Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Praying in the Name of Jesus

When we read John 16: 16-24, we see that Jesus, knowing that the end of his public ministry was at
hand, called his disciples over for an intimate discussion.

One of the things that he told them was to pray in his name: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you” (John 16: 23).The question here is, why do we need to pray in Jesus’ name?

We need to pray in the Name of Jesus for three reasons: 

(1)  He is the mediator and advocate

This means that he stands for us; he defends us; and pleads for us. There is nothing good that we can achieve on our own apart from what Jesus had done for us on the cross. Remember his words on the cross: “It is finished”. He had done it all!

(2)  He is the Only One that paid the price of the New Covenant

In Exodus 20: 1-21, God made a Covenant with his people. But they didn’t obey, they broke the covenant. In Jeremiah 31: 33, God decided to fix this problem: “I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people”. On the cross, Jesus paid the price of this deal. 

(3)   Praying in the Name of Jesus glorifies God

Jesus himself declared: “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (John 14: 13)”
Here Jesus puts prayer in a radically God-centered context. God is the qualifier and he is the One that receives all our petitions through Jesus.


Peace and blessings!

Fr. Thierry Hakpon 

"For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay” (Habakkuk 2:3).

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Are Your Leaders Standing Firm?

good shepherd makes a good leader

Our world, the world that we live in today, cries out for a leader, a good leader. A leader who is able to articulate a vision and persuade others; someone who leads by example; It has been said that a good leader “walks the talk”. A good leader is someone who is committed to excellence; he maintains high standards and always looking for a way to raise the bar in order to achieve excellence in all areas. The Church needs good and seasoned leaders that will not be afraid to stand for the truth of the gospel of Jesus. Our country greatly needs leaders that possess these qualities. I like what Thomas Jefferson said about a good leader: “In matters of style swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock”. A leader does not change overnight. He does not change just because he is running for office. He stands firm.

Jesus, in John 10, reveals himself as “the Good Shepherd”.
 
 
Peace and blessings!
 

"For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay” (Habakkuk 2:3).



Fr. Thierry Hakpon

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Leader-World-America-Shepherd

Our world, the world that we live in today, cries out for a leader, a good leader. A leader who is able to articulate a vision and persuade others; someone who leads by example; It has been said that a good leader “walks the talk”. A good leader is someone who is committed to excellence; he maintains high standards and always looking for a way to raise the bar in order to achieve excellence in all areas. The Church needs good and seasoned leaders that will not be afraid to stand for the truth of the gospel of Jesus. Our country greatly needs leaders that possess these qualities. I like what Thomas Jefferson said about a good leader: “In matters of style swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock”. A leader doesn’t change overnight. He doesn’t change just because he is running for office. He stands firm.

Jesus, in John 10, reveals himself as “the Good Shepherd”.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Church - Substance - Faith - Saints

It has been said that Millennials are leaving the church because of substance: they want the church to change its substance.
First of all we need to understand what we mean by "substance". A quick Google search shows that "substance is the real physical matter of which a person or thing consists, and which has a tangible, solid presence".
Substance is what makes the person or the thing to exist. Without it, we will not talk about person or thing.
Asking the Church to change her substance is asking her to change what makes her Church. Can the Church change her substance since she did not create herself?
I would rather see the Church looking for the way to address the issues of the day. I would rather see the Church being real and preach the Word without compromising. I would rather see the Church going back to her roots to practice the faith once delivered to the Saints (Jude 1:3).

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Factions

The story of this First Sunday after Easter took place on the same day of the Resurrection (John 20: 19-23). It is the continuation of the account of the Resurrection. It happened on that first day of the week, our modern time Sunday. Jesus, the Risen Christ appeared to his disciples. It was him not a ghost. He is truly alive. We need reflect on two aspects of the story that I found important for every follower of Jesus: (1) All doors were shut for fear of the Jews; (2) Jesus was the reason why the disciples were gathered.


All doors were shut for fear of the Jews

The Sentiments during the week of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus:

            All the Jews were in town for the Passover; the Pharisees, Scribes, Jewish leaders were strictly attached to the observance of the Law; the political power represented by Pontius Pilate took all necessary precaution to prevent any trouble; and the disciples were afraid of Jesus because of the brutality of the Jews against Jesus. All this leads to the idea of “faction”.

James Madison argues in Federalist #10 that the formation of factions is the natural behavior of men. Whether the group is a majority or minority faction, the goals they pursue may be counter to the good of other factions, or society as a whole. 

According to Madison, there are two methods of removing the causes of faction: the one, by destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence; the other, by giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests.

Jesus and his followers were seen as a faction against the Jewish and Roman establishments: they must be eliminated. Hence, the fear that came upon the disciples.
Jesus is the reason of their gathering

They made the difficult choice to stand for Jesus. They had the choice to compromise but they didn’t. They had the choice to go back to their own families, but they didn’t. They had the choice to run for their lives, but they didn’t. They stayed in the game with Jesus. It is true that they shut their doors for fear of the Jews, but we have to keep in mind that they gathered together for Jesus.

How about you? Where do you put Jesus in your life? Does He occupy the first place? When it comes to choose between your relations, your friends, your families, your relatives and Jesus, what do you choose?

To overcome the world, we cannot support or please the world, friends, families or relatives for no reason at all. For God to do what he promised in Isaiah 43: 1-12, you must make a choice, a clear choice, which is to be on the right side, his side.

As Christians, we are not going to join the world. There is nothing that can justify our choice of the world, families and friends over Jesus, the Bible, the Church, the Kingdom. Nothing!
Be in the same faction with Jesus!

Peace and blessings!

Fr. Thierry 

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