Thursday, October 11,2018   11:17AM  / By Olukonyinsola Ajayi, SAN

In line with its corporate strategy todrive transformation through its products, processes and services, FirstBankhas announced a three-day Financial Technology (FinTech) summit.

“We givethee but thine own, whate'er the gift may be; all that we have is thine alone,a trust, O Lord, from thee. May we thy bounties thus as stewards true receive,and gladly, as thou blessest us, to thee our first-fruits give... To comfortand to bless, to find a balm for woe, to tend the lonely in distress, isangels' work below. The captive to release, to God the lost to bring, to teachthe way of life and peace - it is a Christ-like thing. And we believe thy Word,though dim our faith may be; whate'er for thine we do, O Lord, we do it untothee. Amen”†

1.      The political parties have held their conventions and elected, oras the case may, be selected or imposed, their candidates for the comingelections in Nigeria. This has brought into sharp focus the quest forperfection in achieving political ambitions, in as much as it exhibitsperfection in rigging, corruption and all manner of unethical and illegalaction by those seeking office or power. We see the profession of politics infull play and will see more of this in the months to come. As usual false promiseswill be made; just as we hope true plans will be laid out, on how best to curethe ills of society and to let us begin to see the Kingdom of God on earth. Forparty candidates, primaries is harvest time, time to reap the reward ofpoliticking, bribery, stomach infrastructure, rigging, working the electorate,performance in office and both good and bad campaigns. This political harvesttime coincides with harvest of the Church and thus lays ground for lessons tolearn for all men. Plans are in full gear by many to get the perfect resultthey seek from elections, as others do with professional life, work, and evenlascivious conduct. These things are not for nothing, and they occur so we maylearn from them, as we go into ministration of the word during this harvestseason of the orthodox churches.

2.     Let us pray. As we go into the word today, in the words of Paul,in Philippians 1:9 – 11, it:

           “…is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more inknowledge and depth of insight,10 so that you may be able to discern what isbest and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,11 filled with thefruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praiseof God.” 

May you byinsight and discernment of this word, be brought to perfection in all you do,through Christ our Lord. Amen

3.      I have beenasked to preach at this service on the harvest of perfection, using Philippians1:1 – 6 and Proverbs 10:3 – 7, I am thus led, in consideration of the Biblereadings of the day, including Psalm 26, to focus on Christ as our means toperfection in this life, and indeed the next. Through Him, you will see from areading of Psalm 8:4 - 8 and Hebrews 1:1 - 4 & 2:5 - 12 that we are made tobe perfect, pure and blameless, to have dominion over all things God created,which are good. Life and all its achievements seem to be a Nothingburger savethrough Christ, the Pioneer of our salvation and Author of our perfection inall things. It appears with the election primaries, the loud complaints of evenMrs Asiha Buhari, our First Lady, on the injustice and fraud in the system,show that if we are not careful, it will harvest Idiocracy this season, if itwill not be a vote for a continued Idiocracy in February. It is aroundthese two words, Nothingburger and Idiocracy, their antonyms, and the life ofJob, that I build the theme of this sermon in seeking perfection in harvest.

4.     I have just come across these new words, learning1 that the OxfordDictionary of English has added both, and several others, to our accepted usagein English language. • Idiocracy means a society of, or governed by,idiots, or a government of people considered stupid or ignorant. The word tookroot from a movie of similar title about a country where illiteracy, ignorance,indolence and lack of commercialism are rewarded and thus prevail, resulting ina dystopian society devoid of intellectual curiosity, social responsibility,and coherent notions of justice and human rights.2 This well describes afragile or failed state – a term which experts say typify governance at variouslevels in Nigeria. 

•      The other word Nothingburger, (often used in U.S. politics)means something that first appears to be important but is in fact of nosubstance.3 Empty barrels that make most noise like are large noisy butspiritual empty churches; our boastful nation which has the highest infantmortality rate in the world and men and women pumped up in their own crap whohold nothing divine. Huge barking dogs with no teeth, as we see in theprimaries just concluded in the last week in Nigeria.
  

Theseterms are reflective of many who sow in sin and wickedness; the ignorant whoperfects reaping from fields not sown, or fruits of the labours of others; itspeaks of the idiot who piles up treasures that rot and rust – the fool whogains his life and loses his soul as Christ said in Mark 8:36,37.

