IN CONVERSATION WITH BRO PAUL...Letter to my friends(7)


Dear Friend,


Over the years I have had several conversations with my father in the Lord, always wanting a clarification of why he does some things in the ministry or an interpretation of a scripture or an explanation of a Christian doctrine. I have found such conversations immensely beneficial in my life and ministry.


Recently, I asked him again to help shine light on a couple of ministry decisions that I wanted to take, and I was blown away with his usual candour. I asked him to allow me to publish some of our conversations and he agreed! Below is an excerpt of some of our 'tough talk'. Enjoy.


On a Christian marrying an 'unbeliever'(generally with no faith or from a different faith) or a  Pastor allowing or conducting such a marriage. 


Bro Paul:
No easy answer to this problem. It is quite clear in the Bible that:

1. We should not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. As a believer I must not marry an unbeliever, if I want to enjoy God's blessing and protection. However, the issue raised here is, what the role of the church in all this is. Can we conduct such a wedding?

2. The answer has to be a personal decision of the pastor. As far as I know I have only conducted one such wedding, and, as it happened, it turned out right in the end. It is the marriage of a couple in our church; the man is now an associate pastor in one of our churches. His wife, a strong Muslim wanted a church wedding; though she said plainly she would not become a Christian. But I decided to marry them, contrary to my normal practice. I believed the love shown to them and through our prayers she would be saved. She was a staunch Muslim, 5 times a day prayers etc. But soon after the wedding the Lord made himself real to her and she got born again and started coming to church.
So it is up to the Pastor what he/she decides, but he/she will have to do some convincing of others in the leadership.

3. It also helps if the boy can promise not to stand in her way of serving the Lord. It is like when Elisha healed Naaman, though he was not under the covenant of Israel, and he might have had to accompany his king to their idol shrine in his official capacity. Elisha still went ahead and healed him.

So it is the Pastor’s call.  The Pastor is within his or her right on Biblical grounds to refuse to conduct the wedding, but the Pastor is able to be flexible to accommodate the believer(who might have little options) and the end might turn out all right.

Bro Paul’s conclusion:
The point at stake in such a case is whether or not the people involved want to be their best for Jesus, or are happy to be on the fringe of things. So it is really only members who are true disciples and who really want to follow Biblical standards that can follow this guidance. The others are people who are only happy to just attend church. It is the level of commitment that dictates how strictly we apply the rules. That was why Jesus was only able to take 3 or 4 disciples with him on serious issues: Mount of transfiguration, Gethsemane.

NB
1.Rev(Dr)Paul Jinadu, popularly known as Bro Paul is the General Overseer of the New Covenant Church Worldwide. NCC has several branches all over the world. You can follow some of his teachings on www.newcovenant.org.uk  and  www.brotherpaul.tv 

2. We always appreciate comments and questions emanating from these posts. Also, we encourage you to join this blog to receive other useful messages. 

3. My book Make that move right now is still on sale at www.amazon.co.uk/make that move right now.

4. I want to congratulate Tope, Gbolahan and Abigail Babalola on a great presentation at My Desire in church last Sunday. We love your marriage and the fruit of it. You are a good example to follow, keep on shinning.


The Babalolas with PTA




...AND FINALLY CHECK OUT THIS LINK ON YOUTUBE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRC30CL3YgQ


WATCH OUT NEXT WEEK FOR BRO PAUL'S ANSWER TO ANOTHER POSER















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