Living the Resurrected life - Easter Message by Archbishop Peter Akinola

THE CHURCH OF NIGERIA (Anglican Communion)
THE MOST REV. PETER J. AKINOLA, CON, D.D,
Archbishop, Metropolitan and Primate of All Nigeria.

14th April, 2006



EASTER MESSAGE

My dear People of God,

Living the Resurrected life

Greetings in the precious name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus the Christ who overcame death through the endurance of the cross, that we may henceforth live a new life to the glory of God Almighty.

Having been enabled by God to meditate on the passion of our Lord during the holy season of lent, it is hoped that the lessons of love, perseverance, humility, and absolute trust and dependence upon God have been learnt. 

As we celebrate Easter, we write to encourage you to meditate on the resurrection message. There is a need to appropriate and apply its lessons to ourselves; else, Easter is devoid of its true meaning. 

By the death of Christ, we learn to let go of all our claims to power and glory, humbly submitting to the will of God. In his burial, we are to put far away from us all the sins and weights which so easily beset us, such that in the resurrection, we will be raised to new life of peace, joy and the love of Christ. 

Beyond the resurrection, we must continue to pray for our nation that God will raise us up from the abyss of religious commercialisation and intolerance, economic and financial manipulations, all fraudulent practices as well as wicked political calculations and permutations.

May God raise us all up to sit with him in the heavenly realms. Amen.

The Grace of God be with you.


Signed

Most Revd Peter J. Akinola DD, CON.
Primate, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion);
National President Christian Association of Nigeria.

    Comments & Responses

  1. Thanks archbishop Peter Akinola.
    Blessings for the brothers of Church of Nigeria

    Posted by  on  04/16  at  08:06 AM

  2. “His Peace be with you and abide with you now and always. Alleluia,Allrluia. The Lord is risen!

    Posted by  on  04/16  at  05:33 PM

  3. This is my second time of posting this.  I’ve been censored once.  Why?

    We do pray that God will save the nation and people of Nigeria from the ‘abyss of religious intolerance’ and that he will help you to remember the words of the First Epistle of John:
    ‘Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.’ (1 John 4:7)

    Please note that John, and God speaking through John, says everyone who loves.  Not just heterosexuals.  Please, Archbishop Akinola, stop persecuting the homosexuals in and outside of your church!

    Posted by  on  04/16  at  08:47 PM

  4. Gillian, you surprise me. It seems to me that you have not read this Easter message. Please read it again. No one is perfect. Infact as Paul says “Not that we have already attained, neither have perfected, all we do is keep pressing on”. Your Brothers and Sisters in Nigeria are not perfect, neither are you.
    As such, it would do you good to clearly see and differentiate the purpose of God through Heterosexualism (within the confines of Marriage for multiplication!) and the need to show love to a world in need of Christ. Please read Abp.Peter’s message again.

    Posted by  on  04/16  at  11:43 PM

  5. I did read Abp Akinola’s message - several times in fact.  And I’ve read many of his writings… I’ve read of his support for jailing homosexuals, which is a persecution utterly unsupported by Jesus’ commandment to us to love our neighbours as we love ourselves.

    Go back please and read 1 John 4:7 again.  It says ALL who love are born of God and know God.  That means homosexuals are born of God and know God too.  Therefore we must not persecute them but must recognize them as equally precious children of God.

    Posted by  on  04/18  at  01:17 AM

  6. Gillian

    That means hetrosexuals are born of God and know God too.  Therefore we must not persecute them but must recognize them as equally precious children of God.

    Rafe

    Posted by  on  04/28  at  01:47 AM

  7. Good, so we agree.  We are all children of God, all worthy of respect. No one of us should be jailed for loving another person.  I call on Archbishop Akinola to denounce the jailing of homosexuals!

    Gillian
    p.s. I am actually heterosexual - straight but not narrow, as I like to phrase it.

    Posted by  on  04/28  at  02:33 AM

  8. Gillian, you have a point. It’s true homosexuals are created in God’s image and must be shown love. Abp.Akinola may be taking such a stance so as to help them in the long run using different means and ways. My high school headmaster used to say:"We shall be cruel only to be kind!” True love does not mean we keep quiet and do not act when we discover that our friends are going wrong. Remember that an open rebuke is better than hidden love and also that: blows that wound cleanse the innermost parts. All that aside, let me know what you think about human preo-creation.Blessings.

