OUR YOUNGEST GRANDAUGHTER: TALIA RENEE OAKES

Tali in heaven and me in Nigeria, we love you dear Talia! Jesus, we love You! To God be all the glory!

Flowers and plants are created by God. I can see His glory in the choice of His colors, in the shape of the leaves, in the process of growth from little seeds. Creation speaks of the glory of God! I worship God!

OUR TESTIMONY

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal 2:20)

I was born in Communist Romania in 1954. Like most of my contemporaries I was a convinced atheist. I did not believe in God. We were thought in school that there is no God, no devil, no heaven or hell. We were also told that there is nothing like the ‘spirit world’. This was our ‘destiny’: work very hard and leave something to our children. That was life as it was explained to us. I believed it! I met Richmond Leigh, my future husband, a Nigerian, in the medical school. We were classmates. We got married in the second year of medical school. We had two children, John and Alina. We graduated and came to Nigeria in 1980. We had Jemine, another daughter, in Warri. We both worked as doctors here between 1980 and 2000. When I came here, I was surprised how religious the Nigerians were (Christian, Muslim and Pagan). I saw their religion as an effect of illiteracy and poverty. I did not see a Bible before I came to Nigeria. My patients preached Christ to me. It always upset me. I ignored, resisted and rejected the religion of my patients. But against all odds, the Holy Spirit arrested me! He convicted me of my sins, especially of pride, unbelief and self righteousness. So, I became saved on the 14th of March, 1986, thru a crisis conversion. The old me died on that Cross where my Savior shed His Blood for me. A month later, the Holy Spirit filled me! Since then, my new life is a testimony to the grace and the power of the only Living God! My husband reconciled with God too. Both of us left our medical professions and entered into full time ministry. We founded Father’s House Bible Church, Effurun/Warri. (He is in heaven now).

What is the lesson? No religion, no doctrine, no teaching, no philosophy or social theory can stand against the name of Jesus Christ! Jesus always wins! To God be all the glory!

(In the picture, Richmond Sisan Leigh (Tali) and I; about 2000)

SUNSET – A BLANKET OF CLOUDS AND GLORY OVER OUR CHURCH AND HOUSE

Warri. Effurun. Nigeria

THE DOCTRINE OF CREATION

During the Sunday service, Pastor (Mrs) Silvia Lia Leigh preached from the Book of Genesis chapter one. She said that we shall go and revisit the beginning of creation. The way Isaac dug Abraham’s well, we want to dig our Heavenly Father’s well of eternal life! The Bible starts with four simple words: “In the beginning God…”. The Bible takes it for granted that God exists and God is the creator of everything that is created. You cannot read the Bible without faith. You must believe these words. If not, to you, the Bible looks like a foolish book. The doctrine of creation states that creation is a miracle. God, who alone is uncreated and eternal, has formed and given existence to everything outside of Himself. He did this from nothing by the word of His power, and all of it was very good. The first four words of the Bible are these: “In the beginning God”. These words place immediate emphasis upon God. They tell us from the very beginning, even before anything else in the universe existed, that God already was. Nothing brought God into being. Nothing gave Him existence. He was around long before anything else was. He was around long before there was even such a thing as time itself. God is above time. God created time. Though God is eternal and above time, He acts in our time with perfect precision. God is never too early and never too late. God’s time is the best. “He makes everything beautiful in His time” (Ecc 3:11).

The Doctrine of creation divides all men into two groups: Some believe it and the others do not! The unbelievers do not believe in God as Elohim, the Creator. They believe that the universe evolved from something else. The Darwin theory of evolution has done much damage to many people. It says that nature started with nothing and evolved into something. Darwin did not believe that God is a Person who designed and created the universe. For example, it says that a monkey, thru a process of evolution, became a man. It gives the impression that things change by themselves, always for better; that they improve on their own, without God, without a Designer and a Creator. There is no scientific proof to believe the theory of evolution. A theory is defined as a formal statement of ideas that are suggested to explain a fact or an event. It is an opinion, or an explanation made by men. This theory of evolution is a deceptive imagination. It is a lie, but many people believed it. It takes faith to believe in an invisible Creator. That faith is a gift from the same Creator. God has total authority over His Creation because He Created it. God is the Beginning and the End of all things. Faith alone receives and understands that and rises to worship God! “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Heb 11:3). Faith is believing God, that God exists. But it is even more than that. Faith ‘understands’ God! Only biblical faith ‘understands’ spiritual things even when it does not see them. God is pleased and rewards the faith that believes He exists, as the Creator of the universe. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb 11:6). This scripture speaks blessings upon those who believe the Doctrine of Creation! May you believe it! Amen!

We are told that the earth was “without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep”. In Hebrew, the words ‘without form and void’ are Ttohu -Va- Bohu”. They mean “waste and empty”; like a desert where life cannot exist. The sound of the words magnifies this picture of emptiness. God spoke light amid the darkness. Light is movement, action. Light is an electromagnetic wave seen by the human eye. Darkness is dead. Darkness does not move. Darkness is the absence of light. The Word of God creates light, a movement called life! It gives form to that which was without form. It gives life and meaning to that which was void. The Word of God goes forth in power and cannot come back ‘void’. “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the Sower and bread to the Eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Is 55:10, 11). As you can see, the Word of God always produces results. It never loses its power to form and create. It accomplishes the will of God! Always! God does not speak careless, barren words. Never! You can see here the power of God! You can see the power of the Word of God!As we are praying for revival, we observe that each time there is a spiritual emptiness, a religious wilderness, it is something similar with “Tohu-Va-Bohu”. In Nigerian’ slang we say “Jaga- jaga”.

