfillment of his calling. He counted all things to be loss and he gave up everything he had for the sake of knowing the power of God.

This Scripture also points out that if we are not ready to suffer for God, we won’t be able to know His power. If we are not ready to endure affliction and shame for Him, God’s power will never manifest in us and we will not be able to have such a relationship with Him that would allow God to use us.
So, for Jesus to confess us before His Heavenly Father, we need to be ready to confess Him without shame here on earth whatever it costs us.
May the Lord help us, especially in our situation to pass this examination; so that Jesus could testify about us before His Heavenly Father and that He would not be ashamed of us in the latter days.

We recommend you to read the following books in order to study this topic deeper: “Church Shift” by Sunday Adelaja; “The Final Quest” by Rick Joyner.

May the Lord bless you and your family!

KyivPost: Most Influential Expats: Sunday Adelaja

Thursday, October 7, 2010, at 23:11 | Kyiv Post

Sunday Adelaja, 43
#16 Most Influential

Pastor Sunday Adelaja, the exuberant Nigerian who founded and heads the evangelical Embassy of God in Kyiv, has a knack for drawing a crowd -- and controversy.

He launched his religious career shortly after arriving in Ukraine in 1993 and his church now boasts 2.5 million members, including 100,000 weekly churchgoers.


UNIAN

And despite the negative reaction to him by Ukraine’s powerful Orthodox clergy, Adelaja's colorful preaching has earned him endorsements from the likes of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, according to the church’s website.

He has also been implicated, however, in financial scams.

“Everyone has dropped in at least once. But the famous ones don’t want anyone to know about it, because I am supposedly controversial,” the pastor told the Kyiv Post.

Leonid Chernovetsky, Kyiv’s eccentric and controversial mayor, has never been shy about his affiliation with the church, gaining spiritually and politically. The church runs a soup kitchen in Kyiv and a rehabilitation center for alcoholics and drug addicts, two charities that worked to Chernovetsky's advantage at election time.

The pastor, married with three children, offers something to everyone.

“My major contribution has been to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. When people see me, they say: I don’t want to go to his church, but maybe I should reconnect with Orthodoxy.”

Reinvigorating religious fervor after 70 years of official atheism by spreading the word in a simple manner is what Adelaja considers to be his greatest achievement.

The result has been a worldwide ministry that Adelaja says extends to embassy churches in the U.S., Europe and former Soviet Union, a radio and television audience of eight million in Ukraine, plus over 80 books written and published by the pastor and translated into several different languages.

Link to list of citizenship of Ukraine's top foreigners (notice there is one Nigerian): http://www.kyivpost.com/data/images/tabl.jpg

Link to list of most influential expats in Ukraine (notice number 16): http://www.kyivpost.com//data/images/03%281%29.jpg

Link to the article: http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/85456/
Link to the main article: http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/85494/

03.10.2010

Pastor Sunday Adelaja: PRAISE AND WORSHIP

(theses of the anointing service for October)

October in our church is dedicated to praise and worship. Genesis 49:8-10 says:

Judah, may your brothers praise you. May your hand be in the neck of your enemies. May your father’s sons bow before you. Judah is a lion’s whelp. My son, you have gone up from the prey. He stooped, he crouched like a lion; and like a lioness, who shall rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a Lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come. And the obedience of the peoples to him.

This passage of the Bible reveals to us important things about praise and worship. Actually, Judah means “praise”. This prophecy is not only about Judah as a man or a people but also about the importance of praise in the life of every believer.

Let us study this Scripture in detail to understand the importance of praise and worship better:

“Judah, may your brothers praise you”
This verse shows us that God exalts praise above all other Christian qualities we must possess to reference him. We therefore must highly exalt praise and honor to God above all and give GOD the glory every day of our lives as believers.

“May your hand be in the neck of your enemies”
These words confirm that praise is a weapon of victory.

“May your father’s sons bow before you”
When you praise God, you receive honor from others. If you live a life of praise and worship to GOD, He will make people honor you.

“Judah is a lion’s whelp. My son, you have gone up from the prey”
Judah always has the power of youth. Praise will always give a worshiper the power of youth. When you praise God, you don’t grow old, your spirit is alive and you rejoice in God’s glory. It implies that no matter how you feel, if you find strength to praise and worship God, you will always receive results and you’ll never be the prey.

“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a Lawgiver from between his feet”
Praise brings honor, respect, authority and power. When you praise God above all in your life, God surely stands for you to honor you. Here is God’s principle: if we honor Him, He honors us. God will never be indebted to us, therefore He will give us honor before people.