5.     It appears both the US President Trump and the PhilippinePresident Duterte fit the description of these two terms, as must be the casewith many political, business, society and church leaders – like those who usethe courts and trickery to get into episcopal office, or the empty barrels thatmake most noise amongst us. In giving a glimpse into the type of harvest we getfrom these ones, a Richard Heydarian said:

“Inhis legendary “Prison Notebooks,” Italian thinker Antonio Gramsci… In laymanterms, he’s warning against losing sight of long-term challenges and widersocietal transformation amid contemporary obsession… short-term ephemeralevents driven by personalities. Imprisoned by Mussolini, Gramsci never allowedhis transient personal suffering as well as bitter partisan spats blind him tothe underlying socioeconomic shifts in Italian society and the broader Westernworld… The problem, however, is that a lot of smart people, including those inthe so-called “creative classes” of intellectuals and journalists, tend toignore Gramsci’s indispensable advice. Across the world, news cycles arelargely shaped, dictated and focused on larger-than-life personalities whoproject an artificial sense of immortality, perfection and potency. In theworld of politics, strongmen populists best capture these characteristics. Theyare the ultimate celebrities, enjoying both power and fame (or notoriety).”

Putin another way, you cannot (a) afford to be ruled by those who appear good butare indeed bad; nor allow your efforts in life to be dictated by contemporaryobsession with self-absorption, agonism, greed, atheism, or lies of purveyorsof stomach infrastructure. It is about not harvesting in our coming electionsthose who believe they must be in power forever and hand over to their wivesand children or cronies. It is about not being deceived by the Church ofuntruth that teaches prosperity miracle as evidence of perfection in Christ inthe face of the Christian reality of Job: transient personal sufferings thatonly make for an experience of Jacob, Ruth, David, Job and Esther.

6.     Theseterms speak to the emptiness in a society without a common purpose in Christ;about that person who labours in vain like the politician outmanoeuvred at elections,despite his corrupt spending on an electorate without insight into the thingsof God. As we look to Advent, the season in preparation for Christ, we mustbegin to harvest our fields, ready to present what we  have gained in lifeto Christ as He comes. We are told by Hebrews 1:1 that God speaks to us in manyand various ways. This He does with Job, and his example I consider in thecontext of the Bible Passages of today, [Job 1.1; 2:1 - 10; Hebrews 1:1 - 4& 2:5 - 12 and Mark 10:2-16] – in querying whether you live like Job; orstrive to be like Christ? Whether you will give all you have to save your life,or give your life to save a soul or souls? Whether you consider it possible tobe blameless like Job? What you consider success and what you deem asperfection? Whether you seek to harvest perfection?

7.     Harvestas we all know refers to the end of a season of growing, when fruits or rewardsof sowing, planting and nurturing are reaped. It is a term that assumessignificant spiritual importance coming at the end of the Ordinary season,during which we are expected to grow ourselves spiritually, and see to thegrowth of others in Christ. Given that whether we plant or wet, it is only theLord that grows, as scripted in 1 Corinthians 3:6, we cannot but ascribeanything we do or harvest other than to the love of God and the great grace ofHis Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We are all harvesters, whatever wedo; nature, itself, being one of cause and effect, and life being of that ofinvestment resulting in eternal life. Thoughts of many and advances in lifenotwithstanding, all we do can only be carried to completion through Christ.

8.    Harvestis about completing what we start and being successful in it. Completion, andby that I mean perfection, can only be through, Christ, who authors andfinishes things, according to the will of our Father. This is the message ofthe Holy Spirit to us today, as it was to the people of Philippi, as recordedby Paul in Philippians 1:1 – 6 thus:

“…to all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, togetherwith the overseers and deacons: Grace and peace to you from God our Father andthe Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God every time I remember you. In all myprayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership inthe gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he whobegan a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of ChristJesus.”

Thisscript, along with Bible readings for the day, point to several things worthconsidering in the scope, activity and footprint we make from day to day – bethat as professionals, or otherwise. The biblical instruction is to strive forperfection, and difficult or utopian as that may be, it is one of the reasonsfor the coming of Christ – so we may know what it is to be perfect before God,and even man!