There are many problems in Nigeria: corruption in the government offices, the schools go on strike, the hospitals are substandard. Many tend to become disappointed and hopeless. But from this Book of Genesis, we see that the first thing God does when there is emptiness and hopelessness is to bring His Spirit closer to it. The Spirit of God starts to move upon the darkness. Even before God the Father speaks the Word of Creation, The Holy Spirit (Ruach Elohim) hovers over the chaos. The Spirit of God, broods over the dark deep waters. To brood describes a bird sitting on her eggs until the chicks are born. It also describes the mother bird coming to her chicks, to feed them, to protect them. It is the sound of the helicopter ready to land. To brood it means to anxiously and silently think about someone, trying to help him. True love broods. We are praying for revival. Each time God wants to do a new thing on earth, His Spirit starts to hover over a people, over a church. You can almost hear the fluttering of the mother eagle’ wings, over her eggs, covering them until they are born. As it was in the beginning, so it is now… The first two chapters of Genesis are important because they describe the earth and the creation before the fall of man. But this becomes a problem for the preacher. We are preaching the Gospel of Christ Crucified and Resurrected. Where is Christ in these two chapters? We know Christ as Savior. But without sin, there is no need for a Savior. We need the revelation of Christ in a world without sin. We need to see Christ as the Creator of all things. God the Father and God the Son created all things for their pleasure and glory! “All things were created through Him and for Him” (Col 1:13-16).

In Genesis 1 and 2, there is no sin. There is no promise of grace or salvation. It is like we do not need Christ. It is not easy to preach the Gospel from the first two chapters of Genesis. The Trinity created the world. We should see Christ preparing the stage for one purpose only: to reveal the Gospel. The Father created the world thru the hands of the Son! God knew that man would fall. The plan of salvation was done before the creation. Christ was slain before the foundation of the world. “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev 13:8). We are redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world but, was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God” (1 Pet 1:19-21). Here you see the Sovereignty of God! He knows the end from the beginning! Halleluiah! The Trinity agreed on the Plan of Redemption even before Creation. Read Genesis 1 and 2 having Redemption in mind. The Redeemer creates the stage for His Redemption. He is the director of the drama. He puts the props and the lights in their places. The world is the stage for the Cross! It is a mistake to think that man fell, and God was surprised by it! Christ created man in the image of God. Why did God create the world as it is? It was for Jesus! It was for the display of His love at the Cross! God made water! Why? So that He can say: “I am the water of life”. Why did He make the birds? So that He can say: “look at the birds…”. He made the trees. What was in His mind? To make the wooden Cross. He made the iron in the ground. Why? To make the nails, to crucify Him. In Creation, God was looking ahead, preparing for the amazing salvation! The stage is set for the Redemption story. See The Trinity behind it all. Then you can bow and call Him Holy! Worship the Lord!

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1Cor 10:13)

This morning I want to encourage you… One of the best promises we have as believers in Christ is that when tempted, we shall not be left alone. This is the truth: God will be there in the furnace with you, helping you to find ‘the way of escape’ out of the fire. The way out of the cage is down, at the bottom. The humble believer kneels down, prays and finds it. But the proud one looks up, tries to climb out and will miss it. That is why proud men suffer much longer than the humble ones. Lesson: When you suffer, humble yourself and trust God! Soon the pain is over! All trials that come your way ‘are common to man’! These afflictions are suited to men, to what men can bear, not different than what other men experience in this life. Remember: God is faithful! His faithfulness is seen much clearer during times of temptations. God oversees your trial. He will not permit the devil to attack you until you break down, backslide or die. Your present pain will not be above or beyond your power to resist the devil and to remain faithful to God to the end. The faithfulness of God is the proof why all of us who are suffering one trial or another, are still alive and well. If not for God we should all be mad, admitted in a psychiatric hospital with deep depression. Surprisingly, we are able to endure, to bear pain, patiently waiting for God to reveal the way of escape. Lesson: because God is faithful to me, I will be faithful to Him!

The reason why temptations are so painful is that the devil attacks not only with sickness or poverty, but with many lies as well. These are some of the lies that you must resist and reject: Lie number one: ’God does not love you, that is why you suffer…’ This is a lie! If you are a child of God, then you should know that God’s love to you!!! In Christ, God’s love is unconditional and eternal. God uses painful things to discipline you, for your own good, but He will not take away His love from you. Lie number two: ’You may start well but you do not have the power to end well…’ This is a lie! The grace of God is sufficient to start and finish the race. Do not be discouraged! Lie number three: ‘If you are spiritually mature you will be able to avoid al temptations…’ This is a lie! The closer you get to God the more His light will shine on you. This light will expose your weakness and sins. You will become more sensitive to sin and temptations. Remember that Jesus was tempted, Paul was tempted and all believers will be tempted. Temptation is not sin. Backsliding in the middle of the temptation is sin! Stop trying to use ‘wisdom’ to avoid pain. Accept it as part of life. See the gain of pain! Pass thru the fire! Like Job, you will come out shining like gold! Lie number four: ‘Nothing good comes out of this temptation…’ This is a lie! Sin is useless but temptation is used by God to purify our hearts, especially the motives for serving Him. God will be grieved if you fall and backslide because of trials. God will be happy if you trust in Him always and stand faithful to the end!

