Dishonor or adorn, it’s your choice by Pastor Steve Ellison

The book of Titus is about leadership and it’s about education. It also gives some insight into the importance of the family. Titus 2 points out the importance of our behavior to how the gospel message is received. It is likely that we Christians will have to bear some of the blame for unbelievers rejecting the gospel message.

In the midst of the discipleship instructions given in Titus 2, this passage states in two places that the world’s perception of God’s message is tied to our actions. The first is given in negative terms; the second in positive terms.

Titus 2:3-10 says, “Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, 4 so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored. 6 Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; 7 in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, 8 sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us. 9 Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.” NASU

While giving detailed instructions about proper behavior, the Scripture also gives marvelous motivation for being very careful to observe those standards of behavior. It is a sobering thought to realize that my misbehavior causes the word of God to be dishonored. My misbehavior causes unbelievers to have a bias against the word of God, to be predisposed to disbelieve the gospel message.

The Scripture says that I should take great care in behaving properly so that I will make the doctrine of God more appealing to the unbelievers. There is a lost and dying world all around me that needs reasons to trust God not reasons to distrust Him.

Titus 2 commands me to behave in such a way God’s message appears more attractive. Certainly my behavior does not change the actual beauty of the gospel or increase its intrinsic value in any way. However, my actions ought to adorn the good news about forgiveness of sin.

Practically speaking, Titus 2 reminds me that when I submit to authority, deal with integrity, am above reproach in my speech, etc. then I am adorning the doctrine of God, making people more likely to trust God’s message. On the other hand, when I rebel against authority, deal dishonestly with people, gossip, etc. then I am dishonoring the word of God, making unbelievers less likely to trust God’s message.

So, Christian, next time you are considering listening to a little gossip, or going on a tirade against a waitress, or cutting a few corners in a business deal, or getting a little drunk, or engaging in sexual sin, etc. please stop and consider the effect that your actions will have. God takes His Word very, very seriously.

Because He does, we should too. I do not look forward to standing one day before a holy, holy, holy God and explaining the list of times that I caused the Word of God to be dishonored. I am trying not to add any more spots to the already lengthy list beside my name.

'Duck Dynasty' Star: We're Using Hollywood to Spread Gospel

 

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Alan Robertson, the newest cast member of Duck Dynasty, said that while Hollywood may have finally figured out that shows with Christian themes will get ratings, the cast is also using Hollywood to spread the gospel. 

"For years, Hollywood missed a lot," he told Religion News Service. "'The Bible' series earlier this year was wildly popular. You have to look at it as positive that they’re being aware. "

Duck Dynasty's premiere was the most-watched nonfiction telecast in cable history, and Robertson said "authenticity rings true with the spiritual themes. There’s a lot of word-of-mouth marketing that you can’t beat."

He also noted that the cast's relationship with Hollywood was mutually beneficial even though the producers still like to stereotype "redneck Christians."
"It looks like they’re taking advantage of us, but we’re taking advantage of them to get the gospel preached," he said.

DATING AS IT'S MEANT TO BE

Its day one at work, day fifty three of the ASUU strike and I’m really enjoying my day here, enjoying the strike too, decided not to adhere those who complain about the strike but instead  I’d make real good use of this free time, get things started and learn new things, that’s a good one isn’t it?

My name is Damian and you are out there, beautiful you, out there reading this, I’m sure you having a great day too, I’ll be taking us through something’s I’ve learnt and tested about RELATIONSHIPS; Man and Woman relationships, nothing more, nothing less.

Awesome right? I know so J

Feel free to leave comments and suggestions, the episodes are weekly, you definitely don’t want to miss this meeting.

…….  Hold it right there!! The contents of every article is targeted towards birthing and keeping stable relationships with a future in mind, one that should definitely lead to marriage, they are not meant for games, testing the waters(really) or grooming players. Why would you want to waste your time, energy and resources with someone who has little or no place for you in their live?  Thank you.

Where were we? Yeah, I remember now…….

