News analysis from a prophetic Christian worldview
 
Of conviction and irrelevance
NOTEWhen writing about God and Jesus, The Daily Jot means YHVH as God and Yeshua Ha Mashiach as Jesus--the actual original names and the true nature and character of them.
  
Thursday, September 5, 2019
The Daily Jot series on grieving in the spirit, followed by the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) resolution saying that the religiously unaffiliated (nonreligious) "overwhelmingly share the Democratic Party's values" have made a lot of people uncomfortable. These Jots cause discomfort because they stir the spirit, which in turn, is convicting. Maybe readers can't pinpoint exactly why they are convicted, but they are moved in a conflicting way. Let's drill down on this a little. Christians in America are now "officially" under attack from the Democratic Party, which in its resolution directly blames the religious for threatening the civil rights of homosexuals, women, Muslims, and ethnic minorities. 
 
Over the last several years, the Democratic Party and those of the political left have become increasingly aggressive at labeling anyone who disagrees with them as bigots, racists, homophobes, Islamaphobes, xenophobes, misogynists and so on. Now the DNC has become so bold as to adopt this as official policy and claim that those with Christian religious values are, indeed, the ones who threaten the civil rights of Americans. In justification, the DNC cited statistics saying, " the religiously unaffiliated demographic has tripled in the last two decades, now representing 25% of the overall American population and 35% of those under the age of 30." So why are these things so grievous to our spirits? 
 
There can be a whole lot of finger pointing, and a whole lot of using Bible verses out of context to say that this is just the way its going to be in the end times. But, every generation since the resurrection of Christ has thought they were living in those times. There is more to it than that. When you couple the DNC's statistics with the trend in America, they match very well and point to dark times ahead. For example,  a Harris poll taken in February indicated that Millennials and Generation Z are more likely to embrace socialistic policies and principles than past generations. The poll, given exclusively to Axios, cites that 73% agreed that government should provide universal health care; 67% agreed that the government should provide tuition-free college; and nearly half, 49.6%, said they would prefer living in a socialist country.
 
Recent polls indicate that only about 18% of the Millennial generation find that Christianity is relevant. This grieving in the spirit is the conviction that the "church" has become irrelevant. You can see it in the present generation's views AND by the fact that a major political party has publicly stated that the nonreligious overwhelmingly share its values, AND it blames the "church" for threatening the civil rights of others. I am convicted that the man-made doctrinal church of today is mostly irrelevant. Look at the results. Christians are commanded to make disciples, yet have not held even the family structure. 1 Peter 4:17 says, "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" You see, it starts with us. Things need to change.
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson

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For the children in rural Ghana, the need is great

By Pastor William Agbeti

"Father, we have a huge challenge!" That was the alarming prayer that sprung up in my heart when we registered the 181st child that showed up for our feeding program this month, against an invited number of 150! The makeshift auditorium of the local rural church, Bread of Life Sanctuary, that we are supporting and where we fed the children, was packed to full capacity by both invited and uninvited rural children. These started showing up in their numbers, with great excitement, hours before the announced time of 1:00 pm! They came from poor rural communities spread miles apart. 

As a result, we were compelled to set up an overflow area outside the auditorium to contain the extra numbers that kept pouring in! Many were reported to have come very early in the morning to survey the area to assure themselves that the feeding program was for real! We ran out of rented chairs and could not get any to rent in the whole of the Kojonya community where the program was held, forcing us to go for benches and other types of chairs for the children.  An hour before the official start of the program, which was held under the theme, JESUS - OUR BREAD OF LIFE!, we had 200 rural children on our hands to feed with both spiritual and physical food! 

Naturally, I started panicking! How could we possibly feed all these needy children? And we were still counting! Just then, definitely by divine intervention, a volunteer stepped up unto the platform where the musical instruments were and started singing: "We serve a Miracle working God who never fails!" 

Immediately, the spirit of panic left me and I dashed down to where the cooks were. I asked the chief volunteer cook if we have enough to feed all the children. She reported they had noticed the situation and had reduced the size of the fried chicken by half, thereby creating 300 pieces! Thankfully she confirmed also there was going to be enough rice for all, if the intended por tions were also reduced by half! Thank you Father, I exclaimed silently! Half a portion is better than no portion a t all! I tried to convince myse lf!

It turned out to be a
The Daily Jot supported ministry in Ghana feeds, clothes and provides clean water for hundreds of children
first-tim e experience for the 200 children.  Many of these had never eaten fried rice! They were treated to a popular nutritious local drink called SOBOLO, made out of the hibiscus flower. They also had popcorn and a received donations of clothing. Our regular musical chairs and dancing competitions were held and the winners were presented with Bibles. At the tail end of the program, majority of the children took decisions to accept Christ and were invited to attend church. These were given summarized lessons about the Old and New Testaments. They learned there are 66 books in the Bible, with 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New. 

The need for them to have their own Bibles and carry them at all times was emphasized. We had a head count of the children who had Bibles and it turned out only a handful of them had bibles. Well over 150 had no Bibles. We promised to organize Bibles for distribution to them. 

As usual, I observed four developments that greatly humbled me and brought tears to my eyes! First, the portions of meals were obviously not enough for some of the children!  Secondly, many did not have popcorn to eat and were openly disappointed! Thirdly, when we assembled to have a group photograph, scores of children came over to cling to me, and will not let go; making me almost fall down! I had to control the tears welling up in my eyes! Lastly, after it all, a small boy aged about four walked to me and pointed out to something on a table somewhere. 

It was another child's pair of shoes! I checked his name on the register of names, asked a volunteer to find out where he came from, and promised to bring him a pair of shoes! How can I ever fail to deliver on this promise?  Meanwhile, I am still thinking about how to address the overwhelming food needs of the children, with a regular monthly, if not weekly, feeding program for at least a year! This is my newest burden I have chosen to carry, so help me God!

Against above backdrop, we have purposed to have follow up activities to help establish the children in local churches, give them Bibles, supply some of their personal needs and win them and many more away from the reach or influence of Islam, traditionalist and other pagan and oppressive religions!

Hopefully, with a rippling effect and impact on our target children and rural communities, we would make a profound mark on rural Ghana with the feeding program! On the whole we had two local rural churches and two local NGOs supporting the program with children they bused to the venue, biblical literature and volunteers! To God be the Glory for a power-filled program like this!

William D. Agbeti



The Daily Jot is totally reader supported. My wife, Chris, and I do not take a salary or receive any remuneration for this work. Your gifts go directly to assisting us in maintaining this column, the website, outreach, and the Lord's work we do in Ghana, West Africa. Thank you for your prayers and support.

Have a Blessed and Powerful Day,

Bill Wilson
The Daily Jot