Final Lesson: Be faithful to God! God rewards faithfulness and obedience! Give God all the glory! Praise God for your salvation, your testimony, your healing, your deliverance, your fruitfulness, your family, your anointing for ministry and so many blessings! This temptation is temporary but God is eternal! Jesus saves to the uttermost! In all things give thanks! Shout hallelujah!

(Written 24-07-2017)

George Washington Carver (1864-1943), was born a slave, but he managed to get an education as a scientist. His master, Moses Carver, was a German American immigrant, who had purchased George’s parents, Mary and Giles, from William P. McGinnis on October 9, 1855, for $700. When George was a week old, he, a sister, and his mother were kidnapped by night raiders from Arkansas. George’s brother, James, was rushed to safety from the kidnappers. The kidnappers sold the slaves in Kentucky. Moses Carver hired John Bentley to find them, but he found only the infant George. Moses negotiated with the raiders to gain the boy’s return, and rewarded Bentley. After slavery was abolished, Moses Carver and his wife, Susan, raised George and his older brother, James, as their own children. They encouraged George to continue his intellectual pursuits, and “Aunt Susan” taught him the basics of reading and writing. At that time he became born again!
This is his testimony, in his own words: “I was just a mere boy when converted, hardly ten years old. There isn’t much of a story to it. God just came into my heart one afternoon while I was alone in the ‘loft’ of our big barn while I was shelling corn to carry to the mill to be ground into meal. A dear little white boy, one of our neighbors, about my age came by one Saturday morning, and in talking and playing he told me he was going to Sunday school tomorrow morning. I was eager to know what a Sunday school was. He said they sang hymns and prayed. I asked him what prayer was and what they said. I do not remember what he said; only remember that as soon as he left I climbed up into the ‘loft,’ knelt down by the barrel of corn and prayed as best I could. I do not remember what I said. I only recall that I felt so good that I prayed several times before I quit. My brother and myself were the only colored children in that neighborhood and of course, we could not go to church or Sunday school, or school of any kind. That was my simple conversion, and I have tried to keep the faith”
Carver applied to several colleges before being accepted at Highland University in Highland, Kansas. When he arrived, however, they refused to let him attend because of his race. He prayed! He trusted God! He persevered. He worked hard! He earned money by odd jobs. Little by little people observed his humility, hard work, and his extraordinary creative mind.
In early 1888, miraculously, Carver obtained a $300 loan at the Bank of Ness City for education. In 1890, Carver started studying art and piano at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. His art teacher, Etta Budd, recognized Carver’s talent for painting flowers and plants; she encouraged him to study botany at Iowa State Agricultural College (now Iowa State University) in Ames.
When he began there in 1891, he was the first black student at Iowa State. He graduated with Bachelor degree in Agriculture. Carver received his Master of Science degree in 1896. Carver taught as the first black lecturer at Iowa State. He was the most prominent black scientist of the early 20th century. Both Simpson College and Selma University awarded him honorary doctorates of science in his lifetime. Iowa State later awarded him a doctorate of humane letters posthumously in 1994.
His secret was his walk with God. He said that the hunger of his heart was to discover the secrets of the universe. But, he said, God said to me, ‘George, that’s too big for you. I’ve got something more your size. You take a peanut and work on that. And so he began to investigate what God has hidden in a peanut. He found over 330 different products that could be made from the peanut, revolutionizing the technology of his day.
Dr. Carver became famous and wealthy. But in his heart, he always remained a simple, Bible-believing servant of God who relied upon Him to open his mind to truth. This beautiful testimony is to the glory of God and for your encouragement!

DIG YOUR FATHER’S WELLS  

During the Sunday service, Pastor (Mrs) Silvia Lia Leigh preached a third sermon called ‘Revival”. Her main text was taken from the Book of Psalms. “Will You not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You?” (Ps 85:6). Revival is the extraordinary work of God. It is a sovereign act of God by which the Holy Spirit pours upon the believers who seek God. The presence of God comes down as a blanket upon people. Revival starts with the believers, but later, it affects all people. It is a manifestation of the grace, glory, and power of God in answer to people’s prayer. It is a powerful move of the Holy Spirit that changes cities or nations. During revival, many people get converted. No man takes the glory. God alone is glorified. Most of the time it starts with one or few believers who humble themselves to seek God and revival. They prepare the altar with prayers, fasting and worship. They present themselves as a living sacrifice on that altar. They pray with faith and passion until the Holy Spirit comes down. Hallelujah! 

The Holy Spirit does two types of work. He does the ‘regular, ordinary’ work of converting sinners, leading in all truth, and helping us to worship God. This work of the Holy Spirit goes on all the time. That is why we have churches and Christianity, 2000 years since Jesus lived and died. Of course, nothing the Holy Spirit does is ‘ordinary’. But we need to use human words, that we may all understand. The second type of work of the Holy Spirit is His ‘extraordinary’ work. This is called ‘revival. It happens from time to time in the history of the church. For the past 2000 years, there have only been about 50 revivals total, all over the world. After the Cross, there was no revival for 1500 years. The first historical revival started with Martin Luther who God used to ignite the Reformation combined with Revival.

Initially, revival affects the individual believers. From one, like fire in the bush, the revival spreads to others. But what we are praying now is revival that will manifest in our church. We need revival. We need to fall in love with Jesus again! Revival is like a Kiss from heaven. We want to make God happy! Revival always starts with few humble and faithful people. Father’s House is positioned to ignite revival in this area. We are already experiencing a level of revival. We see our children rejoicing and acknowledging the Holy Spirit of revival! Revival starts with believers. An unbeliever needs salvation. He cannot be ‘revived’.