These points confirm that man’s limitations depend on who he praises and worships. If I serve and worship a man, my honor and glory will not be higher than what a man can give because I do not see myself higher than that man. However, if I serve and worship God, then the glory and honor I receive are not limited to the human realm. In this case, it’s only the Lord Almighty Himself that would define the limits of glory He showers on me and honor I receive. There is this principle in life that you are a slave to whomever you serve. The other way round: your limitations, abilities, and glory are defined by who you represent. If you worship God and give yourself completely to Him (if God is what you live for), He will surely enlarge your coast. A confirmation to that we can find in this prophecy to Judah which the Lord gave through Jacob.

Let us see why praise and worship are so important and what they give us.

In the Gospel from Luke 17:11-19 we see an example of the result of thanksgiving. This is the story about the healing of ten lepers who met Jesus on His way to Jerusalem. Jesus healed them in a supernatural way and sent them to priests to testify about the miracle. However, only one of them returned to give thanks to the Lord:

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back and glorified God with a loud voice. And he fell down on his face at His feet, thanking Him. And he was a Samaritan. And answering, Jesus said, Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were none found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner? And He said to him, Rise and go; your faith has cured you. (Luke 17:15-19)

Here we can see that this one man was a very grateful man, because even before he came back to Jesus, he glorified and thanked God with a loud voice and then he bowed down before the Redeemer.

This example is very important - the grateful man was a Samaritan, i.e. a member of a different tribe; nonetheless, thanks to his humility a miracle came to his life. It is only when you are sincere and humble that you would be able to praise and worship God, therefore If you want the Lord to accept your praise and worship, you will need to humble yourself before Him. This attitude brought miracle to the life of the leper. Jesus said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has cured you”. Nine people received only healing, but this man received both healing and salvation. Only a person that is truly humble can praise and worship the Lord. Even if you do not have any problem, still praise and thanksgiving will bring you blessings.

Now, let us see what advantages of praise and worship of God to us:

1. Through praise we express our gratitude to God
We always have something to thank God for: for salvation and everything that He has done and is doing for us. It is right to thank God for all these.

2. Praises bring blessings and sweetness into our life

Psalm 147:1 advices each of us: Praise Jehovah; for it is good to sing praises to our God; for praise is delightful and becoming.

3. Praise takes you out of depression and conquers demonic oppression

1 Samuel 16:23: And it happened when the spirit from God was on Saul, that David took a harp and played with his hand. And there was relief for Saul, and it was well with him, and the evil spirit departed from him.

4. Praise brings breakthrough

Matthew 1:3: And Judah fathered Pharez

If Judah is praise, and Pharez is breakthrough, then praise always gives birth to breakthrough. That is why you should dedicate yourself to praising God, after all this is what brings breakthrough to the lives of those who praise God.

5. Praise opens any (locked) door

Acts 16:25-26: And toward midnight Paul and Silas prayed and praised God in a hymn. And the prisoners listened to them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened and all the bonds were loosened.

6. Praise is stronger than prayer

Jonah 2:8-10: They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD. And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land

7. Praise brings defeat to your enemies

2 Chronicles 20:22: And when they began to sing and to praise, Jehovah set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, who had come against Judah. And they were beaten

So, having looked through these points, you see how important it is not to neglect such vital blessings as praise and worship to God. Living with an ungrateful heart will cost you much more that a life full of gratitude to God. I encourage you, my dear brothers and sisters, to live in praise, worship and thanksgiving to God at all times, especially nowadays when you can easily find good Christian praise and worship music. I also recommend you to spend much time in praise and thanksgiving while you are in your personal prayer retreats. For it is through this that heaven is opened and after that it will be easier for you to present your needs at the throne of grace.

May the Lord Bless you and your family!

Apostle Ulysses Tuff: “The allegations concerning Pastor
Sunday Adelaja have definitely been rejected as being
false”

The most popular topic of discussion in today’s Christian world is still the situation with The Embassy of God Church and its Senior Pastor Sunday Adelaja.

As we know, two months ago the pastors who left The Embassy of God Church, addressed their request to Apostle Ulysses Tuff (he is a spiritual patron of Sunday Adelaja, the Senior Pastor of The Embassy of God Church) to examine the situation about the church and its Senior Pastor.

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

We are calling your attention to the written answer of Apostle Tuff to the request of the former pastors of The Embassy of God Church:

To: members of the Apostolic Advisors:

Each of you have presented your allegations to Pastor Sunday, and to other advisory team members. I began to receive e-mails from some of the original twelve as well as other pastors stating their position in regards to the charges.

Consequently, after investigating the allegations and with much prayer and fasting concerning Pastor Sunday Adelaja, these allegations have definitely been rejected as being false.

As of this date, August 16, 2010; I am unable to know if the specific charges you have brought against Pastor Sunday can be proven.

Let me be very clear, I am not disqualifying your charges as made up, but I am stating that I cannot connect the allegations to Pastor Sunday as being his issues. I can not verify that he should be held responsible for the decisions of others or the consequences of their behavior as regrettable as the consequences may be.

