Foreword
It is my pleasure to write the Foreword to the latest book
from the stable of Church Arise! LivingWater Ministries. I have been an avid reader of the then
bi-monthly Church Arise! newsletter, since its inception in 1998. Ten years ago, Prof Joshua Ojo approached me
with the vision of a daughter Ministry to further deepen the impact of Church
Arise! in society, taking her message into the market place through a
specialized Non-Governmental Organization.
I was glad to accede to his requests not only to serve as the Chairman
of the Board of Trustees of this NGO (the LivingScience Foundation), but also
for himself to be personally enrolled as a disciple with us.
In the book Surely I Come Quickly, Prof Ojo has made a very
important contribution to the Body of Christ.
He has provided deep spiritual insights into a number of key subjects
including agriculture, environment-health, sociology, economics, international
politics, and religion; neatly tying them all together into one related grand
subject revealing God’s great design for His creation, and Satan’s desperate
efforts to thwart this glorious plan. In
treating this subject, Prof Ojo diligently combined rigorous scholarship with
painstaking hard work, providing nearly a thousand well-cited references (from
both Scriptures and secular sources) to establish his points
The clear goal of Prof Ojo with this book, as with the other
publications from the Church Arise!, is to help Christians discern the somewhat
complicated unfolding end-time drama.
Seemingly unrelated issues such as the Once-Saved-Always-Saved doctrine,
Transgenderism, GMO foods, Human Genetic Modifications, Terrorism, and Digital
currency, to mention but a few, are all shown to spring from the same fountain,
as Satan seeks to corrupt and control humanity for the express purpose of
frustrating God’s plan for him for eternity.
Like the biblical Sons of Issachar, Prof Ojo not only seeks to help the
Church discern the times, he also offers sound counsels on how the Church needs
to respond, (and even prepare ahead), so as not to end up as hapless pawn on
the end-time chess board.
I will like to particularly highlight his efforts to alert
his readers to the central place of the Evolution theory in the unfolding key
contemporary events. He actually
referred to it as “probably the most underrated tool of Satan” used in
promoting deception and corruption in contemporary Society. Prof Ojo recommended that the Church pay
attention to ministries such as the Institute for Creation Research (ICR),
Dallas, in the USA which has been engaged in providing sound scientific
refutations of the many falsehoods rooted in Darwinism. I myself got acquainted with the important
but somewhat under-appreciated work of the ICR way back in the 1970s and I am
glad to see it being strongly referenced in this work.
A triumphant book, Surely I Come Quickly assures the
corporate Church that Her victory is irreversibly settled, though due diligence
should be made to establish structures that would stabilize Her against the
unwavering wiles of the devil. Likewise,
individual Christians are reminded they are to continue to tirelessly “work out
their personal salvation” by diligently deploying their God-given resources to
occupy the spaces assigned them by divine providence.
I, without any reservation, strongly recommend this book as
critical companion in the days to come on the shelf of every serious Christian Minister. The materials contained therein are far more
than can be chewed in one bite. They
will serve as very useful references in the days ahead, as we, as Wise Virgins,
await the imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Pastor Ezekiel
A. Odeyemi
Assistant
General Overseer (Education and Training)
The Redeemed
Christian Church of God.
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PREFACE
This
is our fifth book, addressed primarily to the Church, on the critical issue of
the soon-coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. To be frank, we expect it to be our
last on the subject.[1].
The title of the first book was taken
from the opening words of the Lord in His earthly ministry (The Time is
Fulfilled – Mark 1:15); while that for this fifth book is taken from His
final words recorded in the Scriptures (Surely I come quickly - Rev.
22:20).
The
three other books (the trilogy, Behold I Come Quickly, Books I-III), had
focused on key end-time indicators, progressively monitored over a period of 12
years, to show that they are converging towards a singularity – that is, a
point where the present world order breaks down irretrievably. In short, it is clear that the world simply
cannot continue to exist for much longer, as we know it, if present trends of
those indicators persist. In the current
book, we have re-arranged these key indicators into two clusters. The first is comprised of three products that
are desperately being pushed unto the world by agents of darkness who feel
their time to take over authority has come, and they can wait no longer. The other cluster comprises of tools being
used to push these three products on the world.