    Posted by  on  04/28  at  08:55 PM

  9. Human procreation is necessary - but since 80% of humanity is heterosexual, it’s not exactly under threat.  Therefore, there is no need to outlaw homosexuality.  It is part of God’s creation - we find it throughout the animal kingdom as well as humanity, as science has shown.

    But even if you disagree with this perspective and still cling to viewing it as a sin, why on earth would you believe they should be ‘cleansed with blows’?  How cruel. How anti-love.

    We don’t jail people who sin by not caring for the poor, who live richly. Why would we jail people for LOVING someone?  What kind of sense does that make?  Where is the crime in LOVING someone?

    Please remember the quote from 1 John 4:7:  ‘Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.’ There is no sin in loving someone.  Remember, ‘the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness...’ (Gal. 5:22) Since homosexuals bear these fruits, leave them alone! Stop persecuting them! Stop thinking anyone has the right to jail them, to be cruel to them, to use blows to ‘cleanse them.’

    If you truly think they are wrong, then let God deal with it:  ‘Judge not, lest ye be judged.’ (Luke 6:37)

    Concentrate on what’s in your own eye, instead of the mote in your neighbour’s. (Luke 6:42)

    Posted by  on  04/28  at  11:33 PM

  10. True, let us leave the issue of whether homosexuality is sin (just like lying, stealing, murder) for God Almighty to judge as you suggest. Now, Gillian, what is your take on the Healing, Prayer and Deliverance option (like singer Donnie McClurkin in the US?) to rehabilitate homosexuals or should I take it that your view is about genetics?

    Posted by  on  04/28  at  11:54 PM

  11. What are the fruits of lying, stealing, murder? Do love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness...’ (Gal. 5:22) ever result from them?  No.  But love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness are the result of loving lives, whether they be heterosexual or homosexual.  And by their fruits, ye shall know them.

    I have studied the Healing, Prayer and Deliverance options and have found in every case that they have not resulted in lasting cures. Every program has resulted in documented backsliding, grief, and too often, suicide.

    Please read the following from the American Psychological Association’s website (http://www.apa.org/topics/sbehaviorsub1.html).  This is an issue they have studied extensively - and scientifically.  We would do well to heed them, to use the brains God gave us, the wisdom he endows us with, to learn to stop hurting and ostracizing people simply because they love differently from us.

    “Is Sexual Orientation a Choice?
    No, human beings can not choose to be either gay or straight. Sexual orientation emerges for most
    people in early adolescence without any prior sexual experience. Although we can choose whether to act on our feelings, psychologists do not consider sexual orientation to be a conscious choice that can be voluntarily changed.

    Can Therapy Change Sexual Orientation?
    No. Even though most homosexuals live successful, happy lives, some homosexual or bisexual people
    may seek to change their sexual orientation through therapy, sometimes pressured by the influence of family members or religious groups to try and do so. The reality is that homosexuality is not an illness. It does not require treatment and is not changeable.

    What About So-Called “Conversion Therapies?
    Some therapists who undertake so-called conversion therapy report that they have been able to change their clients’ sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual. Close scrutiny of these reports however show several factors that cast doubt on their claims. For example, many of the claims come from organizations with an ideological perspective which condemns homosexuality. Furthermore, their claims are poorly documented. For example, treatment outcome is not followed and reported over time as would be the standard to test the validity of any mental health intervention.”

    See also:  http://www.lionking.org/~kovu/bible/section10.html for more research and stories on how the Deliverance program does NOT work on homosexuals and has only limited success with bisexuals.

    Posted by  on  04/30  at  10:32 AM

  12. By way of introduction, I should have mentioned to you that I am a Psychology graduate soon to commence postgraduate study. We studied a book known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Human Disorders (DSM IV).

    This book comes in versions and soon a fifth version will be more popular than DSM IV. We were told that in earlier editions, the APA classified homosexuality as a disorder. However, when homosexuals were found to be socially well adjusted in society, philanthropic,normal etc, THEY were nolonger classified as disorderly.

    Now, speaking as a Christian Psychologist, I can assure you that this was wrong. I am one of those Psychologists fascinated by Laboratory work, experiments and research but I can assure you the day the APA deleted homosexuals from the DSM they were very wrong.

    When Saint Paul makes references to homosexuality in the Bible the implications are very grave indeed. In the Old Testament, God Almighty was even provoked to greater wrath by this sexual sin.