Revival is an extraordinary work of the Holy Spirit that is under the sovereignty of God. We can fast and pray for revival. But no man can make revival to happen. There is a difference between revival and evangelistic crusades. An evangelistic crusade is organized by men or by churches. People hear the Gospel and become saved. This is the good work of the Holy Spirit, blessed by God. But this is not revival. Men cannot ‘organize’ or ‘sponsor’ revival. It is God’s sovereign work on earth. God alone decides when, how and where a revival may start. We prepare the ground, plant the seed with prayer and fasting. But God alone decides when He wants to ‘come down’ and make the seed germinate and grow! Revival is a miracle. There is a great difference between an evangelistic crusade and revival. During an evangelistic crusade, it is the effort of the church to go out and preach the Gospel. The preacher makes an altar call. The unbelievers who desire to surrender to Jesus come forward. Then, they may or may not attend a church. But revival is different. The Holy Spirit comes primarily on the Christians, to revive them. From the Christians, like wildfire, it spreads the unbelievers who surrender their lives to Christ without any human agent. People come to Jesus without any ‘altar call’.  Most revivals had a human leader, but the glory was always given to God. Even the unconverted people start to behave better. That is why revival changes the atmosphere in a city or a nation. Judges use white gloves, as a sign that they have no case to judge. All people have withdrawn their cases. The Police officers do not work because crime goes to zero. It affects the schools, the university campuses, the marketplaces, the government offices … As you can see, revival is not just a little event. It changes the history of nations! May God grant this mighty revival upon Warri/ Effurun and Nigeria!  

Not all believers desire revival! Some Christians have come to a place where they think that they have ‘arrived’. They become proud and unteachable. They have stopped paying the price for spiritual growth. These Christians become internal hindrances to revival. Religion is a great stumbling block to revival in many churches. The effects of revival cannot be faked. The Holy Spirit comes as waves of ‘tsunami’ to overflow all around. People suddenly repent of their sins and give their lives to Christ. It happens during their sleep, walking on the streets etc. No man takes the glory for such a holy work. All glory goes to God who overshadows any human vessel. Let us humble ourselves! There is no partiality with God! Never forget that! Before the Cross, the ground is level. There is no male or female, slave or free, Jew or Gentiles. Let us humble ourselves and intercede for revival! 

All classes of people are touched and blessed during revival: old and young, educated or not, socially high or low class. Revival has a beginning and an end. This is another proof that God is in control. If men knew how to start a revival, they will do everything to make it work indefinitely. But man cannot do that. A revival can be on for one to two years. Then the Holy Spirit stops pouring in His mighty power. He continues as it was before. Then you may say: why then should we pray for revival? Because it is god’s will for His church! Revival stops because God has blessed all people. A generation has been blessed with power from above. The work God does in one year of revival is greater than what He does in one thousand years. All the people who get saved during revival are genuinely saved. They remain faithful to God and to the ministry, to the end of their lives. Praise the Lord! Therefore, we shall continue to pray for revival!  

When you pray for revival, think big! Think Church! Think about the Body of Christ! Be bold! Be strong! Have faith in God! Every church has a prophetic mandate. It is good for you to know what the vision of your local is. Father’s House Bible church has an apostolic/ prophetic anointing! We are like a ‘burning bush’ in the desert. We are positioned for revival in this area! We must not be satisfied with good or better. We must press in to manifest the best God has for us! We are commanded to “aim for perfection!” (2 Cor 13:11). By the grace of God, this we must do! May God’s perfect will be done in this local church! May we fulfill destiny! In Jesus’ name! Let us stay focused and pray as led by the Holy Spirit!  We want to put a smile on the face of Jesus. When we humble ourselves and pray, God is happy! There is rejoicing in heaven when we repent and obey God (Lk 15:7). Heaven is a joyful place! Heaven is not boring or sad. Let us make God happy! We are praying for revival, for wholesale repentance and a harvest of souls! During revival sinners repent! Can you imagine Warri without armed robbers and kidnappers? Can you imagine that the people will not cheat others in the business world in Warri? Can you imagine that soon, there are no more “419”? You need to imagine and desire to experience this miracle in this town. I imagine it and believe that I will see it! That is why I am here! That is why I continue to pray! By the grace of God, I refuse to be discouraged!   

There is a great need of revival in the Church. “The opposite of war is not peace. It is revival” (Pastor Richmond Leigh). Initially, the revival is ‘messy’. Because the Holy Spirit convicts many people of sins, there is a lot of weeping and desperate praying. People look like they are drunk or depressed. They do not care what others say. All they want is to make peace with God. At that stage revival is like a labor room, noisy and bloody.  Most revivals start when the Church is lukewarm of backsliding. If you study the history of the Church for the past 2000 years, you discover that its growth was not linear. The growth was seasonal, going up and down. There are times when the Gospel manifested its power, converting many people. Other times, it seems that the Christians are not interested in the preaching of the Gospel, in prayer or church activities. During these times of spiritual dryness, when the Christians become discouraged, God ignites a revival. Like rain upon the dry land, the spiritual atmosphere changes and many are revived. What God does in one year during revival is greater than what He does in one thousand years, before revival. God loves to ‘surprise’ His people with showers of blessings. We can call revival the Kiss or the Dew of Heaven. “Even so, Come, Lord!”  