It is my prayer that each of you will commit to do and fulfill the commandment of God upon your lives, that you forgive Pastor Sunday if you feel he has done you wrong. I pray that you will continue to declare the Kingdom of God has come in the hearts of those who have accepted Jesus as Lord, and to those who do not know him and that you will continue to press
forward to the mark of the high calling to win and to know Christ Jesus.

In Him,

An ambassador in bonds

Apostle Ulysses Tuff"

Pastor Sunday Adelaja: HOLINESS

(anointing service for September)

In our church the month of September is dedicated to holiness. And before we go any further I would like us to remember what our Lord said about holiness.

In the Gospel from Matthew 5:48 Jesus urges each of us: Therefore be perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect. Often this Scripture confuses people: how can God ask us to be perfect, if none among people can be such?

Moreover, here Jesus does not mean perfection of human abilities, He commands us to be perfect like the Lord is. However, no one is able to be as irreproachable as God.

The Epistle to Philippians 3:12-16 will help us understand these words of Jesus Christ: Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I am pressing on, if I may lay hold of that for which I also was taken hold of by Christ Jesus. My brothers, I do not count myself to have taken possession, but one thing I do, forgetting the things behind and reaching forward to the things before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be of this mind. And if in anything you are otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this to you. Yet, as to what we have already attained, let us walk in the same rule, let us mind the same thing. This fantastic passage from the Bible fully reveals the essence of Jesus’ words to us. Apostle Paul confirms the fact that no man in flesh is able to be perfect. In verse 12 Apostle admits that he himself is far from being perfect, however, he strives for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Once again it confirms that no man can achieve perfection by themselves. Still in verse 15, he says the following: as many as are perfect, be of this mind. In this Scripture we can see the explanation of the essence of perfection the way Apostle Paul saw it. It turns out that a man becomes perfect not because they have achieved irreproachability, but because they strive for perfection. In other words, perfection is not having achieved everything and having nothing else to strive for, but the striving for your goal itself. To be perfect means to press toward the prize of the high calling. This is perfection and holiness.

Another side of perfection of a just person is that if they fall, they stand up and persistently move forward. Proverbs 24:16: for a just one falls seven times, and rises up again; but the wicked shall fall into evil. As long as you continue moving forward, you are just in God’s eyes. That is why in the Epistle to Philippians 3:16 it is written: Yet, as to what we have already attained, let us walk in the same rule, let us mind the same thing. You live in perfection and holiness, if you live according to those principles, which have been revealed to you and have become clear to you in the Bible. For example, if you know that the Bible says you should not steal, tell lies, it means you must try to follow these rules no matter what.

In order to understand the essence of perfection better, let us look at the scientific foundation of this notion. It will help us see what God expects from us.

Perfection is a permissible range of variables. It means that every person has their own permissible range, i.e. the level of their achievements.
For instance, I have one child, who attends a kindergarten, and another, who is a teenager. My demands and borders of permissiveness to the youngster will differ from my demands towards a 16-year-old. And in one and the same situation I could punish my older son Perez, and let the younger daughter Perl go unpunished, because they have different levels of permissible variables of behavior.

In our walking with God we get to know Him and move with Him. Thus perfection for each person is defined by that range of permissible variables, in which they are at the moment of time. If you have come to know certain truths, you must live according to them and not break them. This is the range of holiness.

These two lines in the picture are the boarders of a permissible range of a person, and he should not overstep them.

People may have a wider or a narrower range. Our movement cannot be a straight line, but a zigzag. If you hold yourself within these limits (i.e. in the established rules), then you are at your level of perfection. No man can attain perfection, because in such case his diagram will be a straight line, and in cardiology a straight line is the line of death.

In the Epistle to Philippians 3:16 it is written that we must live in the range of the things we have attained. That is why Apostle Paul says that he has not attained yet, but he is striving. As long as you strive, you are just and holy before God. We can see numerous examples of that in the Bible. This is how God can call people holy even though their deeds show the opposite. Abraham told lies concerning his wife, Noah was drunk, and Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines, however, God calls them holy. But Apostle Paul defines perfection not only as a movement within certain limits, but as readiness to press toward the prize of the high calling. Therefore, as long as you press you are perfect.

Even Apostle Paul had to go through the struggle for holiness. We can find the example of it in the second Epistle to Corinthians 12:7: and by the surpassing revelations, lest I be made haughty, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be made haughty. God Himself is helping Paul here not to sin, not to be made haughty. He gave the Apostle “a thorn in the flesh”, so that he would not overstep his range. We sin in two cases: when we overstep our own range, and when we stop pressing toward holiness and perfection.