9.     A servant of God, whose life stands to teach us how to harvestperfection, is Job. A bit about him is said, (from the 40 chapters on hislife), in our continuous old testament reading of the day Job 1.1 & 2.1 –10:

“Therewas once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless andupright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. One day the heavenlybeings came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came amongthem to present himself before the Lord. The Lord said to Satan, ‘Where haveyou come from?’ Satan answered the Lord, ‘From going to and fro on the earth,and from walking up and down on it.’ The Lord said to Satan, ‘Have youconsidered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blamelessand upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still persists inhis integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for noreason.’ Then Satan answered the Lord, ‘Skin for skin! All that people havethey will give to save their lives. But stretch out your hand now and touch hisbone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.’ The Lord said toSatan, ‘Very well, he is in your power; only spare his life.’ So Satan went outfrom the presence of the Lord, and inflicted loathsome sores on Job from thesole of his foot to the crown of his head. Job took a potsherd with which toscrape himself, and sat among the ashes. Then his wife said to him, ‘Do youstill persist in your integrity? Curse God, and die.’ But he said to her, ‘Youspeak as any foolish woman would speak. Shall we receive the good at the handof God, and not receive the bad?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”

Job’sstory appears unreal and indeed the opposite of a Nothingburger, and likeChrist the rejected and afflicted who became the Cornerstone. We see in quicksuccession how affliction besets him with loss of children, health, staff andpossessions. A man of integrity, he maintains his fidelity to God, refusing tocurse Him rather admitting in humility that we must take the burdens that comewith benefits; as we must go through the rigours of planting, tiling, wettingand growth to reap in perfection in Christ.

10.  It is the job of the harvester to be likeJob, so he or she can be rewarded fully and truly by God Himself, as we readfrom Job 42:10 – 16. But to get to the perfection one must like him beblameless, that is do all possible to avoid sin. One must fear God by livingthe true life of a Christian seeking Christian perfection in all ways always.One must live a life of integrity, (unlike we see of these politicians, theirmafia-like godfathers, hangers-on, indolent and unfaithful workers, wickedpublic servants and cheating employers and thieving businessmen), such that Godcan boast of one. One must always be upright by being right with his or herfellow man. 1 Corinthians 10:13 confirms, as Job showed, that there is notemptation you cannot overcome, so as to be blameless and achieve perfection.

11.  Thisis what the scripture says regarding temptation:

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God isfaithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with thetemptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able toendure it.”

So,do not be tempted to curse God, abandon faith, or turn to lesser gods, becauseyou have a challenge, suffer a set back or fall into bad times. Do not, as wehave seen in the last party primaries, curse your opponent, unnecessarilyembarrass them, because of loss you suffer – as we saw with a candidateunethically and in abuse of office disclosing the medical records of others,the same way his predecessor wickedly exposed confidential tax returns of anopponent. Do not be tempted either by allures of the world – as we see withpoliticians in office who will stop at nothing to succeed themselves. Do not belike our politicians who want their shadows to rest perpetually on power, theytoo were once given, for these are people that do not honour God, nor respectHis command of fairness, equity and opportunity. They fail to be as Christrequired in the Gospel reading of the day, Mark 10:2 - 16, to allow the youngor those coming after us to grow. Be like Mandela who despite all the powers toremain chose to leave office so others could be his heirs.

12.  Be ready totake the burden that comes with any benefit, and by this you ascribesovereignty to God. Or was Moses not a resident of the palace for 40 years,only to have to flee to the wilderness for the next 40 years as a refugee, butthen be called to greatness in his 80th year for 40 years of the mostoutstanding visionary leadership by man? The burden of success is to buildsuccession, and not to hug power. The burden of leadership is to build a teamand work with them in giving hope of perfection built on nothing less thanJesus’ blood and righteousness. That burden is giving the team a commonpurpose, a drive to excel and an opportunity to do so. The burden of triumph isto absorb losses that may come after it, by leaning on Jesus’ name so whendarkness veils the lovely face of Christ from you, His unchanging grace willmake you resist the temptation to lose faith. The burden of victory is buildinga house, is to give of all you have so you may gain your soul perfectly inChrist. In this way you will stand on Christ, the Solid Rock, and be foundfaultless before the throne of grace, and in the eyes of men, dressed in Hisrighteousness alone – and so may it be for you in Jesus name. Amen.