One picture of revival is the desert blooming again. This is God’s promise:  “I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland” (Is 43:19; NLT). There is a desert place called Namaqualand, in South Africa. It blooms only once a year, during August or September, when it rains. Suddenly, the dry hot grey sand is covered by flowers of many colors. Many people from all over the world go there to see this miracle of reviving the desert. The driest place on the planet is called Atacama Desert in Chile (also called the Moon Valley). These incredibly dry mountains see an average of less than .004 inches/.01cm of rain per year. Many times, this area will go without rainfall at all for years. Some places in the Atacama Desert have not had rainfall for over 400 years. Recently, there was rain over there. The desert suddenly became a garden, with flowers of all colors! This is a picture of revival!

DIG YOUR FATHER’S WELLS

In the Book of Genesis 26 we see a four-thousand-year-old story. Many preachers used this story to preach about revival. We shall do the same. There was a famine in the land. Isaac wanted to go to Egypt, like his father Abraham did in the past. Going to Egypt is a form of backsliding. Egypt stands for the world. Isaac was already going towards Egypt when God stops him and speaks to him. He tells him to dwell in this land that He will bless him. Isaac obeys and decides to dwell, for the time being, in Gerar, a city of the Philistines. Isaac is a man blessed by God who lives in the difficult season of famine. Nothing stops God’s promises! God’s promises are always fruitful! This is a time of famine. What can Isaac do?

Isaac represents a believer, blessed by God, who lives in a difficult time and a difficult place.  Isaac hired the land from the Philistines. The harvest was hundredfold. The Philistines have planted in that land. They knew how much that land can produce. But God surprised everybody, including Isaac, with a hundredfold harvest. Only God can produce such a harvest! This is the blessing of God! Isaac was prosperous with a particular type of prosperity that increased as time went by. The famine and the unfriendly neighbors could not stop this prosperity. But then, trouble comes. The Philisties who were ‘friendly’ with him, began to envy him! “Then Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. The man began to prosper and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So, the Philistines envied him” (Gen 26:12-14)

Envy does not manifest when your situation is the same as others. But immediately God blesses you or promotes you, your ‘friends’ will envy you. Envy affects all of us. It is a natural product, a work of the flesh (Gal 5:21). Simply said, envy is an angry, selfish, and ambitious greed! Envy says: “I want to take what is yours! You can remain poor and naked! I do not care!” That is why envy is criminal! Envy is an enemy to your progress in life and to revival! Envy can become a demon! We need to overcome it in our personal lives and in the church! Envy is like a torment! Envious people do not sleep well at night! As we pray for revival and godly prosperity we need to learn how to identify and defeat the demon of envy, in our hearts, and in the others outside us. God will help us! 

The Philistines stand for religious spirits. They envy the prosperity of the true children of God. Isaac stands for a believer in Christ that God wants to prosper. This supernatural prosperity triggers envy and rejection from the religious spirits. Isaac was rejected from Gerar. He went to a lower place not far from there called The Valley of Gerar. He needed water to survive. He remembered that his father Abraham dug some wells there. That was his hope for survival. Water is life! First, see what Isaac did not do. He did not look for human help. He did not go to dig new wells in a new territory. “The man who experiments in a time of crisis is a fool” (Pastor Richmond Leigh). Isaac went to the wells Abraham dug. He trusted his father. I identified with the success of his father. The Philistines blocked the wells with earth. He removed the earth knowing that bellow this dirt, there is the water of life, the hope for revival. Removing the dirt from the wells is a difficult slow work. But it is the only work that leads to success. As we pray for revival, we go back to basics. We go back to the Cross. We align ourselves with the anointing flowing from God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, King David, Apostle Paul … and even Tali! We repent from every sin that blocks the well of success. We repent from friendship with religious unbelievers. Let us go back to our foundation! Go back to the Bible! “Do the first things first” (Pastor Richmond Leigh). Reconnect with the blessings you saw working in your spiritual ancestors. The way it worked in them it will work in you! It is the tested and proven path to success and victory!

This is a spiritual game! It is a spiritual search! Envious people will attack you. That is the proof that you are on the right path! Halleluiah! God created man to dream big. The envious people dream big, but their dreams are of the flesh! We must dream by the power of the Holy Spirit! Revival is such a dream! Do not forget your God given dream! Do not give up on you dream! Invest prayer and intercession in your dream! Nigeria will ‘owe’ you! Nigeria will be grateful to you! Pay the price! God will answer your prayers and bless Nigeria with revival! Nigeria is waiting for you! God bless you as you pray! We do not go thru the politicians or thru the millionaires! We go thru the Holy Spirit! He is enough for me! He is enough for you! Let revival come that we may rejoice in Your presence, Oh, my God! Worship the Lord!        

“Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:“He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here!He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it!By the way that he came he will return! He will not enter this city!” – declares the Lord.“I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!”Then the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp…” (Is 37:33-38)

This is the historical background: Assyria was the strongest kingdom at that time. They had total success against all opposition. They has even defeated the northern Kingdom of Israel and carried them into exile. They have advanced into the Kingdom of Judah, demanding that Jerusalem will totally surrender. Sennacherib, the Assyrian commander openly boasts about his past successes, trying to intimidate King Hezekiah and the people of God. The enemy is confident of success. He even insults the name of Jehovah, the God who is ‘in charge’ of Zion. Hezekiah knows that humanly speaking his case is lost. He needs a miracle, nothing less will do! He knows that this trouble is too much for him to solve it. He cannot trust in himself or in his people for they were not much better than their northern defeated ‘brethren’. What is the secret of this victory? Hezekiah prayed to God and called Him down from heaven to earth! He had faith that God hears and answers the prayers of His servants, especially the desperate ones. He prays and then He waits for God to say something… to do something…