Second Epistle to Corinthians 4:7 helps us understand that God deliberately made such conditions for men, so that they could not become perfect while still on this earth. It is for us not to be made haughty, but to always rely on God alone, for only He is our holiness: But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

Let us see how holiness can be expressed in our life and deeds (levels and aspects of holiness):

1. Pure in heart
The Gospel from Matthew 5:8: Blessed are the pure in heart! For they shall see God. By “being pure in heart” God means our motivation and intentions.

2. Fear of God
Holiness is expressed through the fear of God. It is when you fear to break God’s rules and honor God in everything.

3. Conscience
You express holiness when you live according to your conscience.

4. Diligence
Holiness is expressed through diligence. It is when we do everything as if for the Lord, i.e. we do our best.

5. Transparency
You show holiness, when all your works are transparent, in other words, you have no secrets.

6. Forgiveness
A holy man forgives; he cannot hold back an offence.

7. Faithfulness
Faithful in both small and big, and also loyal towards other people.

8. Love
Holiness is expressed through pure love towards God and people.

9. Desire to see God
Holiness is expressed through desire to see God, love and yearning for heaven.

10. Relationship
Holiness is expressed through relationship with people and surrounding world, through our works and deeds.

These points are values of holiness. If we manifest these values every day, then we will truly be holy. So, perfection is seeking to be the way God wants to see us, it is seeking to please Him and live in His will.

Transformation Ukraine Conference

Kyiv, Ukraine

September 28-30 2010

Students, leaders, and pastors are gathering from all over the Ukraine for a two day event that will focus on mastering the keys to transforming the seven spheres of influence in fulfillment of the Great Commission. This event will be the first of its kind in the history of the nation of Ukraine involving over 30 nationals from all over the world.

Topics will include:

• Raising transformational leaders
• Understanding values, systems and structures
• The role of the Holy Spirit in the transformation of nations
• Church Shift
• New Kingdom Paradigm
• The Salt-Factor
• and many, many more!

Event Speakers

• Sunday Adelaja
  
• Sino Agueze
  
• Janette Agueze
  
• Byron Williams
  
• Kiesha Williams

Register here.

Pastor Sunday Adelaja: THE FOUNDATION FOR AN ACTIVE CIVIC STAND
(thesis of the anointing service for August)

Genesis 3:16-18: To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ’You must not eat of it,’ "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

In this verse we can see consequences of the Fall of the man. When the Lord cursed the serpent for tempting the man, He also wanted to curse Adam for his part in the Fall. However, God refrained from cursing the man because from him comes the genealogy of mankind. If God had cursed the man, all subsequent generations would have been cursed. That is why God cursed the Earth instead of the people, so that the man would pay the price for his mistakes by hard labor on earth.

As the result of that curse the earth started producing thorns and thistles which symbolize everything that brings suffering and all the things that make life unbearable. Before that there were no thorns and thistles to be found on the earth at all. And now in every country, in every corner of the earth, in every place a man set foot, thorns and thistles can be found. They can be corruption, mafia, poverty, drugs and legalization of abortion, aggression, escalated of criminal activity and other lawlessness. In other words, thorns and thistles are everything that makes life unbearable. Such are the consequences of the Fall.

However, we often think that Jesus came just to redeem the mankind. Because of this understanding the Gospel of salvation was spread focusing us solely on the redemption and salvation of men. The Gospel which Jesus has brought is more comprehensive indeed. And this Gospel is the Gospel of Kingdom. Its essence is in the fact that Jesus came not only to redeem the man, but also to redeem the earth. For the earth was cursed because of the man’s sin.

That is why Romans 8:18-21 says: The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed, for the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope1that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

The fact is that we need to take the next step after we spread the Gospel – we need to go and take responsibility for the redemption of the earth. What symbolizes the earth? It means all the areas of one’s life and that means changing all formed foundations in mass media, politics, business, education, culture, sports, in spiritual and other areas of life; it is also promotion of moral values and etc.

All areas of a man’s life and activity must correspond with the standards of God’ Kingdom. This is the only way for the Earth to be redeemed from the thorns and thistles that bring pain, grief and death in all areas of life. That is why redemption does not belong to the man only, but also to the earth. God’s values and God’s life must come into every life’s aspect not only for people, but also of our entire planet we live. That is why it is not enough to seek the salvation of one particular city or even a nation. It is more important to solve the problems of Earth and society. This is the only way for redemption to come onto the Earth and into the nations. Otherwise any country will continue to suffer like those countries where there are no saved people. There are many countries where 90-100% of people are Christians, but the life of society has not improved. Why? Because the believers must come out of the four walls of their church and start doing something with an active civic position, which lets them take responsibility for all aspects of life, for solving the problems in society and bringing the deliverance and glory of God’s children into these areas of life. This is not only redemption, but also implementing values and principles of God’s Kingdom into all life’s aspects.

