By: Kumayo Kumasi Olusegun (Evangelist)

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PREAMBLE

We are living in the world of spiritual lethargy, social degradation, political confusion, economical propensity, cultural mutilation, psychological abnormality and educational devaluation. There is a great conflict between the spirit and the flesh. Unfortunately, little or nothing is being done to combat this change in our society. We are all almost getting INURED with the societal mores. Technology has come to be a curse than blessing. Everything is almost being abuse. Corruption is eating deep in almost all institutions. Truth and faith are perceived as irrational concepts. Christian youths, to some extent are under pressure to duplicate the abnormal and nefarious activities is the society. The church has refused to leave the elementary stage. The church leaders, many, are not dynamic and creative to quickly respond to the unfaithful situations, no preventive or curative measures put in place for future generations.

The challenge to live faithful in this post-modern world becomes more difficult because of VISSION-LESS leadership system we have adopted. Many youths attend church programmes with no direction or tasks to do or lesson to challenge them to live faithfully.

Our spiritual EYES must be opened. I think that is one of the purposes of this programme. I thank God for sparing my life to speak. I thank my wife, my children, my secretary for their huge support. I thank the leadership of this congregation, preachers, pastors, deacons, sisters, brothers and youth executives and members for the privilege. I appreciate my leaders members, mentors, mentees for the experiences gathered through them. I special thank you for being here. We shall together travel through this lesson for TRANSFORMATION. 

BRIEFING

 Jesus Christ foresees it and warns, “For false Christs shall arise, and false prophets, and will do wonderful miracles so that if it were possible, even God’s chosen ones would be deceived. See, I have warned you.”   Matt 24:24-25 TLB

Paul, the apostle, foresees it and warns, But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. 2 Tim 3:1-6 NIV

With this information, why are we still behave ignorantly as leaders, parents and youths? This is a tough time to live faithful spiritually, educationally, socially, emotionally, morally, financially and….

Spiritual Diagnostic, Formative And Summative Assessments Revealed That:

Christian youths are

• Drifting from the Word (neglect)
• Doubting the Word (hard heart)
• Despising the Word (willfulness)
• Defying the Word (refusing to hear)
• Dull toward the Word (sluggishness)This seminar is a SPIRITUAL ALERT to all of us be awakening from spiritual lethargy or lassitude.

GENERAL CAUSES FOR THE CHALLENGES TO LIVE FAITHFUL TODAY

This section is necessary because we often think that every challenges are spiritual, thus we have refused to pay attention to MAN in wholistic way.

Sociological Causes:

Promotion of immoralities or immodesty on social media

Substance abuse- marijuana, alcoholism, tramadol…Anne Roe’s theory reveals that family

CLIMATOLOGY plays a huge role the society.

Psychological Causes:

1. Anxiety
2. Emotional abuse
3. It is discovered that many of our youths are psychologically impaired

Spiritual Causes:

1. Syncretism-two faces
2. Ignorance/ conceit-leadership’s vision-less-ness

SPIRITUAL ALERTS FOR THE CHRISTIAN YOUTHS TO LIVE FAITHFUL TODAY

1. Fear or lack of courage.
2. Para-churches activities
3. Fake gospel
4. Oppression
5. Stress
6. Segregation
7. Non-substance abuse- gambling or betting
8. Increase of poverty
9. Family disintegration or broken homes

Let me say here that God never call OLD people to serve or lead or make a worthwhile change. Scripturally speaking, God never used CROWD to fulfill His mission. Truly speaking, nobody CAN make a great different without the KNOWLEDGE.

How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Ps 119:9-11

 SPECIFIC CAUSES OF UNFAITHFULNESS AMONG THE CHRISTIAN YOUTHS TODAY  

Jer.4:22, Psa.82:5, Hos.4:6

1. Ignorance Of Self
2. Ignorance Of Purpose
3. Lack Of Vision – “Where there is no vision, people perish”
4. Vision chooses your friends
5. Vision chooses your future
6. Vision chooses your library
7. Vision chooses your use of time / energy
8. Vision chooses your movie
9. Vision chooses your hobbies
10. Vision chooses your destination

A true vision disciplines us and adds value. Vision chooses your diet, investment, attitude in life …. Young people should be guided to have vision before admission. With the right vision, faithfulness is attainable.  These youths lived a practical and faithful lives in their generation because they had the specific destination in mind (JET)

BIBLICAL EXAMPLES OF PURPOSEFUL AND VISIONARY YOUTHS

Integrity comes with vision. Purpose promotes plan. Purpose Eliminates Abuse, abuse of all parts of the body, resources or properties…. What are your purposes on earth? Christian youths should have a purposeful vision to avoid the burden of INDFFERENTISM toward spiritual activities.

Joseph

Esther

TimothyThe Right Place, People And Plan Would Keep Us Upright In The World Of Unfaithfulness. We are not of this world! We cannot be faithful on our lips but on our knees, in the presence of God. “Abide in Me and I in you… for WITHOUT ME you can do nothing”– John 15:4-7.