To harvest perfection, you must always behumble like Job and indeed like Moses, said in Numbers 12:3, to be the humblestman on the face of the earth. That you are not now means nothing, for Moseshimself took on humility after a reign of pride, as we read from his books inthe Old Testament.

Remember that it is pride that becomesbefore a fall and this, as we see from the example of Lucifer, (in Isaiah 14:12– 14), can be fatal and permanent. Pride thus robs a successful person ofperfection, for because of the conduct of Moses he was not allowed to get tothe Promised Land. By His grace you will get to the Promised Land, Christcompleting in you that which God our Father planted in you on conception. ForGod brought you to life good and perfect to do good things and have dominionover all He created good.

13.  So, talking about allthings being good and harvesting perfection, I turn to the Epistle reading ofthe day, Hebrews 1:1 - 4, 2:5 – 12, which says:

“Long agoGod spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but inthese last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of allthings, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God’sglory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things byhis powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at theright hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels asthe name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. Now God did notsubject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. But someonehas testified somewhere, ‘What are human beings that you are mindful of them,or mortals, that you care for them? You have made them for a little while lowerthan the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honour, subjecting allthings under their feet.’ Now in subjecting all things to them, God leftnothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything insubjection to them, but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lowerthan the angels, now crowned with glory and honour because of the suffering ofdeath, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. It wasfitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing manychildren to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect throughsufferings. For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all haveone Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers andsisters, saying, ‘I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, in themidst of the congregation I will praise you.’”

While this, essentially, is as to theperfection in Christ through Whom God speaks to us, so is it about the place ofyou and me in the scheme of things. Just as Christ reflects the glory of Godand the exact imprint of His very actuality, so can we be, as the passage endsin telling is that we are siblings of Christ, Who He will single out for praisewhen we complete the journey of life in the true path of Christian perfection.

14.  Quoting fromPsalm 8:4 – 6 reference is made to the nature of man: exalted as crown ofcreation, with dominion over all God created. But is this our reality? Is itnot that God created and gave us perfect peace, through belief in His Son, butwe see only strife and conflict all over us? Are we not using the wisdom andknowledge God gave us to build for Him and improve the world, to curse and denyHim? Are we not using our intelligence for idiocracy rather than goodgovernance? Are we not using abusing the mercy of God in perfecting ouriniquity? Is it not, as exemplified by politicians at primaries that we see thelove of power rather than the power of love: or why else will the formerInspector General of Police reign curses on his party leaders because he wasrigged out of nomination? Is it not that in place of love we see hatred? Ratherthan strength in our diversity as human beings we see division, disunity,discrimination and segregation? How can there be any harvest of perfection insuch situation? 

15.  The World is dangerous and disastrous and far from the perfectionGod seeks in His Kingdom, far from the prayers we make in the Lord’s Super,seeking that His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. On our lips today isthe type of society we live in, the type of leadership we have, and thechallenges we face as a nation. We should be focussed on fulfilling the work ofGod - which is the peace and happiness that comes from through faith in Christand a life in Him. The picture of heaven is well painted in Revelations 21 asit is by Genesis 2:8 - 14 from where we know of the Garden of Eden, and thatGod made all things good and purposed them to be so. We seem for long to havebeen drawn by the meaning ascribed to the words of the Psalmists in Psalm 51,and inspired writings of our early spiritual fathers on this, that we are allinherently bad and can only strive to be good. The badness of man or his fallenstate perhaps drives the shape of the world we see – based on original sin.Although, the view is also held that being born good, to live good, and havecontrol of all things, with freedom of choice between evil and good, all thingsare good but we continually in falling to temptation, (not being string inChrist), and thus pollute our body otherwise justified by Christ and our soulsanctified by the Holy Spirit, cleansed by a sprinkling of the holy water andthe blood if Christ – appropriated by faith and belief in a life lived inChrist.