Thus, the Bible tells us that redemption is intended not only for all mankind, but also for the entire earth. We see the confirmation of this in the Gospel of Mathew 27:29:… and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on His head. They put a staff in His right hand and knelt in front of Him and mocked Him.”Hail, king of the Jews!” In this verse we see that the Lord put a crown of thorns on Jesus’ head. By this fact God shows us that Jesus took on Himself not only the curse of the man, but also the curse of the Earth, to pay the price for redemption of the Earth just as God paid the price for all men shedding the Blood of Jesus Christ.

In the Gospel of Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus pays attention to the fact that His disciples must take responsibility not only for nations, but also for the Earth, all aspects of life and people’s way of life and their moral values: Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go 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 I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." In this verse Jesus says that our mission is to change values of the entire nation, their way of thinking and their foundations. Just as Jesus brought values of God’s Kingdom onto the earth, we should bring these values into all areas of life. Precisely what Jesus meant when He said to His disciples: “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

We come to church to learn the principles of God’s Kingdom, to grow stronger in these principles so that they would become our way of life. And after that it is very important to go and restore God’s Kingdom on the earth and establish these principles in all areas of life. That is why we have been saved – to become saviors of people and the earth. We have been redeemed to bring the redemption. And the entire Earth and its creations have been suffering and moaning until we take responsibility and go and start bringing the Word of deliverance into all areas of life. I pray that God would open our eyes and help us to show His image and likeness on the earth, so that we could bring redemption and deliverance of our earth.


For more detailed learning this topic we recommend you to read the following books: “Churchshift”, “Spearheading a national transformation”, “The whole world is waiting for you” – the author Pastor Sunday Adelaja.


May the Lord bless you and your family!

Pastor Sunday Adelaja: THE FAMILY MONTH (Anointing service in July)

It is not a secret that the institution of family is the most ancient and important one among all other social institutions that exist on Earth.

The LORD God said, It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him. (Genesis 2:18) This Scripture tells us that the Author of the institution of family is God. Therefore, when it comes to family issues, there is no source more trustworthy than the Word of God and His instructions.

Genesis 2:23-24: The man said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ’woman, for she was taken out of man. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Proverbs 18:22: He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD. When people – men and women – find each other, they bring good into each other’s lives.

Unfortunately, in these last days the institution of family is undergoing serious attacks, such as:

1. Civil union
By using this term people, who do not wish to take responsibility for building a family, simply cohabit. While not registering there status as married people, they show their light-minded attitude to family; this attitude shows lack of dedication, loyalty, and sacrifice to each other.

2. Homosexuality forms a distorted understanding of the role of men and women in family.

3. Sexual relationships and pregnancy at early age (15-16 years old). This problem has become the plague of the modern society.
However, in spite of these problems, there is an instrument, which God wants to use to restore the institute of family. This instrument is Church.

What values of the institute of family should the Body of Christ bring in their families and the world to fulfill God’s desire?

1. Mutual love. You will need it both to create and maintain a family.

2. Loyalty. Without loyalty from both of the spouses no family can endure.

3. Mutual sacrifice. Sacrifice is the guarantee of a long and happy family life.

4. Mutual forgiveness. Family can endure any test if man and wife can forgive each other.

5. Humbleness, mutual submission. In other words, spouses must be able to step back, humble themselves, and accept the side of the other ad their own.

6. Patience. With this value any family will stand firm and go through any trials.

7. Mutual trust. Trust between spouses will make a family strong and enduring to all kinds of circumstances.

8. Unity

9. Reverence, mutual respect

10. Dedication, common work

11. Communication

12. Faith. This value implies faith in each other and faith in God, and submission to God’s principles.

If you observe all the abovementioned values, it will make your family strong and durable.

Philippians 2:3-5: Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. This Scripture shows that only through the work of both spouses a family has a full-fledged and prosperous life.

You can ask me: if God is the Author of the institute of life, them why do we see so many broken families these days? What can become a reason to a broken family?

1. Lack of knowledge in men and women. Many get married not having prepared fully for marriage. The epistle to Ephesians 5:22-25 tells us about two main principles, on which family is built.

First principle is that man needs to be honored and respected. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. (Verses 22-24)

The second principle in family relationship is that a woman needs love and attention. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. (Verse 25).

2. Adultery and infidelity is another reason of distraction of marriage. Without mutual dedication and trust your family is doomed.

3. Many people create their families, while having abnormal demands and expectations from their future spouse. But the truth is that you should never focus on the things you can receive from your spouse, but on what you can give. For example, their belief is such that only the husband should reach for success, and the calling of wife is to support her husband’s hands. The truth is that every one is born to fulfill their own calling, and it is a part of spouses’ personal mission to support each other’s hands. You must not get married unless you have established your own identity and have a clear vision of your personal calling!