WORKABLE ANTIDOTES AGAINST UNFAITHFUL LIVING AMONG THE CHRISTIAN YOUTHS 

(Combine Therapies For Youths and Leaders)

PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY (P.P.) “Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers* of this world, rather than from Christ.” Col. 2:8 NLTPhilosophy comes from two Greek word Philia (love) and Sophia (wisdom). Philosophy is simply means “love of wisdom.” According to Andrew (2012), “A philosophy is simply the basic set of ideas, beliefs and values that you live by. It’s your outlook, or the filter through which you view life.” WE CAN LIVE FAITHFUL LIVE TODAY! David’s personal philosophy was different to that of Saul’s. David would admit and repent but Saul would dismiss and rebel. 

PERSONAL ATTITUDE (P.A.) 

 

Personal Attitude contains our individual philosophy of life. Job 6:6 “Can food that is tasteless be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?”. Change your attitude, change your life. “You are limited by your personal philosophy.” “A healthy attitude is contagious but don’t wait to catch it from others. Be a carrier” (Anonymous). “A [faithful life] may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.”

PERSONAL ACTIVITIES (P.A.) Josh.1:8Leaders stand for something- Vision and Value. “When you work hard on others you would make a change, but when you work hard on yourself, you could make a difference.” (Kumasi 2016)

We need to spend more private time in nurturing our inner beings.  Josh 1:8 “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.” (NLT). To live a faithful life, we must have a value system. Our value system control our activities. Nobody acts in a vacuum. Something or someone motivates every activities. LEADERSHIP IS EVERYTHING!

PERSONAL PROGRESS (P.P.)  

 

Personal Progress involves INTEGRITY in all dealings. Many of us are riding on ROCKY HORSE. There is a need for us Christians to remain in school for learning in order to live faithful lives.

PERSONAL LIFESTYLE (PL.) Proverbs 12:1 “Everything that God made is valued and hard to get.”

Where do you find DIAMOND? Deep down in the ground covered and protected. Where do you find PEARLS? Deep down in the ocean covered and protected in a beautiful shell. Where do you find GOLD? Way down in the mine, covered with layers of rock. You have to work hard to get them. Then he looked at me with serious eyes. “YOUR BODY IS SACRED AND FAR MORE PRECIOUS THAN DIAMOND, PEARLS AND GOLD AND SHOULD BE COVERED TOO” (Muhammad Ali’s Advice To His Daughter). 

 

Jesus Christ was used these keys as a youth. Any youth who wants to live faithfully today and makes an indelible influence for the next generations MUST:

12 KEYS TO LIVE FAITHFUL AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE UNFAITHFUL WORLD

Our bodies are temples of God. 1Cor.3:16-17, 6:15-20. How many of us consider these to be truth in our lifestyle? What value do we attach to our lives in what we wear, say and do? What we see, hear, watch, do…frequently affect our FAITHS. What do we teach and preach in our congregations?

Proverbs 12:1 “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid. NIV” If you love learning, you love the discipline that goes with it, how short-sighted to refuse correction!

1. Believe in him/herself
2. Guard his/her energy
3. Do the difficult things
4. Willing to look foolish
5. Feel the sense of destiny
6. Do not waste his/her time judging others
7. Request noble things
8. Aware of his/her resources
9. Take initiative
10. Break the ranks
11. Take a long view
12. Have internal anchors

THE WAYS FORWARD 

 “The things I want to do, I don’t do, and the things I don’t want to do, I end up doing.” Rom.7:15. Joel Osteen (2007) highlights in his book “Become a Better you” 7 keys to improving Your Life Every day.

1. Keep Pressing Forward
2. Be Positive Toward Yourself
3. Develop Better Relationship
4. Form better Habits
5. Embrace the Right Place
6. Develop Your Inner Life
7. Stay Passionate About Godly Life

SUMMARY

Reformat your COMPUTER. Use an authorised software: The word of God. Install strong antivirus. Avoid copying just any information. Update your system regularly with the word of God. Check the Manufacturer manual frequently.

Think Better and Live Better. Society is a fake and authorised dealer for moral standard. Parents should be informed that there are tools, devices for immorality. As leaders of God’s people, We Must Stand Up! Speak Up! And Shut Up!

CONCLUSION 

Rom.12:1-2 “And so, dear [brethren], I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living sacrifice, holy-the kind He can accept. When you think of what He has done for you, is this too much to ask? Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but be a new and different person with a fresh newness in all you do and think. Then you will learn from your own experience how his ways will really satisfy you.”

TAKE-AWAY 

My fellow youths, let us be thermostat-a device that automatically responds to CHANGES in temperature by activating a heating or cooling SYSTEM to maintain the temperature at a desired setting NOT thermometer- a device used to measure temperature, moral champion NOT chameleon – Faithfulness Can Never Fail Us!

I Love You All!

Further Readings

Andrew W. (2012) Christian Philosophy. Tulsa: Harrison House

Lucado, M. (2010) Outlive Your Life Dallas: Thomas Nelson

Myles M. (2001) The Burden of Freedom. USA: Charisma House

Osteen J. (2007) Become a Better You: New York, Free Press

Tozer, A.W. (1961) The Knowledge of The Holy. Bromley: Send The Light Trust

Tozer, A.W. (2012) The Dangers of a Shallow Faith. Lagos: Beulahland Publishers

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