16.       At the just concluded inaugural Pearson Institute Peace Forum,7the fragility of states was in focus, just as Nigeria was a recurrent decimalin the inhumanity of man to man: the equation of economic inequality multipliedby social injustice added to illegitimacy of levels of authority in the nation.Hence there is much conflict, insecurity and strife in different parts of thecountry and I dare say all its constituent elements including privateenterprise, the Church and you and me. Not just winning the title of povertycapital, Nigeria is now tops in infant mortality in the world, and seem to beracing to be the seat of deception of sin clothed in religiosity. So much isimperfect in Nigeria; so much is far from perfect in the world. There is somuch you must do to attain Christian perfection in your calling, your vocation,your profession, your daily life and for the nation. Now is thus the time toreview your ways and see what you can harvest as you prepare for a newbeginning – be that ushered in by Advent or elections into high office inNigeria. So, at a time of harvest and one by professionals who seek success andperfection, the aim must be to depart from the norm of fallenness,imperfection, impurity and sin.

17.        Talking about norms and fallenness, in the context of harvestinggoodness that ripens one into perfection, I draw a parallel again from ourimmediate experiences in Nigeria party primaries. The norm in Nigeria is thatincumbents succeed themselves either by getting back to office, if withinconstitutional term limits, or planting their clones, proxies or surrogates inoffice, not even as heir but, as their placeholder. The manoeuvres in Ogun andLagos States where incumbent governors lost out in the APC party primaries holdmany lessons for how to prepare for a true harvest. [Leaving the politicalelements to masters in that art], we are reminded of Proverbs 10:3 – 7 –

“TheLord does not let the righteous go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of thewicked. 4 Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth. 5 Hewho gathers crops in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps during harvestis a disgraceful son. 6 Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violenceoverwhelms the mouth of the wicked. 7 The name of the righteous is used inblessings, but the name of the wicked will rot.”

Thisis a pointer not just to our politicians now jostling for high office, but youand me aiming to succeed in our endeavours and to get things right.

18.    From the just concluded party primaries, we see harvests ofdifferent kinds: humility and hubris; reality and delusion; love of power andpower of love; freedom of truth and bondage of lies; the remembered acts of therighteous and thwarted cravings of the wicked; lazy hands that make for povertyand diligent hands that bring wealth; and the prudent son who gathers crops insummer and the disgraceful son who sleeps during harvest. Yours must not be aharvest of Nothingburger – a plucked ripe fruit which is rotten inside. Yoursmust not be a life of idiocracy – being a stupid citizen or one treated as an idiot,or allowing yourself to be ruled by men of no substance, idiots, fools, wickedand stupid people who think they can cheat God, nature or their fellow men.Rather, with child-like faith accept Christ, and aim to be worthy, acting withhumility and integrity at all times like Job.

19.    Speaking of child-like faith, the Gospel reading of day, Mark 10:2- 16 comes into play. Picking on its latter part which shows the Christ’s loveof children and they being exemplars of who can be perfect, we know that theremust be no discrimination in spite of the hierarchy of people in society, noron the basis of gender or age. More important is youth, the young ones thatwill make up tomorrow and build where those of today retire. This is aboutcontinuity and institution building of men and units of society that willensure perfection in the affairs of men. The ‘kingdom of God belongs’ tothose of tomorrow: the young of today (in terms of age, or wealth, or power, oroffice, or spiritual development, or knowledge or physical skills or strength).So the elder, or older, one in these things, especially wealth and power,must know that to attain perfection, as mentioned earlier, way must be made forthose behind. Being a child is not only about biological age, it is about infancyin anything and all efforts must be made to build up the nursery especially ofthe Church.

20.   This is what Philippians 1:1 – 6 speaks to: partnership in theGospel. Children are the future of the Church, and as a good harvester forChrist, you must grow these children and from them get the reward of more soulswon. You must be like children to be accepted into God’s Kingdom, by beingplain and opening minded in your dealings with others. You must have child-likefaith to attain the glory of paradise – for that is the ultimate perfection youcan get. You must bring joy to servants of God anytime your name is mentionedon account of the excelling things in Christ you do. You must see Christ in allyou do, and let Christ be seen in all you do, for Hebrews 2:9 says that it isthrough Christ, and Him only, that we are able to see the perfection Goddesires for us, and, I say, attain it.