4. Absence of quality communication can also destroy your family.

5. Failure in family life happens when spouses do not wish to work on themselves (not on each other, but on themselves). You just need to want to change! If you are ready to change and understand that a happy family life is not possible without changes (sacrifices) from the sides of both spouses, then your relationship will endure everything!

6. Unforgiveness between spouses. Without forgiveness any family relationship will be torn apart. never wait for the guilty one to ask for forgiveness, - be first to forgive.

7. Family is doomed if you get used to each other so much that you show this kind of buddy-buddy manners (loss of respect and interest in one other; boredom, apathy). Therefore you need to renew your relationship all the time; find new things in your spouse and value the person given to you by God.

8. Unwillingness to work on yourself and your marriage. If you remain at the same level as you were at the point of wedding, your family relationship will soon “die”. Family is a living organism, which is supposed to grow and develop naturally. If spouses do not grow, their relationships are doomed, for when we do not develop, we do not even stay on the same level, but move backwards.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters let us work on ourselves and apply these principles and observe the true values in your family as well as help each other to create strong and happy families. Today the institution of marriage desperately needs reformation! The revival of the initial model of family created by God depends only those, who not only know, but practice these principles in their families!

In order to study this topic more thoroughly, I recommend reading the following books: “Successful Marriage Takes Work”, “Men’s happiness. Women’s happiness” – by pastor Sunday Adelaja.

May the Lord bless you and your family!

A Vacation with Meaning Or How To Rest Constructively

Summer is the time of long-awaited vacations. But how do we usually spend our vacation time, and holidays and weekends in general? More often than not we spend our day-off with family, and we get together with relatives and friends at the holiday dinner table to discuss current issues or just to have a chat. We also like to relax in front of a TV or kick back with a romance novel, mystery or a favorite science fiction.

All these activities are a waste of time, and as believers we can not afford it! If you count the number of days-off we have if we work from Monday to Friday, we will get 2 days x 52 weeks = 104 days-off per year! And that is not including the summer vacation, which is usually from 10 to 21 days (and sometimes even more than 30 days!), then add to that the civil holidays (we have many of them in the former USSR countries), which are also days off.

This way, if you do not plan your days-off and vacation time (i.e. spend them idly), it means that at least 4 months a year (1/3 of the year!) – one third of your life is wasted.

God gave us only one life to fulfill our calling, therefore, every moment of it should be directed at carrying out your destiny on earth. Every year – month, week, day, and hour – should draw us closer to the set goal. If our pastime does not draw us closer to the goal, then we are simply wasting our time, and burning away our only life!!!

Rest is one of the ways to satisfy oneself on the spiritual, mental, and physical levels. The prerequisite to satisfaction is a constructive and quality rest.

When on vacation, you are in charge of your own time. Therefore, this time is a special opportunity to do things you cannot do during working weeks because of regular work.

One can point out four quality levels of rest:

1. The lowest level of rest is the physical level. That is when we rest, or to be more exact, when don’t do anything. The purpose of such rest is often just to lie down, get a tan, have fun around, and indulge in idle chatter.

2. Rest on the mental level is a bit higher than the previous one. This one is all about allocating time for yourself: visit a museum, go sight-seeing, have a cultural and artistic experience, etc.

3. A Specialized, purposeful level of rest is inherent to people, who are moved by concrete goals, businessmen, for instance. Such people do not have any time to visit cultural and entertainment places, or at the very least they try to combine it with something constructive.

4. Level four is constructive rest. It is inherent to people, who set concrete goals and plans for the time of rest. For instance, to write a book during the vacation month, or complete an in depth study of a topic, read a planned amount of books, or listen to some sermons with relevant topics. In such a way, even being at the sea side (while reading useful books and listening to the sermons), these people will not only get closer to their goal, but also protect themselves from unnecessary temptations, as it is hard to entice away someone, who is busy.
Constructive rest is the level of highly organized and effective people, who know the price of life and value of time. Such people never allow anything or anyone to steal their time. They are not dependent on the stereotypes of the society. On the contrary, they dictate their principles to the society. This is the way Christians should be. Idleness must be overcome!

Now let us look at different kinds of rest.

1. When you rest by yourself
This is the most productive time for a purposeful rest. No one distracts you, and you can write books, read, study something. I, for example, take certain books to read, sermons, or write my own books. If your rest is not planned in advance, then you are most likely to get into different traps: like unnecessary connections, acquaintances, etc.

2. Rest with your family or friends
It is possible to rest with your family or friends, but at the same time to carry out plans you prepared in advance. Rest should always be scheduled: for example, 2-3 hours of communication with family is then changed to work on your goals. At the time of vacation communication with your close ones should be constructive, it should edify. That is real rest, because you can be really satisfied only when you are useful and helpful to others.

