ACTS OF AN APOSTLE

It has been a while. One thing you can be sure of; my mind has been here. I write mainly from inspiration, and no matter how seriously I perspire to write, if I am not inspired, I will not flow. This is how I know I cannot write for money. And I also know I cannot write to impress. I had tried to put a piece together to mark my birthday- and please note that my wife’s birthday was next to mine. I tried and tried, and it just did not flow. You see, God even gave me a very personal word (from Genesis 18:18-19) on our birthday which I tried to share as much as possible to no avail. I have learned not to struggle. It was my first birthday as a husband and a father. It was a very special day to me. And let me seize this opportunity to thank once again, everyone that sent me birthday wishes through visits, calls, text messages or on my Facebook page. You all made me feel special as I have not been so inundated with that much goodwill in a long while. I thank you all.

It was a quiet birthday except that my phone kept ringing. Aside my wife and son, two people made that day very memorable. My sister was around. She is my only sister from the same mother. She follows me by birth and I have not seen many people display genuine interest in other people like my sister does. She is one of the most faithful followers of my blog- and life. All through my growing up and even up till now, I have used so much of her advice. A natural leader she is, and I know it was just a privilege to have come before her. She was around on my birthday with Seyifunmi her son. Seyifunmi is three months older than Daniel and they took their first picture together. My mother was also around on my birthday. Soon, I will find sufficient opportunity on this blog to write about my mother. She has been the strongest human influence in my life, and I am not ashamed to say it. Solomon’s mother was one of his greatest moral influences after God. In Proverbs, we see some of the wisdom God used his mother to teach him- one of which is the Classic ‘Virtuous Wife’ in Proverbs 31. My mum was the first true convert of our Christian home and she does not speak in tongues, yet I have not found a better example of a real (unpretending) person in Christendom. Anyway, leave it for another day; just know that my mother and my sister made my day. It was like I was visited by the host of heaven being in that Family circle. Okay let me get down to the topic. Let me warn; this is not for everyone. It is for those who still think seriously about their divine calling in life.

Act of an Apostle. Someone was trying to locate my place and he got to the neighbourhood and asked for the pastor. They led him to all the pastors in the area and he never met me that night. One reason is; I do not pastor a church. Since that is the common definition of a pastor. I do not even aspire to be one. I am an apostle- and I am so humbly proud to say so- yet if he had asked for the apostle, he still would not have located me. He stood a better chance asking for Adeolu. That is my name and so many people know that. I love that name and that is what my children shall answer as last name. Ade Olu- two of the most common prefixes and suffixes for names among Yoruba people. Ade signifies royalty. It literally means ‘Crown’. In Yorubaland, hearing ‘Ade’ in a person’s name tells you something about his lineage. That is true about my natural lineage- and I am a firstborn. But it has never crossed my mind to be the king of my hometown. How? Oh, when it comes to our turn, I have four vibrant and intelligent brothers to choose from. One of them might just be willing. So that is about my natural lineage. But I am also the son of the King of kings. Aha, I am not the firstborn of God- Jesus is, but I am also an heir of God, joint-heir with Christ. (See Romans 8:17). That is something mind-blowing. Now ‘Olu’ is the other part of my name and it stands for ‘deity’ in Yorubaland. The Almighty God is referred to as ‘Oluwa’. So my name literally means ‘God’s crown’. God’s head is by far a better place to be than on any pulpit. I do not disregard pastors. I have great respect for them. It is not an easy task to gather people and feed them- talk more of feeding them with the most precious of food which is God’s word. A pastor does much more than gather people. Of all the gifts of ministry, pastors are closest to people. They have great compassion for people. Teachers have a revelation to impart; apostles have missions to accomplish; but pastors have people to attend to. God calls them ‘shepherds’ and you only need to study a good shepherd to appreciate pastors. I am only saying it is more than a title, it is a calling. And I happen to know that pastoring is not my calling. I am Adeolu, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the grace of God; blessed be LORD God Almighty for the day I understood my calling.

So what are the acts of an apostle? They are in the Scriptures; the very book next to the Gospel of Jesus according to John. It is the most action packed book of the Bible with some of the most active personalities in Scriptures. One of them was Paul. After I meet Jesus in heaven, the next person I want to meet is Paul. So if you want to know who an apostle is and what he does, study Paul- not me. Paul was the man God who championed the global gospel. He focused on the gentiles and penetrated the Roman world with the message of the Resurrected Jesus. He wrote more than anyone else in the New Testament. He surmounted the most unimaginable obstacles in the course of fulfilling his calling. Who am I when apostles are mentioned?