The
products are woven around the “trans” idea, indicating extension of a
concept beyond the original design.
While this idea may indicate “progress” in several other subjects, it is
not so in the subject of the origin of the world itself. The only two possibilities for our origin are
creationism and evolutionism, and they are mutually exclusive – that is, they both
cannot be correct. Creationism avers
that the world came into existence by precise careful design, and after
creation had been completed, any trifling with it – as in a “trans” idea
– could only lead to a degradation. In other words, going “trans” with
an already perfect, stable system can only destabilize it, rendering it
imperfect and unstable. It would amount to what the Yoruba describe as “attempting
to climb the tree beyond the leaves”! [By the way, a good illustration of this idea
would be the “Hypergrace” doctrine associated with the Once-Saved-Always-Saved
doctrine. Hypergrace is essentially trans-Grace!]. The evolutionism view of origins, on the
contrary, holds that the complex ecosystem we observe in the world today
actually started accidentally from very simple systems; and things only got
more and more organized on their own, again by repeated accidents, without any
external supervision or prior design in mind.
In particular, it avers that it is always possible for us to intervene
today, and further accelerate that process of making the world’s ecosystem get
better and better, infinitely without end. Hence, these “trans” issues.
Even
if we may not be able to subject the origin of our world to formal scientific
investigations, the observed reality today is that any achievement of higher
order in some aspect of nature is to be paid for with much higher disorder at
some other aspect(s). This most
fundamental of all scientific laws is recognized as the second law of
thermodynamics. Consequently, it makes sense that we do detailed and holistic cost-benefit
analyses before boisterously embarking on some “trans” projects – especially when they are to be implemented
on a massive, possibly irreversible, global scale. This is the basic rationale behind the “sustainable
development” doctrine. The need for
being holistic in our considerations bring to mind the Scriptures that affirm
that this is possible only through the Lord Jesus Christ; and that it is only
in Him that ALL things simultaneously hold together in perfect equilibrium
(Col. 1:17).
We
identify in Section II of this book, the three “trans” concepts currently
being foisted on our world as: 1) Transgenderism and Transspeciesm; 2) Transgenic
Foods and Organisms; and 3) Transgenic Man. The whole point of these new products being to
corrupt the original, at the very roots (genes), resulting in less
stable and more easily-manipulated versions. The other cluster of end-time indicators,
serving as tools for promoting the uptake of the three “trans” productts
in society, together with the key strategies employed to deploy them, are
discussed in Section III. The strategies, exploiting human lusts, are based on
gradualism, and flying of false kites that demand certain contrived “solutions”. The tools themselves are classified in this
book as: 1) Education and Technology, 2) Environment-Health, and 3) Socio-economics.
The new world emerging from all these processes is often described as
“post-modern”.
It is deeply concerning that while
many genuine Christians would readily concur that the world is indeed headed
for a singularity, only few take time to go further to contemplate and grasp what
this really translates to. We need to understand that it is a priviledge to be
alive and be part of these developments (Mat 13:17); and that there are clear roles
assigned for each of us in the scheme of things, to the glory and pleasure of our
Lord (Psa. 40:7). Sadly, rather than rooting for the Lord on key frontline
issues, many of us, out of utter confusion, or intimidation (or both), go about
playing the pawn in the hand of the enemy, regurgitating contrived empty slogans
fabricated from the pits of hell with which they have been force-fed. We need
to continually bear in mind that one day, we shall all stand before the
judgement Seat of God and give account for all we did while here in the body
(II Cor. 5:10).
The Church Arise! LivingWater Ministries has always been about reminding the Church who we truly are, and where our interests lie. Reminding us of our capabilities, destiny, and the infinite superiority of the Supernatural Intelligence which is available to us through the Holy Spirit, compared with any brutish Artificial Intelligence the world may come up with. As the salt of the earth, and the light of the world, the Church is the only Institution capable of arresting the rot in an entropic world. We are God’s instrument to keep the world sane and sanitary. As we play these roles, (by simply being ourselves), darkness finds it absolutely impossible to comprehend, let alone resist, our light (John 1:5), Hallelujah!