21. In the ordinary season of planting, and at the time of harvest,you must be able to meet the test of the Psalm of the day, Psalm 26 which,amongst other things, so when your heart and mind are examined, and you aretested, you will be vindicated by God Himself. Live a blameless life as much asyou can, living in full reliance on the faithfulness of the Almighty. Do notdwell with deceitful people or evildoers. Refuse to be in the company ofcorrupt ones and those who lack integrity. Let your hands be clean, by havingno hand in anything that appears expedient to that immediate need if it isunlawful in the eyes of men, and more so God. Be found always on solid groundthat is itself founded on Christ the Solid Rock.

22.I end with the prayerful words of a perfect harvest by WilliamHenry Gill:

Hear us, O Lord, from Heaven Thy dwelling place: like them of old,in vain we toil all night, unless with us Thou go, who art the Light. Comethen, O Lord, that we may see Thy face… Our wives and children we commend toThee: for them we plough the land and plough the deep; for them by day thegolden corn we reap, by night the silver harvest of the sea… O Bread of Life,Thou in Thy Word hast said, Who feeds in faith on Me shall never die! In mercyhear Thy hungry children’s cry — Father, give us this day our daily bread! Sowin our hearts the seeds of Thy dear love, that we may reap contentment, joy,and peace; and when at last our earthly labors cease, grant us to join Thyharvest home above. Amen.” 8

Theword can come at no better time than now as we go through election primariesand party conventions in readiness for ploughing the political field for yieldof a government that will bring us blameless men of integrity like Job who willwork towards the kingdom of God on earth.

23. Let us pray.May you, like Christ, be a reflection of God’s glory in all you do; may you bethe exact imprint of God’s very being, and be sustained in all things byChrist, God’s powerful Word; may you harvest more excellent things than beforeand may God be mindful of your harvest, so you may be crowned with glory andhonour; may you because of the suffering of death of Jesus Christ be madeperfect in Him. Amen.9

Footnotes

 †A hymn byWilliam Walsham How –MHB 923 (al verses save the third). See http://lutheran-hymnal.com/lyrics/tlh441.htm

1. From Hannah Mays, The Times, 06 October 2018, p. 7.
   
2. See https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2018/10/05/Idiocracy-fam-Spielbergian-among-1400-new-dictionary-entries/2721538751591/&https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/world/idiocracy-nothingburger-among-oxford-dictionary-new-entries/664545.html
   
3. See e.g. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/nothingburger  
   
4. See Richard Heydarian,The day after Duterte. See https://opinion.inquirer.net/116630/the-day-after-duterte/amp
   
5. See Numbers 20:7 –12.
   
6. There is substantialmaterial on this but see e.g. a good summation of the opposing views in JeremyT. Alder, The Doctrine of Original Sin: A Comparison of Augustine, Pelagius,and Aquinas, RPM, Volume 11, Number 21, May 24 to May 30 2009. Accessed andsourced 06.010.17- http://thirdmill.org/newfiles/jer_alder/jer_alder.Original.Sin.pdf  
   
7. Held at theUniversity of Chicago, October 4 –5, 2018.Forpapers see e.g. about theInstitute on Confronting the Challenge – sourced - https://thepearsoninstitute.org/about/mission 
8. Seealso Escaping the fragility trap, Recommendations of the LSE-Oxford Commissionon State Fragility, Growth & Development, sourced – https://gallery.mailchimp.com/2bea5adad86a0725e9afab27a/files/828d4cf5-49e5-4514-9c44-eb10c0745791/Fragility_Commission_full.pdf?utm_source=Pearson+VIP+confirmed&utm_campaign=6470e760ca-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_09_28_03_45&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f9610cdf85
9. MHB Hymn 970 (v 1,3,5 & 6). https://hymnary.org/text/hear_us_o_lord_from_heaven_thy_dwelling 
   
10. Sermon on October 7, 2018 at Professional Harvest Service,27thSunday in Ordinary Time, at Hoare’s Memorial Methodist Church, Yaba.
    

Related News

1.       2018 Eid El-Kabir Celebrationsin Nigeria:3 Key Issues to Note

2.      Ramadan 2018:UnderstandingRamadan Mubarak

3.      Business Process ManagementSoftware for Religious Entities

4.      El-Zakzaky, Religion And TheNigerian State

5.      Religion And RelatedActivities Statistics