Bible Teacher. Pastor.Educator.

Christmas Letter 2019 from Pastor James Owolabi

Merry Christmas Family,

    The holiday season is upon us and this is probably one of the busiest time of the year for most people.  It has been a year of amazing transitions and “mind blowing doors” for ministry. God has been opening great opportunities, orchestrating events and allowing these things to happen in order to increase my leadership capacity for ministry. The ministry Slingshots a teen after school drop in center (Slingshotschicago.com) that I formerly worked with is now going to be under the umbrella of Youth for Christ USA.

Starting next year, I will be leading this teen center on the Northside of Chicago, while continuing to host mentoring events on the southside of this beautiful city.

My home church on the north side of the city became part of a vibrant growing neighborhood church movement (the bridge.church) which retained me twice a month as one of their teaching pastors.

This will increase my ministry footprint and expand my influence in the Chicago land area. I also launched a website (www.jamesowolabi.com) under a new ministry  “Grace for Life” that will allow me to continue to travel and preach around the world.

 I consider it a privilege to be promoted to Director of City Life for the city of Chicago and to serve as one of the teaching pastors at The Bridge community church.

            I’m going to be spending the holidays with my immediate family, excluding my parents in Nigeria, right here in my home on the southside of  Chicago! The capacity to be the host this year is not something that I take for granted. I want to fully enjoy this space that God has blessed me with.I am excited to share the space with my siblings for Christmas. 

   This Christmas my best attempt to being a perfect host I started to plan and make a lot of lists to ensure that everything for the holidays would be perfect. You can probably relate; guest lists, when everyone is arriving, grocery lists, gift lists… and more. I realized in all of my movement and list making that I was losing sight of the true meaning behind Christmas. More importantly than having the “perfect holiday” and getting everything on my list was actually the need to focus on the original guest list of Christmas day; Mary, Joseph, and Jesus! 
    Jesus is the reason for the season of course, but as I reflect I couldn’t help but feel there was a lot to learn from His mother Mary! What can we learn from her? She’s not Jesus-- however she has a lot of qualities that I admire! Mary was a young Jewish girl who probably couldn’t even read or write, but yet she was seen and valued by God. He knew her heart and chose her specifically to be the person that would bring our Savior into the world! When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her of God’s plans she immediately said “I am you servant, let it be unto me”! Mary was a young Jewish girl that probably couldn’t read or write and yet, but her faith in God is unmatched! She reminds me of myself when I’i'm excited about what God is doing. Her response to the angel, “I am the Lord's servant let it be unto me”. Her willingness to let God hijack her life causes me to reflect. I'm sure she had dreams and plans, but allowed the Spirit of God to take her future reputation. The pregnancy was a scandal and disgrace in that society. A surprise pregnancy did not establish her reputation as Godly Jewish girl! She surrendered her personal life completely. Her response:

         “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.”    

‭‭Luke‬ ‭1:38‬ ‭

           Wow!!! What a response!!! The word servant is a word for a slave, a female born slave. Mary was offering her life as a living sacrifice. There are not many of us that would’ve been so willing and unquestioning. She gave up the potential of her relationship with Joseph. Although we know how the story ends, Mary had no clue what consequences or further sacrifices would have to be made. She was excited about marriage, fully betrothed and then BOOM -- an angel comes! This could have been tragic to her dreams as i’m sure all Jewish girls looked forward to the seal of marriage. That was everything a woman desired in that culture but, she gives her body and allows it to be used to bring forth the line of David. How complicated, crisis inducing, and uncomfortable, however to Mary it was exciting. 

 

Her reaction lets me know that she spent time in the Word of God. 

“My soul magnifies the Lord he has looked upon the humble.” - Mary

 

Instead of being further consumed with lists and scheduled, I’ve begun to slow down and focus on Christmas story and all that can be gathered from every piece and character involved.You my dear friends have given me visible examples of  the characteristics that Mary displayed. Thank you for your prayer support and your sacrificial financial support that has enabled me to serve Christ in this great country.

I always pray for you all every day. You have all been a gift all year long by being present in my life, and helping me sustain my ministry. I am so grateful to God for you. Merry Christmas!

 

Love,

Pastor James Owolabi

I don’t want my life to be explainable without the... | Time For New Hope

I don’t want my life to be explainable without the Holy Spirit. I want people to look at my life and know that I couldn’t be doing this by my own power. I want to live in such a way that I am desperate for Him to come through. That if He doesn’t come through, I am screwed,

Francis Chan

via timefornewhope.tumblr.com

GOD! LEAD!!!AM DONE!!!!!!I WILL FOLLOW!!!!!!