On
the other hand, the primary strength of Satan is stealth - catching people
unawares. He certainly would love it, if
possible, that people might even get to believe that he does not exist! The key to our victory over Satan then, is to
not be unawares of his wiles and strategies.
To be sober and vigilant, and be ready to resist him by faith. It is in knowing the truth that we receive
true freedom! (John 8:32)
Nigeria
is the primary theatre for our discussion. It is evident that the LORD has
graciously blessed the Gospel in Nigeria in a special way, and that the country
has a special role to play on earth in the unfolding end-time drama. However, denigrating the influence of the Church
in our country with a view to discouraging her from fully playing her assigned
roles, has become a major pastime for agents of the antichrist. Throwing around
dubious statistics, these folks try to shame the Church for daring to succeed
and thrive in a land where basic facilities are lacking, governance is
fumbling, and industries are having a hard time surviving. If only we prayed and
worshipped God less, the scorners suggest, the country would transform to a “first-world”
nation overnight!
But
how does the Church’s successfully running thriving Educational Institutions, effective
Health Centres, model Municipalities, and using these to validate the Gospel
she preaches [as did the early Missionaries], how does any of these stop
government (or other entities) from performing their own responsibilities also:
building a safe, stable, and prosperous society? And more importantly, do we really want to end
up like heathen Europe, or communist China for instance, seeing the hefty
social, moral, and spiritual costs of their supposed advancement? We could further ask if the devotion expressed
by the Church for the Lord Jesus Christ in Nigeria is any more “fanatical” than
that which is lavished elsewhere on football clubs and stars, entertainment “idols”,
careers, the martial arts, adventurism, and so on. Not to talk of the sacrifices demanded in new
age religions, cults, and secret societies!
It
is of course true, as to be expected, that the enemy is working overtime to
have the Church corrupted and discredited with the activities of fakes and
charlatans. But this is not really a big
problem. If the true Church would arise
and boldly play Her part, the fakes would in no time be exposed, lose patronage,
and simply fade away.
Satan
is a hopeless loser, and he is currently losing out big time. As he sees the end beckoning in sight, he has
become extremely agitated, desperate, and raving mad. The Church is called to calmly resist the
various antics of the devil, and instead, work out Heaven’s counsel for true God-glorifying
sustainable development of our world. We
expect that at the time of His choosing, the Lord will return to personally
evacuate His bride (the Church) from the earth, signaling the commencement of
the catastrophic closure of the current world order (2 Thess. 2:6-8). That time,
we believe, is close at hand!
It
is our hope that in reading this book, many folks who are currently in the “valley
of decision” will see the big picture, and will stop being intimidated or
pushed around by the devil. The stakes
are humongous, and the devil is ready for any payout to anyone who is foolish
or myopic enough to attempt eating with him with the proverbial “long
spoon”. No spoon long enough! The stakes
are humongous and the devil would pay anything to derail whoever is available
for derailment. Likewise, it is hoped that,
corporately, we the Church will remember who we are, recall where we have
fallen, and in due repentance, return to our first love.
We
are called to occupy and be in charge until our Lord finally shows up; and all
the resources required for us to do so have been adequately provisioned by Him.
Our
God reigns. He is firmly in
control. No shaking, Saints!
Shalom.
Rev
22:11
[1] Even if the Church’s stay on earth is somewhat
extended, it is clear that in the days ahead, the lion share of the patronage
and influence hitherto monopolized by books of this nature, will have to be
transferred to other media, in particular the AI-powered social media and the
implanted nanochip. We expect huge
radical changes and developments to unfold in the world at incredible
mind-boggling speeds that can practically be discussed in real-time only with
these new media, and not traditional books. This book thus sets the tone and
agenda for more robust and real-time interactive engagements on the social
media. Kindly follow us on X:
@ProfJoshuaOjo; WhatsApp: link-to-join https://chat.whatsapp.com/ICb2sqAbE2aA1RoJfuto7r, Telegram xxxxx;
and blogs: www.churcharise.blogspot.com, htpps:lsfnigeria.org
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