Suddenly God answers! God gives him a word of assurance, the promise that the enemy will be defeated and destroyed. In less than 24 hours, it happened exactly the way God said it! The angel of God killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night. This is what I call victory! Why did God intervene? These are the reasons: God defends His name, His glory and His people! We observe ‘the chemistry’ of true miracles: the attack, the insult, the slander of the enemy against His name and the repentant, humble prayer of faith of His people. Once these two factors collide, the dynamite of God’s presence will manifest! Let your faith increase! This is the truth! How do you react when great pressure is on? Some people fight it, some people run away, some deny it, some compromise or surrender to the enemy, some ask for help from men, some ‘bury’ themselves in work, some ‘drown’ their sorrow in alcohol and drugs…Some of these things may have some value, sometimes, but when your back is to the wall, when all things fall and break to pieces, when all hope is gone, when my testimony hangs in the balance…when I find myself between life and death…I come to God Almighty, the only Living God, for whom NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE! I re-remember the privilege of prayer! For as far I still have breath in me, I don’t just waste it on useless weeping and cheap mourning…I use my breath to PRAY! PRAY! PRAY!

Dear Child of God, Call the name of Jesus Christ, your Savior, Brother and King! God is in charge of the angels who are sent to protect you! God is not dead! God is not deaf! Pray! Pray! Pray! God will answer you and the answer can only be good! All the glory goes to God! In Jesus’ name, Amen!

(In the picture, children praising God during Sunday service in our church)

REVIVAL (2)

During the Sunday service, Pastor (Mrs) Silvia Lia Leigh preached a second sermon called ‘Revival”. Her main text was taken from the Book of Psalms. “Will You not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You?” (Ps 85:6). Revival is the extraordinary work of God. It is a sovereign act of God by which the Holy Spirit pours upon the believers who seek God. The presence of God comes down as a blanket upon people. Revival starts with the believers, but later, it affects all people. It is a manifestation of the grace, glory, and power of God in answer to people’s prayer. It is a powerful move of the Holy Spirit that changes cities or nations. During revival, many people get converted. No man takes the glory. God alone is glorified. Most of the time it starts with one or few believers who humble themselves to seek God and revival. They prepare the altar with prayers, fasting and worship. They present themselves as a living sacrifice on that altar. They pray with faith and passion until the Holy Spirit comes down. Hallelujah!  

The Holy Spirit does two types of work. He does the ‘regular, ordinary’ work of converting sinners, leading in all truth, and helping us to worship God. This work of the Holy Spirit goes on all the time. That is why we have churches and Christianity, 2000 years since Jesus lived and died. Of course, nothing the Holy Spirit does is ‘ordinary’. But we need to use human words, that we may all understand. The second type of work of the Holy Spirit is His ‘extraordinary’ work. This is called ‘revival. It happens from time to time in the history of the church. For the past 2000 years, there have only been about 50 revivals total, all over the world. After the Cross, there was no revival for the 1500 years. The first historical revival started with Martin Luther who God used to ignite the Reformation combined with Revival.

Revival is an extraordinary work of the Holy Spirit that is under the sovereignty of God. We can fast and pray for revival. But no man can make revival to happen. There is a difference between revival and evangelistic crusades. An evangelistic crusade is organized by men or by churches. People hear the Gospel and become saved. This is the good work of the Holy Spirit, blessed by God. But this is not revival. Men cannot ‘organize’ or ‘sponsor’ revival. It is God’s sovereign work on earth. God alone decides when, how and where a revival may start. We prepare the ground, plant the seed with prayer and fasting. But it is God who decides when He wants to ‘come down’ and make the seed germinate and grow!

Revival can affect individual believers. From one, like fire in the bush, the revival spreads to others. But what we are praying now is revival that will manifest in our church. We need revival. We need to fall in love with Jesus again! Revival is like a Kiss from heaven. We want to make God happy! Revival always starts with few humble and faithful people. Father’s House is positioned to ignite revival in this area. We are already experiencing a level of revival. We see our children rejoicing and acknowledging the Holy Spirit of revival! Revival starts with believers. An unbeliever needs salvation. He cannot be ‘revived’.

Not all believers desire revival! Some Christians have come to a place where they think that they have ‘arrived’. They become proud and unteachable. They have stopped paying the price for spiritual growth. These Christians become internal hindrances to revival. Religion is a great stumbling block to revival in many churches. The effects of revival cannot be faked. The Holy Spirit comes as waves of ‘tsunami’ to overflow all around. People suddenly repent of their sins and give their lives to Christ. It happens during their sleep, walking on the streets etc. No man takes the glory for such a holy work. All glory goes to God who overshadows any human vessel.

For example, a simple man living in Iyara (a needy area in Warri) starts to pray for revival. He lives in a house without an address, without a number. This man has not finished secondary school. He is what people call ‘a nobody’. He starts praying for revival. God may choose to answer his prayer. Suddenly, the Holy Spirit comes down and waves upon waves of blessings touch all of us. The ‘epicentre’ of this revival is a humble man blessed by God who lives in Iyara. Glory to God!

Evan Roberts, the leader of the Welsh revival, was a young man of about 25. He was born in a poor family. He was a miner as his father and all his brothers. He started praying for revival. Sometimes he will feel his heart breaking as he continued praying. God came down. From ‘a nobody’ he became a celebrity! The Holy Spirit led Him to preach, pray and praise God in such a way that at least a hundred thousand people gave their lives to Christ in just few days. Let us humble ourselves! There is no partiality with God! Never forget that! Before the Cross, the ground is level. There is no male or female, slave or free, Jew or Gentiles. Let us humble ourselves and intercede for revival!  

