Apostle Bobby Hogan
The much anticipated annual Word Explosion Conference with the theme Open Doors finally kicked off of Sunday, April 9.
After an admonition by Senior Pastor Taiwo Odukoya to the congregation not to miss any day of the week-long conference, he introduced the speaker for the day, Apostle Bobby Hogan. The senior pastor of Christ for the World spoke on breakthrough that would produce a miracle.
Speaking from 2 Samuel 5:19&20, he said that breakthrough is not hoping, praying or believing for something but possessing the thing one has hoped, prayed and believed God for. He noted that breakthrough will not rise above one’s confession, as one’s confession determines one’s possession. “Breakthrough is not viewing the Promised Land from afar but stepping into it. The proof of breakthrough is the destruction of pains and drought in your life,” he said.
Using the account of Zachariah and Elizabeth as recorded in Luke 1:5-13 as an illustration, Apostle Hogan pointed out that every believer present would have a miracle with a name, irrespective of any form of delay, just as age and other forms of delay did not stop Elizabeth and Zachariah’s miracle from happening.
He urged the congregation to accept and call themselves what God has called them and not to yield to the voice of the world, just as Elizabeth and Zachariah insisted that their son’s name was John, which was what God asked them to call him. “When God calls you married, do not call yourself single; when God calls you wealthy, do not allow yourself to be called poor; when God says you have children, do not allow yourself to be called barren,” he enjoined.
The full message is available on CDs and DVDs at The Fountain of Life Church Digital Media Shop.
DIVINE ENCOUNTER
Pastor Taiwo @ Thursday Showers
Reading from Luke 1:37, Pastor Taiwo during his message at the April 6 Thursday Showers service said that divine encounter is always planned by God and He always visits man at the appropriate time. According to him, God does not get confused about how to get across to men as He knows their exact geographical location, just as the angel went straight to Mary and not another girl. “When God wants to make you have an encounter, it is very easy because He knows every detail of your life,” he said.
Making reference to Angel Gabriel’s meeting with Mary, he stated that a divine encounter will never leave one the same way it met them. In his words, “An encounter with the living God will always transform you.”
Pastor Taiwo noted that the solution to every believer’s problem is the Holy Spirit as He is the transporter of the miraculous. This is why every believer, according to him, should never take Him for granted but trust and believe Him for the miraculous. “The Holy Spirit can make things out of nothing. He is the agent of divine encounter and He turns impossibilities to possibilities,” he said.
PASTOR NOMTHI’S WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT @ THURSDAY SHOWERS
Reading from Matthew 20:9-16, Pastor Nomthi Odukoya at the April 6 Thursday Showers admonished the worshipers against being presumptuous and jealous of others whom they think are more blessed than they are as this may result in bitterness and complaining. According to her, Jesus loves all His children and He alone knows how to bless them, and He does that in His own way, hence none of His children should be envious of another’s prosperity. “If you have the spirit of assumption, you will complain when things don’t go the way you want them to go,” she said.
She encouraged the congregation to rather see it as a privilege to be called (hired) to serve in God’s vineyard, irrespective of where He has placed them. “It doesn’t matter where God has placed you; what matters is what you do with where He has placed you,” she stated.
She urged the church to always see the best in people even if they do not get positive feedback from such. “Hold your peace and ask God for grace to be quiet in the midst of their ‘storm’ which can be gossip, jealousy and backbiting. God will fight for you because the battle is His,” she noted.
PASTOR NOMTHI’S WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT @SUNDAY SERVICE
Admonishing the congregation at the April 9 Sunday service from the promise of the week, which was taken from Luke 1:45, Pastor Nomthi said that every child of God ought always to be expectant of God’s miracle which could happen anytime.
She illustrated this with the story of a man who would always walk about with a spoon in his pocket, even though he was not sure if he would be invited for a meal. Of course, when an opportunity presented itself, he quickly brought out his spoon because he was ready.
“Always be expectant because blessed is he or she who believes for there shall be a performance of those things which were told him or her from the Lord,” she said.