    God’s expectations of mankind have not changed over time. Some think he might be more lenient now but that is not true. Our God of Love is the very same God of wrath not tolerating sin.

    By making reference to the healing and delivernace option, I wanted to find out what you thought about the use of prayer to break unseen, invisible, powerful , evil strongholds over human beings. You appear not to think militaristic spiritual warfare by the Christian can be an option for healing.

    Have you heard of the American Gospel singer, Donnie McClurkin and his testimony about this? Can you do a Google on him and get back to me afterwards.

    Posted by  on  05/01  at  01:05 PM

  13. I have my Ph.D. in Pychology of Religion, so I too know this area well. But unlike you, who are willing to dismiss scholarship you simply don’t agree with, I stick with science and its findings. And it has found the ‘healing and deliverance’ options do not deliver anything other than lasting misery and grief. That’s what the studies have proven.

    I googled Donnie McClurkin before you even asked me to. I am deeply sorry for the abuse he suffered as a boy. But actually, most pedophiles are heterosexual. And there is no reason for him to go around fomenting hatred against God’s children - that is so unChristian. It sounds like he needs more therapy to heal. I pray for him.

    Yes, there are a few references condemning homosexual sex - but if you study them, you soon learn of their contexts.  Check out http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_bibl.htm for an excellent analysis of both Conservative and Liberal approaches to the passages.

    But there are more passages advocating violence against women - I won’t take up space here to list them all, but I will if you want me to. There are passages telling you to take your firstborn son to the city limits and stone him if he sasses you. Do we follow them?  No.

    I do believe prayer leads to healing.  I also believe in Jesus’ words of love and acceptance for those who were the outcasts of his day.  We so easily forget how the religious authorities back then reviled him for having dinner with women and tax collectors, with others they considered to be beyond redemption. Jesus considered them to be his brothers and sisters.

    I believe in the vision God gave to Peter in Acts 10, when God wanted Peter to minister to the Gentiles, who were then outcasts. It was a vision of how God made nothing unclean.

    Peter summarizes the vision by saying: “I now realize that it is true that God treats everyone on the same basis. Those who fear him and do what is right are acceptable to him, no matter what race they belong to.” (Acts 10:34-35)

    How wonderful if we could all learn from the Bible. How wonderful if we could all learn God’s radically inclusive love. And care for all our brothers and sisters instead of trying to ‘heal’ them of who God made them to be.

    I rejoice in my brothers and sisters. And I know God does to.  “All who love are born of God and know God.” (1 John 4:7)

    Posted by  on  05/04  at  12:15 AM

  14. Listen All,

    Homosexuality is the sickest thing i’ve heard in 20 years.. It is never of God. God created man to be married to one wife and not to one man!!!!.
    Don’t you feel disgusted saying, “I sleep with a fellow man”? I do feel absolutely disgusted. God say Love one another with brotherly love and not love one another with lust of homosexuality..
    We do love the Homosexual and that is why we are tryin to bring them out from that ditch of homosexuality.
    There is no place in the bible where God says we should tolerate homosexuality or be homosexual.
    If God wants us to be Homosexual, he couldn’t have created EVE in the first place.
    He wants us to go and be fruitful and multiply… We can’t multiply if we are homosexuals!!
    Please I urge all the Homosexuals to repent and believe the gospel.
    We love you but God loves you most if you thinks twice and turn around!!

    Posted by akumpelete  on  05/04  at  06:05 AM

  15. I feel deeply sorry for you and pray for you. Just because you find homosexuality strange is no reason to call it disgusting.

    If everyone was fruitful and multiplied, the earth would be overrun and could not support us all. Perhaps that’s why God made diversity in both the animal kingdom and the human one.

    Praise God for making us all different.  And for loving us all.  I urge you to emulate God.

    And remember, the Bible says “All who love are born of God and know God.” (1 John 4:7) Homosexuals love.  They come from God.  They do not need to change who they are.

    Posted by  on  05/04  at  07:20 AM

  16. There you go showing your antibiblical bias Gillian.

    “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1: 28

    Let’s see...who should I believe...Gillian or God?  From the context of what you quoted it says

    “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” I John 4: 1

    I’m sorry, I do not believe your spirit of error!

    Rafe

    Posted by  on  05/11  at  10:59 PM
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