When you pray for revival, think big! Think Church! Think about the Body of Christ! Every church has a prophetic mandate. It is good for you to know what the vision of your local is. Father’s House Bible church has an apostolic/ prophetic anointing! We are like a ‘burning bush’ in the desert. We are positioned for revival in this area! We must not be satisfied with good or better. We must press in to manifest the best God has for us! We are commanded to “aim for perfection!” (2 Cor 13:11). By the grace of God, this we must do! May God’s perfect will be done in this local church! May we fulfill destiny! In Jesus’ name!

You may say: “Malia, why don’t you pray for all the Christians and all the denominations”. I do! When led by the Holy Spirit! But sometimes, these are religious prayers that avail nothing. These prayers may be covers for everybody to hide the truth. We speak and pray big words but, in our hearts, we do not want to take responsibility. Let me say this: “I am a mother! I must pray and train my children before I can help my neighbor’s children!” Let us stay focused and pray as led by the Holy Spirit!  

We want to put a smile on the face of Jesus. When we humble ourselves and pray, God is happy! There is rejoicing in heaven when we repent and obey God (Lk 15:7). Heaven is a joyful place! Heaven is not boring or sad. Let us make God happy! We are praying for revival, for wholesale repentance and a harvest of souls! During revival sinners repent! Can you imagine Warri without armed robbers and kidnappers? Can you imagine that the people will not cheat others in the business world in Warri? You need to imagine and desire to experience this miracle in this town. I imagine it and believe that I will see it! That is why I am here! That is why I continue to pray!  

In the Book of Genesis 26 we see a four-thousand-year-old story. Many preachers used this story to preach about revival. We shall do the same. There was a famine in the land. Isaac wanted to go to Egypt, like his father Abraham did in the past. Going to Egypt is a form of backsliding. Egypt stands for the world. Isaac was already going towards Egypt when God stops him and speaks to him. He tells him to dwell in this land that He will bless him. Isaac obeys and decides to dwell, for the time being, in Gerar, a city of the Philistines. Isaac is a man blessed by God who lives in the difficult season of famine. Nothing stops God’s promises! God’s promises are always fruitful! King Abimelech of the Philisties saw Isaac caressing his wife, Rebekah! He knew that Isaac lied, when he said that Rebekah was his sister. He rebuked Isaac. This is an example when God uses an unbeliever to rebuke a believer who is backsliding! The King forbids his people to ‘touch’ Isaac and his wife. Isaac lives amid people who ‘do not want to touch him’. In other words, they do not even want to do business with him. This is also a time of famine. What can Isaac do?

Isaac represents a believer, blessed by God, who lives in a difficult time and difficult place.  Isaac hired the land from the Philistines. The harvest was hundredfold. The Philistines have planted in that land. They knew how much that land can produce. But God surprised everybody, including Isaac, with a hundredfold harvest. Only God can produce such a harvest! This is the blessing of God! Isaac was prosperous with a particular type of prosperity that increased as time went by. The famine and the unfriendly neighbors could not stop this prosperity. But then, trouble comes. The Philisties who were ‘friendly’ with him, began to envy him! “Then Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. The man began to prosper and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So, the Philistines envied him” (Gen 26:12-14)

In each station of life, there shall be trials and temptations. God allows such to purify our faith. For the poor man, stealing for food is the greatest temptation. For the rich man, knowing how to relate to envious people is his own peculiar trial. We need to navigate thru these trials of life. But, child of God, remember that God’s presence and peculiar prosperity will never leave you. King David experienced the same blessings: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over” (Psalm 23:5). Can I have a hallelujah?

Envy does not manifest when your situation is the same as others. But immediately God blesses you or promotes you, your ‘friends’ will envy you. Envy affects all of us. It is a natural product, a work of the flesh (Gal 5:21). Simply said, envy is an angry, selfish, and ambitious greed! Envy says: “I want to take what is yours! You can remain poor and naked! I do not care!” That is why envy is criminal! Envy is an enemy to your progress in life and to revival! Envy can become a demon! We need to overcome it in our personal lives and in the church! Envy is like a torment! Envious people do not sleep well at night! As we pray for revival and godly prosperity we need to learn how to identify and defeat the demon of envy, in our hearts, and in the others outside us. God will help us! Let us pray! Worship the Lord!  

HOME AGAIN

“Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your labor under the sun” (Ecc 9:9)My husband and I, we just came home from a Wonderful vacation! One reason why we travel together is to create memories. When we come back home we have many things to remember and talk about. This is a good advice for the married couples: as much as you can, travel together! Share the joy of seeing and experiencing new things! Do not always take the children along. Your children will not always be with you. Marriage was before the children came. Cherish your marriage! Beautify it the best you can! Keep the romance hot! Talk good and sweet words to one another. Laugh together! Eat together! Sleep together! Help one another. Do not stay far from each other for long periods of time. Talk heart to heart! Correct in love. Encourage and pray for one another. This is what we do for more than 43 years. It has worked for us. By the grace of God it will work for you! To God be all the glory! (July 2017)

(In the picture, my beloved husband, Richmond Sisan Leigh, and I, in Monaco; July, 2017. He is in heaven now and I on earth. But the glow of these precious memories keeps my heart warm. I see that our love cannot die! Even death must bow to true love! To God be all the glory!)