3. Communication with people you do not know
When you get into a circle of people you are not acquainted with, it is better to start your conversation with questions about common human values, about family, work, and place of living. It is important to give people the opportunity to have their say and find a point of contact, and then you can move on to more serious topics. The main value for each believer must be God. Therefore we should strive to lead every conversation to the main value – to God. We must seek and use all possible options to bring people to Christ.

4. Holidays and common entertainments
When you are invited to different entertainment events, for example, celebrations, birthdays, weddings, corporate events, etc., there also should be a certain task set and a conversation topic chosen. You should always pursue the set goal in every communication; change the subject of conversations to the topics of life goals, family values, calling, spiritual topics, and talk about needs of people. You also should remember that there are two kinds of effective communication with people: Either I am giving- being a blessing to someone, or I am receiving- I am learning new things. Based on this you should build your communication.

If you see that you can’t manage to give the right direction to a conversation, be brave enough not to visit such entertainments any more. Learn to say ‘no’. Value your time and life as a whole! If you can, converse only in case it brings you result.

What kind of rest can we call effective?

Japanese people have this tradition: every trip they take, every vacation should conclude in a deal. Constructive vacation should always conclude with a certain result. You should always return with fruit from a vacation; that can be the changed destinies of the people you preached to, personal changes thanks to the books you have read and sermons you have listened to, or even a written book, a developed program, a prepared plan for the future, etc. In order to carry this out you will need to plan out your vacation day by day. For instance, this summer, during your vacation, you can write the leadership school test.

Apart from that, vacation is an opportunity to meet God in different, unusual circumstances. (You must never take a rest from prayer or reading the Bible.) Vacation is an opportunity to grow spiritually faster than in your everyday life, because you are not in a hurry, you do not think about the things that need to be done urgently, you do not need to rush anywhere or make phone calls.

So let us summarize.

People of purpose and destiny will return from a vacation with fruits of time constructively spent.

1. Strengthened physically: because of doing sports and restoring their general health.
2. Strengthened mentally: because they were occupied with self-education and self-development, studied certain topics concerning personal growth.
3. Strengthened spiritually: because they read Christian books, listened to biblical, leadership schools, fasted at least once a week, went into prayer retreats and prayed more than usual.
4. They were blessed by the fellowship with the people close to them, discussing certain topics, drawing conclusions, and learning things.
5. They shared the Gospel through communication with new people.
6. They reached certain goals and drew closer to their calling: studied the necessary topics, reconsidered and analyzed their life goals.

Psalm 90:12: So teach us to number our days, so that we may bring a heart of wisdom.

THE MONTH OF WORK AND CREATIVITY (Anointing service, June, 2010)

Today we are going to talk about the influence of work and creativity on our lives.

Reading the book of Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 27, we can see that God created humans in His image. As the Lord Himself is a Creator, it means that humans are created to build and create.

Have you ever thought about the fact that God never does anything under compulsion, but always takes pleasure in His work? You can see it clearly in the book of Genesis, Chapter 1. When God was finishing creating the heaven, the earth, His work on the plants, animals, and humans, He looked at the works of His hands and He liked what He saw. In other words the Lord took pleasure in His work.

Labor is an important constituent of our lives. It is a guarantee of development, progress, and survival. If one does not work, then sooner or later they will come to degradation and even self-destruction.

God is clear in His Word: "Whoever does not work, shall not eat". Therefore whoever you are, a child or an adult, it is necessary to work. And even if you are a rich man, it does not mean that you have the right to waste your life at various parties, hangouts, and go to resorts, for all of that is dissipation.

When we talk about work we do not mean that only 8-hour working day should be the sense of your life. When the Bible mentions work, it is not only about the process of earning money. It encompasses any effort to bring about a benefit, including any creative activity, studying, self-perfection, fulfilling your calling, ministry in the family, in church, and charity and social activity. All this is work.

In John 5:17 it is written: "But Jesus answered them, My Father works until now, and I work". Jesus Himself emphasizes that in order to live a full-fledged life it is important to work all the time.

Solomon, one of the wisest men on earth said: "Behold that which I have seen. It is good and right for one to eat and to drink, and to see good in all his labor that he labors under the sun all the days of his life, which God gives him; for it is his portion", Ecclesiastes 5:17.

Let us look at 3 main levels of work.

Level 1 is physical labor. Construction, cleaning, cooking, equipment maintenance, agricultural works, tending the animals, etc. In general everything that has to do with a trade is physical labor.

Creative or mental labor is level 2. "The heart of the prudent gets knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge", Proverbs 18:15. Scientists, philosophers, mathematicians, arts, writers – all people of art and intellectual work, and everyone who has a hobby or is engaged in self-education and self-perfection, carries out creative or mental work.