Watchmen Nee is the person I would love to meet in heaven next to Paul. If you want to know the acts of an apostle, read about Watchman Nee. Next to the Scriptures, his books were the very first literatures I began to read and enjoy as a young convert. They helped form the bedrock of my Christian convictions. Nee Shu-tsu, as his original name was, came to know the Lord Jesus at the tender age of seventeen. And for the rest of his life, he exchanged his life for Christ’s. He lived and preached Christ at a time when Communism was at its peak in China. If I begin to relay the events of this man’s life, you will marvel at what great sufferings a man would undertake for the gospel’s sake. At some points, his natural body was so far gone that he believed only the resurrected life was sustaining him. He established many underground church movements in China, and of course he died in prison.

Oh, every generation has its own apostles. I know a brother, if I call his name you may not even know. Right now he heads the Nigerian office of an International Christian Missionary organization. But I knew him on the campus among students long before he was given that post. He is an apostle. Uncle D, as I love to call him, worked among students helping them to discover and live the full life. You cannot talk of the full life without Christ, but Uncle D shared- not just the message, he shared his life. Many students saw in him a milk cow, out of the little he had he shared and shared. Uncle D would go through anything- anything within God, to solve a student’s problem. Today, he has chains of generations of disciples (I am somewhere in the chains), and great was the day I made him preach to my brother. If I will write any man’s biography, it is his. So help me God.

Am I still an apostle? Help me, Lord, help me.

The Christianity I was introduced into is an action film. The first line of the book of Acts, Acts 1:1 says ‘the things Jesus began both to DO and to teach’. His apostles also brought reports of ‘all things, both what they had DONE and what they had taught’ (Mark 6:30). My generation wants to teach and teach. Even though apostles write epistles (don’t I?) at times, their greatest epistles are the lives they impacted for Christ, and the grounds they cover for Jesus. I can teach many things, I cannot teach how to be an apostle. Let me just say three things more.
1. The word ‘apostle’ first came out from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Himself. (Luke 6:13). So this is exclusively a Jesus idea. Hmmm. Apostles are chosen by Jesus. Many are called, few are chosen. Apostleship is all about Jesus. Apostles are Jesus’ personal staff. Thousands followed Him; He chose twelve out of them. Like God would need twelve sons of Jacob to establish His first order, apostleship was the order Jesus worked with. (See Rev. 21: 12, 14). Luke said Jesus had to pray on the mountain all night to choose His apostles. (Luke 6:12). That is how seriously Jesus takes one apostle. Why would any man trade that for any human recognition?

2. They have a personal revelation of the gospel. Every believer must have a personal encounter with Jesus and all is given the commission of spreading His gospel. But an apostle is taught some intricacies of the gospel of Christ so much so that he feels cursed if he preaches not the message. (Galatians 1: 11-12; 1 Cor. 9: 16). This is because somewhere in their journey with Christ, they are made to experience real sufferings for the gospel. Of course, you don’t like to suffer. Jesus suffered for you. Apostles suffer with Jesus, not from infirmity or any such satanic oppression; they only willingly engage the fruit of the spirit called ‘endurance’ in their bid to go the extra mile. Apostleship comes with so much responsibility, but great is the grace available for it. (Acts 4:33).

3. Apostles are emissaries of God’s kingdom. They were the ones Jesus left with what He started. There is a story I heard of when Jesus returned to heaven after He ascended. After all the welcome ceremony, the angels asked Jesus who He handed over all the work He did on earth. Jesus listed Simon Peter, James, John, Andrew and the rest. The angels tried not to laugh. They could not imagine that Jesus would entrust so much to so ordinary men. Apostles may look ordinary, but they have a Jesus-backing. And they have His government to advance. They are very versatile and can take up any profession, they can have many gifts or talents, but take note; all they do is about the kingdom of Jesus. They are that kingdom-minded. You see, whether you know it or not, this world is under the ‘sway (or control) of the wicked one (Satan)’ (1 John 5:19). And too many people are helping the devil’s cause without even knowing it. Apostles are too conscious of this and they move headlong against his systems from all strategic fronts.
The challenge here is to know who you are in God. You can do that when you seek to know and understand your own calling; and go ahead to fulfill it. Do not live your life on the roller coaster of societal expectations, walk in your own calling.

Lord Jesus, I need Your grace some more...