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Rise up, o men of God

By Etim Ekong
14 October 2018   |   3:45 am
The men in the Church have a general duty, and that is why the men are always advised to join and be part and parcel of activities of the Men’s fellowship...

The men in the Church have a general duty, and that is why the men are always advised to join and be part and parcel of activities of the Men’s fellowship of their Churches. Aside playing their fatherly role as leaders, men are always expected to show among others, leadership by example, role models, as well as project the Church as a caring community.

At the Methodist Cathedral, of the Diocese of D/Line, Port Harcourt, the men are exceptionally charged with these responsibilities, and in their different groups, they stress the need to accommodate, as well as exhibit humility in service, as worthy servants of God. The Men fellowship in their hymn MHB 585 ‘Arise o men of God’ in no small measure have challenged the men to always rise to their responsibilities in the Church, at home and in the society. When the men re-echo their slogan ‘We will serve the Lord,’ they seem to admit that God helping them, they will do their best to inculcate the spirit of oneness in Christ in families, the Church as one body competing seriously on what is Christlike, and by so doing, set the pace for greater things as Christians.

The Men’s Fellowship in their different groups have always been on duty, praying fervently for the security situation of the country, taking care of the welfare of others in the Church and outside the Church. They organise retreats, seminars and workshop for training and retraining of manpower for leadership, skills and the evangelism of the gospel. In their different groups, they compete for every valuable experience necessarily needed for the growth of the Fellowship.

In Group Eight of the Fellowship, there has been a call for men to rise up and raise those who will take over from them. “This was the way St. Paul and the other Apostles laboured. They pioneered Churches but did not leave until they have raised and ordained faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” The men, irrespective of Church denomination, are therefore admonished to learn from Paul. It was Paul who raised Timothy and commissioned him to do the same (Acts 16:1-4; 2 Timothy 2:2). Men should also learn from Christ Who is the Author and Finisher of our faith. “Christ, at the onset of His Ministry, called men to be with Him that He might make them fishers of men and commissioned them to do the same (Matt. 4:19-22, 28:19-20; John 17:18; 20:21). In their fellowship meeting, the men discovered that mentorship was a pre-requisite for producing future leaders. They, therefore, call on families, Churches and the society to mentor the young ones for better leadership in the future. Noting that Nigeria is facing instability, insecurity and economic crunch due to poor leadership, the fellowship called on the men to:

• Search for opportunities to do things better.
• Experiment and take sensible risks to improve the organisation.

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