However, the highest level of work is spiritual work. Spiritual labor is characterized in John 5:19, where Jesus says: "The Son can do nothing of Himself but what He sees the Father do…" Spiritual labor includes prayer, fast, meditation over the Word of God, strengthening in faith, fulfilling commandments – all of this allows us to see what God sees and then implement it in order to fulfill our calling.

In order to fulfill God’s will, it is important to know how to work on all the three levels. And if God works until now, i.e. constantly (John 5:17), then we have no excuses not to work.

"Also he who is slack in his work is brother to a great destroyer", Proverbs 18:9. We should not work for the sake of work, but we should love to work. Only through work can we use the opportunities given to us and realize our potential.

Here are the reasons, for which God established labor:

1. Paid labor gives the opportunity to have primary necessities. Food, place to live, clothes – all these need to be paid for, therefore we need to work.

2. Labor supports active physical and mental activities. Without activities muscles atrophy, and the level of intellect drops abruptly and you degrade.

3. Works keeps you from many troubles and problems. Whenever you can’t find what to do, you get into troubles. People say about such people: he was in the wrong place. Without work people waste their time, fall into depression, or lead a dissipated life, or get under the influence of problem companions. Idleness is one of the main reasons of forming bad habits.

4. Work allows you to reveal your potential: your gifts, abilities, and opportunities. Working we get to know ourselves better, our hidden abilities put into us by God.

5. Work is one of God’s ways to bless us. Only in work we find pleasure and satisfaction, and happiness, which only working people can feel.

6. Work allows you to realize your dreams, ideas, and achieve your goals. Everyone has many ideas, , purposes, and pursuits; and only through labor can we achieve all that.

7. Work allows you to create together with God. When we work we become co-creators with God, we implement God’s ideas. We see that God wants to act through us on earth, and therefore we become the instrument to fulfill His will.

8. Work allows you to be a blessing together with God. Thanks to the finances you earn; you can support your family, relatives, and bless people.

9. Work allows you to acquire new skills and reveal new abilities. For instance, 10 years ago there were few who could work on a PC, but thanks to the applied efforts; it has become possible. Now many people have mastered computer skills.

So, work reveals more and more sides of life to us and favors self-cognition. And also work has a point only when it is done from the whole heart.

Ecclesiastes 9:10: "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no work, nor plan, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave where you go". One of the common problems we have is that we are used to working on the superficial level. Ecclesiastes says that there is no point in such work. Therefore it is vital to learn to focus on your work and carry it out diligently, as only this kind of work brings result.

Proverbs 12:11: "He who tills his land shall be satisfied with bread; but he who follows vanities lacks heart". Thanks to work; we can have bread, provision, prosperity, and blessings. In order to have an effective life, you will need to work and love to work. You need to learn to take pleasure in work and turn labor into a habit.

Work must become our lifestyle; for that we need to develop the habit to work everywhere and always, wherever we are: at work, at home, or in vacation. There is this saying: a good work it is when you leave home gladly in the morning and go to work, and in the evening gladly return home. Of course, there are many home duties, which you need to do within a weekend, which is why it is important to combine both rest and work at the same time. Moreover, I believe that you need to live in such a way that you would look forward to the end of a day-off or vacation to continue to work.

Idleness is one of the main dangers, which we need to beware of. We must avoid idle pastime, empty talks, gossips, etc. It is necessary to remember that there are two fruitful kinds of communication: either I give something to others, in other words, I am a blessing; or I receive something, I learn things. That is why it is important to learn to benefit from everything! Think! What do you receive from communication or what do you give to others, and what seed do you sow during that time?

Especially now, at summer time, I urge you to be careful. Vanity always comes when there is idleness of mind. Many people go for a vacation and do not return to church, because they relax and lose self-control, and their life priorities get mixed up and their values change.

Therefore, it is so important to turn rest into creative process, which is one of the kinds of work. Use the time of rest to build yourself and do something valuable. If we are driven by eternal values, we will think of how we can rest so that God would be pleased with us.

You have a chance to have rest in interesting, and not idle way. The apostolic council of the Embassy of God made a decision to help our church members to rest creatively. From now on every summer all the Embassy of God members from the whole world can participate in the festival "South Wind", the purpose of which is to help believers and their families to have a fruitful rest and grow spiritually at the same time. South Wind Festival will be held from the 21st to the 30th of June in Crimea in a picturesque place – Kanakska Gully. Hurry and register by the phone numbers (+38)067-654-23-87; (+38)095-834-01-01.

I pray that this sermon would help you become even more like our Heavenly Father, Who always works: yesterday, today and forever!

In order to study this topic more profoundly please read the following books by Sunday Adelaja: "Life is time".

May the Lord bless you and your families!