<![CDATA[ethnosdc - Blog]]>Mon, 26 Jun 2023 18:54:07 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[#WITNESS: 21 days of Reflections-2014 : Day 14]]>Fri, 24 Jan 2014 19:47:25 GMThttp://www.ethnosdc.org/blog/witness-21-days-of-reflections-2014-day-14Picture
When the New Testament tells us to be witness there is a strong reference to the court of law. Acts 1:8 says "but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." The day of Pentecost can be boiled down to one premise: it was the day the Church received the power to be a witness. After Jesus resurrected from the dead he spent 40 days  with his disciples teaching them mysteries of the Kingdom of God. Just before his(Christ) ascension back into heaven, he tells his disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit in the upper-room to receive the empowerment to become witnesses of His glory all across the earth. If we are to fully understand Act 1:8, we must dissect the word " witness ". In the Greek language witness                     (Martus- mar'-toos) means "a witness in a legal and historical sense. Someone who is a spectator of anything"-The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon. If we are believers then we should have  personally experienced the transforming power of the Christ in our lives. So, if Christ transforming power is evident in our live then we have the "solemn responsibility and spiritual legal rights"(Matthew 28:18-20) to testify about what we have experienced, seen and heard. 

Many years ago, I was transformed by the redemptive power of the cross (I became "Born-Again"). From that moment on-ward I became a witness both in words and actions. I remember being in High School witnesses to my friends and colleagues in the dinning hall, team bus and in my classrooms. There was just something deep on the inside of me that desired to testify about what  God had done in my life. "It was like fire shut up in my bones". Anytime I was asked to give an account of what I believed, I was always ready and eager to testify as God's witness.
Day 14: January 24th. Pray that God will give us opportunities to witness: We  are praying that the Lord will give us open doors to bring the good news with power to the corridors of congress, different people groups and to young people all over the DC Area and around world.--Colossians 4:3,  Luke 14:23
]]><![CDATA[#co-laborers: 21 days of Reflections-2014 : Day 13]]>Thu, 23 Jan 2014 08:44:06 GMThttp://www.ethnosdc.org/blog/co-laborers-21-days-of-reflections-2014-day13Picture
We all need people we can depend on. We need teammates, colleagues, collaborators in life. No man is an island to himself. When the Lord called into his vineyard, he didn't call us to work alone but he called us to work along side others. There are no "lone rangers" in the kingdom of God. If co-laborers were not important why did the Lord give us different gifts. Since we play different roles in the body of Christ we definitely need each. If we are to be great co-laborers there are six helpful tips we must keep in mind:
  1. Co-laboring always starts with the Lord (1 Corinthians 3:9 a, 2 Corinthians 6:1)
  2. We all play different roles when we co-labor(1 Corinthians 3:6)
  3. Co-laboring is only productive when God blesses our efforts (1 Corinthians 3:6-7)
  4. Co-laborers work together but they each receive individual rewards (1 Corinthians 3:8)
  5. Co-laborers should encourage each other (Romans 12:8)
  6. Co-laborers must love and respect each other (Romans 12:9-10
-by Seyi Olagunju
Day 13: January 23rd. Pray that God will   give us Co-Laborers: Paul and Barnabas were selected by the Holy Spirit  as co-laborers for the work of ministry after a time of fasting and prayer.-Act 13:1-2. Every divine assignment  requires a team. We are asking the Lord to add the right co-laborers to EthnosDC(NWM, H2i etc). We pray that the Lord will continue to anoint our ministry team.  We are also asking the Lord to quickly call forth new team members into EthnosDC. Finally we are asking for the 5-fold ministry to be released in EthnosDC (Ephesians 4:11-15).  --Matthew 9:37-38, Acts 13:2,                1 Corinthians 3:8-9, Ephesians 2:8-10
]]><![CDATA[#OPEN EYES: 21 Days of Reflections-2014: Day 12]]>Thu, 23 Jan 2014 04:07:53 GMThttp://www.ethnosdc.org/blog/open-eyes-21-days-of-reflections-2014-day-12Picture
Sometimes we wonder why our friends and families have not given their lives to Christ. We get frustrated and sometimes feel inadequate when we can't reach those close to us with the gospel. We all genuinely want those around us to come  to Christ but unless the Spirit of God reveals Christ to them they will never believe. What causes many around to reject Christ as savior is because they spiritually blind. The Apostle Paul puts it this way "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake."-2 Corinthians 4:4-5. The god of this age(Ephesians 2:2, John 12:31) is the Devil and he manifests in the world's philosophies, false religions, commerce, repressive governments etc. These blinders confuse many in our culture and around us about the Person of Jesus Christ. The blinders cause deception in the lives of unbelievers. In order to see those around us experience freedom from spiritual blindness their spiritual eyes have to opened. When the glory of God is revealed to the unbeliever its difficult to deny Christ. 