During the thanksgiving service I received a beautiful bouquet of fresh white and red roses and I was told: “From Tali”. That surprising gift touched my heart! Thank you, Tali! Thank You Jesus! God bless the loving brethren!

(If you live in Warri, Nigeria, you know that these roses are a miracle because they are not sold here! I don’t know how the brethren found them… all I can say is “Jesus, I love You!”)

FOUNDERS’ DAY (2021)

This Sunday we had a thanksgiving service celebrating the life of the founder of our church, Pastor Richmond Sisan Leigh (Tali), who went to heaven on the 3^rd of July 2020. We praised and we worshipped God with songs. Many brethren, family and friends testified about Tali; how he has changed their lives for good. Tali loved God. Tali was passionate about knowing and serving God. Tali was a preacher and a teacher of the Word of God. Tali was a worshipper who worshipped God in Spirit and in Truth. Tali loved all people. He was a humble man. All his life he directed people to the Cross, to Christ Crucified and resurrected. At the end, Pastor (Mrs) Silvia Lia Leigh said that Tali was the most successful and fulfilled Christian she has ever met. He ran the race with faith, confidence and joy. He saw the glory ahead and paid the price to experience it, first on earth, and now in heaven. From now on, every year, the first Sunday of the month of July, we shall call it the Founders’ Day. We shall remember the way we started this ministry, the sacrifice paid for the worship to continue. Tali’s last words on earth were these: “Jesus, I love You! To God be all the glory!” Worship the Lord!    

We came to Nigeria in 1980 (in this picture). We were happily married. We had two little children (Toju/John and Alina/Yemi). Later, in Warri, we had Jemine. We were young doctors. We had big dreams to make the world a better place. When I arrived in Nigeria I could not speak English and I did not believe in God. Oh, but the grace of God pursued us until it changed us completely! To God be all the glory! This place is too quiet! What’s His name? Jesus!!!!!!

(Today is exactly one year since my beloved husband went to heaven. To God alone be all the glory!)

(This picture was taken in 1980)

OUR TESTIMONY

“Try to help those who argue against you. Be merciful to those who doubt” (Jude 1:22; TLB)

I come from Romania, a former Communist country. In school we were thought that God does not exist. The teachers told us that religion is a man’s invention to keep the poor people in bondage. They told us that there is no life after death. The best we can do is to work hard in this life and give some inheritance to our children. I believed that after death man disappears in a cosmic silence and nothingness. I did not believe in God or in the devil, in heaven or hell. From time to time I dared to think that life is more than work, salary, marriage and children. I was a dreamer, a romantic at heart. I loved to read, anything like poetry, the biographies of famous men and true stories. I read many books. I loved country music. I played classical pieces on the piano. In school I was a perfectionist. I thought it was my duty to take first place in any exam or test that comes my way. I had no pity for losers. I felt very bad each time I failed any test. My parents were both teachers and of course, they were very proud of me.

The first time I had ‘an encounter’ with the word ‘God’ was in the first year of university. We were a group of friends and one day, we discussed what qualities each one desires in a life partner. Each one said something. I think I said that “my future husband has to be intelligent and kind”. Then Richmond Leigh, our Nigerian colleague, said something so stupid that we all laughed with tears and made fun of him. He said: “I cannot marry a girl who does not believe in God…” God? What is God? I found myself looking at this young handsome man… he sounded so foolish… I pitied him and his parents in Africa. I made up my mind to help him be more ‘civilized’. For me, faith in God was ‘old fashion’ and ‘religion was the opium of the masses’. This is how we were thought in school. Richmond Leigh never repeated that sentence again. Few months later he proposed to me. After many trials and temptations, and against all odds, we got married. I did not want to remind him of his past foolishness. I was a little surprised that he proposed to a girl who clearly did not believe in God. I tried to forget his words about God. They made no sense anyway… But I could not uproot them from my heart. Like seeds, coming from a strange tropical aromatic plant from far away, they stayed in my heart for many years. I could not explain them. They just stayed there… until the year of God’s favor on me…

We were happy as two nice unbelievers can be. We finished Medical School and came to Nigeria as a young couple with two little children in 1980. In 1986 I had a crisis conversion and became born again. Not long after that I became filled with the Holy Spirit. My life changed so much that my parents did not recognize me when I visited them. I was a new creation in Christ Jesus. I lost all my fears and my doubts. I did not look like a Romanian or like a Nigerian… I look like ‘a peculiar’ person whose citizenship is in heaven. I became ‘foolish’ too, trusting God and praying to Him always! But this so called ‘foolishness’ became my protection and my strength. God humbled me and gave me more grace! Later, my beloved husband had his own crisis conversion. Our marriage was re-dedicated to God and became a ministry of its own. Richmond and I, we are married now for more than 45 years. We are both pastors in full time ministry in Warri, Nigeria. God had mercy on me for I acted in ignorance! Once the light shone, no one could stop it! I laughed at the words of God but I could not defeat them. Yes, God finally answered my husband’s wish to marry a woman who believes in God! This is our testimony… God’s ways are mysterious and they pass all human understanding! To God alone be all the glory!

“I never knew You will favor us this way…Thank You Jesus, Thank You my Lord” (Nigerian chorus)Give your life to Christ! Become born again! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!

In Christ I declare: I give all the glory to God for the salvation of my soul, for the salvation of my husband, for the salvation of our children and grandchildren, for our marriage and ministry together! In Jesus’ name, Amen!

(In the picture, my husband, Richmond Leigh and I, dressed in beautiful Nigerian attire; 02-07-2019)