Meeting the ONE

Personally, I think it’s really scary and out of place to say that GOD created just one person as a soul mate for me, just one person, out of 7 billion and counting people in the world (ever thought of that?) the possibilities of meeting that person should be say, 0.000000000000000000000………..the zeros never end, if there’s any chance of meeting that someone, it would be really, really low and what happens when you don’t meet that person before you turn 18 or something else happens.

Here’s what I’m sure of; GOD is a spirit and HE created Spirit beings just like Himself and he gave them the ability to make choices, FREE WILL is that ability. The bible makes it clear that GOD deals with the Spirit (Hebrews 11:6) and this is what drives the man, HE now expects you to drive your body and mind through your Spirit.

So here’s my theory, I believe that GOD has placed in a tangible number of people characters in their Spirit that are pleasing to me, for example, the way they smile, laugh, cry, talk, what they love doing, how they chew, even skin color amongst many others, this is the reason why married people who love their spouse so much still feel emotionally attracted to someone else, this is not a bad thing when it’s truly just a feeling, right here is where decision comes in, we as humans are empowered to choose who out of all these people we like or feel for, who we would love to spend the rest of our lives with, I believe that GOD hasn’t stripped man of the ability to choose but instead HE helps us and guides us by HIS Spirit to make the right decisions.

That’s my theory and I believe it’s totally true, your body, mind and environment might have altered the way you should behave into the way you behave now, but deep down in your spirit man (male and female) are behaviors that are GOD given.

Thank you.

I’ll be here again next week.

Damian.

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The Start of BIG

THE START OF BIG

Wow. I’ll be 21 in September and have never really done this, I just rant and talk and then brag on how well I believe I could do this. How well I think I can be impressive with this, mind blowing and have people begging for more. I can’t believe have not started the blog I talked about. Anyways, it took an ASUU strike for me to realize my love for the pen (or should I say keyboard since I type it most of the time) is heaven bound and all round satisfactory. I realized how pen and paper could help ease my thoughts and create room for more.

So well I decided to start a blog, my blog, dejionadeko.wordpress.com, then I asked around and I was told that BlogSpot is cooler so well I didn’t hesitate I opened a BlogSpot account, dejionadeko.blogspot.com. It sounded good but something just didn’t feel right, blogging felt right but it seemed like I was missing something. With a little thought I realized the Holy Spirit wasn’t hinting me on a blog that was about my opinions but His teachings and He sure didn’t take long before He told me He wanted me to blog to life, He wants to me put good news on the gossip spaces of the internet and begin what I call a revolution of The Internet Church.

It sounded good but then again who sets out on such alone? I’ll need hands right? Then easily enough the Holy Spirit dropped names in my head, I didn’t hesitate to ask them and happily they came on board and then me became we and Blog To Life was receiving life.

Damian came on board, then Tega and finally Bolanle joined the train. It was creepy at first to say I wanted to lead a team that had these minds on it so I remember thinking we should find an interim leader who will lead us on for a while and then I’ll take over. Bottom line is fear stepped in and all sort of things began to creep in on my thoughts. I got scared of contents and then continuity and then publicity etc the list went on and on. But the deciding factor was when I told one of the team members, Damian and he began to roll out words of encouragement but the one I think did the job was when he said “hey Deji, remember you are not alone and if you have issues just let’s talk about” I felt doubled relaxed, have been keeping my team members posted ever since and it’s been hurdle after hurdle coming out strong.

Coming up with a domain name wasn’t a bother it was only natural that we use blog to life but the problem is that it has been taken, God, I was devastated, I thought there will never be a suitable name for our blog, what got to me was the fact that the person using the domain we wished for was stagnant, the site was like five years old but had never functioned anyways I began to look for options, I thought of BloggToLife or BlogToLiife or maybe BlogToLifee then of cause BlogToLyfe came in my thoughts I dismissed it like every other one but Damian saw the light and there it is, we decided to settle for BlogToLyfe.blogspot.com which is going to play host to this write up of mine and many others.

When I said many others I meant it in real term. That is because BTL has evolved from an idea to a personal gossip and opinion blog and right now to a platform for sharing the gospel and for expressing yourself as a Christian youth in all forms of art. From music, art, storytelling, articles and two new stuffs that came on the list which is publicity for Christian programs and also summary of church services.