So, the question we must ask our-self is this:"How does the eyes of the spiritually blind open?" Two of the most prominent tools(mechanism) the Lord uses to reveal his glory to the unbeliever is  prayer and evangelism. Our prayers(Romans 10:1) are as critical as evangelism(Romans 10:14-15) in opening the eyes of the lost to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. At the end of the day we need to pray and share our faith if we want the eyes of the spiritually blind open. As I close out this blog entry, I leave you with a quote from a German evangelist “Evangelism without intercession is like a bomb without a detonator. Intercession without evangelism is like a detonator without a bomb.”- Reinhard Bonnke. As we continue to pray and share(the gospel)  with our spouse, children, families, friends, neighbors and colleagues the Holy Spirit will begin to open their eyes.

Day 12: January 22nd. Pray that God will open their spiritual eyes & ears: It is so important that we pray that the Lord open the eyes & ears of those who are lost around us. Many of our friends, colleagues, neighbors and many others in our sphere of influence are spiritually blind & deaf because they don’t know Christ. People need to hear from a church that has the words of life. So, our prayer today is that the Holy Spirit will use EthnosDC(NWM, H2i etc) to open the ears & eyes.                         --2 Corinthians 4:4, Matthew 13:15*, Matthew 13:1-22


]]><![CDATA[#Breakthrough Time: 21 Days of Relections-2014: Day 9]]>Sun, 19 Jan 2014 23:43:13 GMThttp://www.ethnosdc.org/blog/breakthrough-time-21-days-of-relections-2014-day-9Picture
There are times we face barriers in our lives. These barriers are not glass ceilings but  steel ceilings. These barriers are things we can't just wish away. They are things that impede us from fulfilling God'd purpose for our lives. Sometimes we need prayer and fasting to break some barriers in our lives(Mark 9:29). Spiritual barriers could sometimes manifest themselves in relationships, finances, health, soul(mind, emotion, will), carriers  etc. Whatever obstacles we face the Lord promises to be with us(Psalm 23:4). Whenever we are faced with obstacles or barriers we must always respond in faith. As the Angel of the Lord declared to Zechariah concerning Judea and Zerubbabel " who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it."-Zechariah 4:7. Just like the Lord promised Zerubbabel (the governor of Judah under Persian rule-King Darius I) that the mountainous barrier in front of him will fully become plain. We must also believe that God wants to also remove and shatter all spiritual obstacle(barriers) if we live by faith(Mark 11:23).if our God is mighty there is nothing the Lord can't do in and through our lives.

As we celebrate MLK's birthday tomorrow, we can draw from a contemporary example of a barrier breaker. Dr. Martin Luther King jr. didn't take no for an answer when the racist system in the south denied African Americans equal rights. He believed that his faith in God will deliver African Americans from the vestiges of segregation. As we breakthrough with the Savior in prayer, we will also begin to experience breakthrough in the difficult circumstances in our lives.
Day 9: January 19th. Pray that we will experience Supernatural Breakthrough:
We need to breakthrough to the breaker(God) to see breakthrough in all aspects of  EthnosDC(NWM, H2i etc). We want the Lord to go before us in our preparation at EthnosDC(NWM, H2i etc). Breakthrough is not only limited to EthnosDC, but its also available to us in our individual lives. We need God to go before us and make rough places smooth-Isaiah 45:1-10, 2 Timothy 2:25-26
]]><![CDATA[#Provider: 21 Days of Reflections-2014: Day 8]]>Sat, 18 Jan 2014 16:51:48 GMThttp://www.ethnosdc.org/blog/provider-21-days-of-reflections-2014-day-8Picture
Needs have always been a constant factor in human existence since the fall of man. Once man fell in Garden he had to toil hard to  acquire the necessary resources to survive and that same struggle still exists today in the world. Every month when our bills come in the mail we are faced with this reality. Many anthropologists and sociologists have narrowed down basic human needs to three essential things: food, shelter and clothing. Whether we live in the pre-historic age or in the technological age, we all have need of these three things in one variation(form) or the other.