• God does not need me. I am a dot in the global stratergy plan of the ETERNAL King of the nations.
• Reminding myself DAILY that the galaxy is simply one of God's thoughts.....my health which is falling apart right now.........is in His HAND!!!!!
• He has a plan and it will done whether I join Him or not.
•  It is a pleasure to be part of God work and plan.
• I want comfort.. ministry within my race, my social status, people just like me, similar social and economical story, same tax bracket.......teenagers who look and talk like me....
• ME think GOD HAS OTHER PLANS.......... God is more intrested in purging me of self dependency. 
• God desires my full surrendar above all things.......
• Following HIM is my greatest mission in lIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!WOW!!!!NO JOKE!!!!
• I am not the best thing that Happened to me.
• God is the best thing that happened to me.
• My next ministry assignment seems uncertain and beyound my comfort zone.
• God will do His work whether I join him or not..........
•  Tozer has a better rap on this!!!!!

"Almighty God, just because He is almighty, needs no support. ( GOD DOES NOT NEED ME!!!thanks GOD for using me......) The picture of a nervous, ingratiating God fawning over men to win their favor is not a pleasant one (YES OH!!!!); yet if we look at the popular conception of God that is precisely what we see.

Twentieth-century Christianity has put God on charity. So lofty is our opinion of ourselves that we find it quite easy, not to say enjoyable, to believe that we are necessary to God.( HUMM>>>>)

But the truth is that God is not greater for our being, nor would He be less if we did not exist. That we do exist is altogether of God’s free determination, not by our desert nor by divine necessity. Probably the hardest thought of all for our natural egotism to entertain is that God does not need our help.We commonly represent Him as a busy, eager, somewhat frustrated Father hurrying about seeking help to carry out His benevolent plan to bring peace and salvation to the world. Too many missionary appeals are based upon this fancied frustration of Almighty God. An effective speaker can easily excite pity in his hearers, not only for the heathen but for the God who has tried so hard and so long to save them and has failed for want of support. I fear that thousands of young persons enter Christian service from no higher motive than to help deliver God from the embarrassing situation His love has gotten Him into and His limited abilities seem unable to get Him out of. A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy..

 

GOD LEAD!!!AM DONE!!!!!!I WILL FOLLOW!!!!!!

 

Pastor James Preaching to 4th -6th grade Students on trusting God.

 

How to use Bible Commentaries | HeadHeartHand Blog

The following is a summary of the lecture I’m giving today on how to use Bible Commentaries.

1. Use them
“It seems odd, that certain men who talk so much of what the Holy Spirit reveals to themselves, should think so little of what he has revealed to others. My chat this afternoon is not for these great originals, but for you who are content to learn of holy men, taught of God, and mighty in the Scriptures. It has been the fashion of late years to speak against the use of commentaries…A respectable acquaintance with the opinions of the giants of the past, might have saved many an erratic thinker from wild interpretations and outrageous inferences” (C H Spurgeon).

2. Use them for appropriate tasks
Commentaries vary in size, detail, level, and theological basis; they also have different roles in the exegetical process. The following classification is partly chronological – the first books are used earlier in the process than the latter books. (The books in brackets are OT focused and are merely exemplary not exhaustive).

• Critical: Emphasis on technical matters like the composition of the text rather than its meaning (e.g.  International Critical Commentary, some Word commentaries).
• Expository (Original Language): Close and detailed exposition of the text, usually requiring some knowledge of the original languages (e.g. some Word commentaries, New International Commentary on the OT, Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Mentor series by Christian Focus).
• Expository (English): Stay close to the text but do not usually deal with critical issues and do not require original language knowledge (Focus on the Bible series by Christian Focus, Evangelical Press Study Commentaries).
• Summary: Do not explain everything but focus on main points and present conclusions rather than extensive arguments. Excellent summaries of a verse or passage’s teaching. Big is not always better. (e.g. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, Bible Speaks Today).
• Classical:  Reputable commentaries from the past that usually do not deal with technical issues, but rather the theological meaning of the text (Banner of Truth Geneva series, John Gill, John Calvin).
• Applicatory: Suitable for lay-people, usually with more of an applicatory focus (NIV Application Commentary).
• Homiletical: Tend to be the result of sermon series or at least more sermonic in style (e.g. Welwyn, Dale Ralph Davis).
• Devotional: Extensive comments on spiritually rich texts. Focus on edification rather than critical or controversial issues (e.g. Matthew Henry).

3. Use recommended commentaries
Ask pastors and professors for their recommendations on various books. Weigh the recommendations. Just because a Word series’ commentary on one book is good does not guarantee that they are all good.

Spurgeon: “The best commentators are those who have written upon only one book. Few men can comment eminently well upon the whole Bible.”

There are many OT commentary guide books (e.g. Tremper Longman III, Douglas Stuart, Charles Spurgeon, etc). Here are some online recommendations:

• Joel Beeke’s best OT Commentaries
• Joel Beeke’s best NT Commentaries
• Best Commentaries
• Best Commentaries: Top 2 for each b

via headhearthand.org