Blog To Lyfe is not a church substitute but a compliment, with a vision to saturate the entire web with the good news of Jesus Christ. It’s not an opinion dump but a platform for propagation of good news.

So dear readers, if just like me you are tired of crashing in to x-rated sites or been in the dark about the on-going of the gospel community or you have something new the Lord laid in your heart be in any form like music, writing etc. Blog To Lyfe is just right place to get both answers and platform.

After all said and done it is my greatest pleasure to officially introduce to you the start of a process and a revolution.

www.BlogToLife.blogspot.com

www.twitter.com/BlogToLife

dejionadeko@gmail.com

THE START OF BIG, small.

Destiny Child Gospel Talent Hunt Auditions

Destiny Child Gospel Talent Hunt Auditions Kick Off in Abuja [Photos]

ABUJA – The second season of the Destiny Child Gospel Talent Hunt Kicked off last week in Abuja.  The auditions moved to Markurdi on Sunday (18th August) and were concluded Monday (19th August).
Here are photos from the auditions in Abuja alongside a diary the DCGTH team have kept so far.

DAY ONE
Bright and early, despite the rainy and cold weather, a lot of people, young and old, turned out to begin a  journey in search of greatness, taking those first steps in the nationwide search for the Destiny Child who will stand above the multitude and against all odds will arise to proclaim the gospel of Jesus…. that one who attains the right to be crowned the destiny child.

L-R: Solomon Lange, U-Chenna, Asu Ekiye

The  audition venue, Agura Hotel was full of hopeful contestants. The atmosphere was agog with groups of young vibrant gospel voices as they rehearsed with hopes of wowing the audition judges.
A total of 452 entries registered online. At the venue, 175 more entries came in, bringing the number of registered contestants to 627.
Officials and crew kicked off the day with the accreditation of the contestants.
Now, the stage is set for the first elimination round, with two different audition rooms, in all their splendor and magnificence, like nothing else spearheaded by Asu Ekiye and Solomon Lange judges for the day. One after the other, the contestants were  ushered into the waiting room, as they pass through the test to determine if they will get a qualification (the green card), as the saying goes “to get into the CITY (DC CITY) you must win the room”.
Contestants came out of the audition rooms with different expressions on their faces, some smiling, some moody, some sad, and also we saw some tears, lots of drama that words can’t really express, giving you more reasons why you have to watch the programme.
The 1st round winners took turns to pose in front of the camera to flaunt their victory symbol (the green card).
DAY TWO
ABUJA AUDITION DAY 2

It was a different ball game as U-cheena, Solomon Lange and Asu – Ekiye our  judges brought their ‘A-game, they merged to become one decision making body. Day one (1) was fun but, day two started with some surprises, with 67 people, who registered at the venue with complaints as to why they could n’t make it on day one.
The expectation from the judges rose as survivors of the day 1 screening where expected to be on top of their game with strong delivery, vocal quality and versatility. The YES and NO were the fears of all contestants as each contestant was expected to get 3 YES(s) to qualify to the next stage.
The anxiety  was intensified for those who could go on to the third round, the sadness and pain got worse for those who this stage would mark the end of their journey in this first edition. With green cards giving way to white tags and fierce competition ahead, the judges had streamlined the contestants from 75 to 50 wonderful gospel voices that will ultimately compete for the final two (2) spots, to represent the Abuja zone in the national competition.
The process lasted for hours and finally the top 5 emerged. After minutes of brainstorming, the judges selected the final two (2). It was an all-male affair as 2 men were finally selected . Congratulations to the selected contestants in Abuja.

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Deitrick Haddon Is Married

Posted by Staff on Aug 24, 2013

It’s Official, Deitrick Haddon has tied the knot with girlfriend, Dominique in a beautiful ceremony held in Los Angeles.  Some of the guest included the Haddon family, some of the Pastors soon to be featured on the Pastors of LA.  Check out the photos posted on his instagram account.

 

We at BTL say a big congratulation to the sensational gospel artist.

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