No matter how pious we are as Christians, we are also confronted with the same human needs. So, if the Bible is the manual by which we live our lives; we must ask this question: "what does the Bible say about human needs?" Two Thousand years ago, Jesus answered this question when he said " be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment?"-Matthew 6:25. Jesus was able to make this emphatic statement because thousands of years earlier, God showed himself as Jehovah Jireh in life of Abraham. When God told Abraham to take his son Isaac to Mount Moriah to sacrifice him, he trusted God even-though there were no other sacrificial options. Of course, God interfered and saved Isaac’s life by providing a ram instead(Genesis 22:1-18). Immediately after, Abraham named this place “The LORD Will Provide", which translates to Jehovah Jireh in the Hebrew language. 

In 2014, many of us are faced with many pressing needs, but we must  remember that we serve the great provider. If YAHWEH could provide a ram for Abraham  and Manna for the Israelite community in the desert (Exodus 16) then the Lord can also provide for your needs no matter how difficult the situation might seem. My wife and I have experienced some serious heart-break in the past as it relates to provision but through it all, we have seen the Lord as Jehovah Jireh. A long time ago we made up our mind not to focus on our lack but to focus in the "Provider"(God). Christ tells us to seek first the kingdom and it righteousness and all righteousness and all other things will be add. So, my prayer today is that you will experience accelerated provision to all your needs. 

Day 8: January 18th. Pray that we will experience divine Provision:  We all need provision at one level or the other. So, lets ask the Lord to provide finance & resources we will need in our individual lives and for EthnosDC(NWM, H2i etc) in 2014. Let us not focus on our lack but on the great provider(Jehovah Jireh). Let us  ask the lord to rebuke the devourer  in our lives .-Matthew 6:19-34, Philippians 4:19, Malachi 3:10-12, Genesis 22:1-18
]]><![CDATA[#Fresh Anointing: 21 Days of Reflections-2014: Day 7]]>Fri, 17 Jan 2014 18:22:04 GMThttp://www.ethnosdc.org/blog/fresh-anointing-21-days-of-reflections-day-7Picture
 "Anointing expresses the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit upon Christians who are priests and kings unto God."-Smiths Bible Dictionary
The anointing can also be defined as the empowerment from the holy spirit to accomplish a divine assignment. We all have been called by God. Scriptures tell us  that some of us are called to be Apostles, while others are called to be Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers. No matter what we are called to do for God we need the anointing. Human will(efforts) can't accomplish the will of the Lord. Regardless of our human ability or accomplishment we can't fulfill our calling without the anointing. 

In 2014, we need a fresh anointing(Holy Spirit Empowerment) to go to the next level in God. When the anointing mixes with our knowledge, skill, talent and gifts the results could be astronomical. As we pray through our prayer point today tell the Holy Spirit to remove everything that can block the anointing from taking effect in our lives. There are some things we have all been believing that God will do in our lives but we will never see this accomplished with the anointing. If we want to be freed (Isaiah 61:1, Luke 4:18) healed (Mark 6:13, James 5:14) and empowered for our calling (Acts 10:38, 1 Samuel 16:13) we need the anointing. As I close out this blog, I leave you with this thought: " Without the anointing, David would have just been another shepherd boy but with the anointing he defeated Goliath, defeated tens of thousands of enemies, evaded attacks from King Saul, wrote inspiring Psalms and he ultimately became the King that ushered Israel into its golden-age."
Day 7: January 17th. Pray that the Lord release his Anointing: Anointing is the empowerment from the holy spirit to accomplish a divine assignment. We need the Lord to anoint us for the work He wants to do through our individual lives and through EthnosDC(NWM, H2i etc) 2014. Without the anointing we can't operate in our gifting.- Isaiah 61:1-6
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