SOMETHING DIFFERENT, SOMETHING NEW (1)

The “something different” about this article is its departure from the usual expository/exhortatory trend of my articles. This is more of a testimony that was prompted by something I recently decided to do. This “something new” is the Facebook page I recently put up, titled THE KINGDOM HERALD – DAVID OLAGOKE OLAWOYIN, which has given occasion for me to say something about myself and my venture into Christian ministry.

Like every one who has stepped into the public eye to take a stand on something – especially one that could stir emotions – the reactions I have received have constituted a mixed grill. There have been some really impressive and quite flattering feedbacks, but as you would expect, they’ve been spiced with some not-so-flattering, even caustic, ones. Some might therefore be asking, “Who’s this fellow anyway.” And there are those who have known me all along and might be wondering how I came to “wearing a collar.”

What I will be sharing with you here is by no means a full life story, for as I told a senior Christian friend sometime ago, it would take a whole book to do that. I would simply strike a few highlights that build up to the reason for my putting up the said Facebook page. Since it appears that the page might be taking the centre stage in my interaction with my readers, you might want to check it out and subscribe by clicking here.

Let me say this. Subscribers of Facebook pages are tagged “fans” and this was one reason it took me so long to put up the page. The tag didn’t quite sit well with me. Nevertheless, I came to accept that there are some things we simply don’t have control over. That’s just the language of those who designed and control the medium. Of course we don’t turn down the huge benefits of Microsoft and Yahoo! products and services simply because of the “wizard” and “daemon” tags they use. Concerning these things, you might want to mediate on Proverbs 26:13 and Jeremiah 21:8,9.

Know what? When God tells you to do something and you are satisfied it’s God, “just do it.” There’s no substitute for obedience, not even humility, much less piety (be sure to also read and meditate on I Samuel 15:22-29). The way it is used today, “fan” basically means “enthusiast,” or “supporter,” or “follower” (a word preferred by Twitter and Google Blogger), which takes us back to the biblical word “disciple.” And in this case, it basically means someone following another’s message, listening to what he has to say. When you think of it, you won’t even need to agree with the messenger to do that, at least at the outset.                      

So, let’s get down to it. I gave my life to Christ in 1988 while at Olivet Baptist High School, Oyo, Nigeria. After high school, I went on to study Mechanical Engineering and graduated from the University of Lagos in 1997. While at UNILAG, I was a member of the Baptist Student Fellowship. I was also the president of the fellowship and a Sunday school teacher in my home Church. This was until I yielded to the inner voice to “launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.” As such I presently minister on an independent, non-denominational basis while maintaining good friendship with the Baptist Church and some other denominations and followings.

Studying engineering was quite predictable, considering my academic antecedents, although becoming an aircraft pilot was my first love. So obsessed with the “game of numbers” was I in those days that I independently established what I dubbed “The Law of Successive Squares”: “Holding naught, the successive addition of all successive odd numbers, results in successive perfect squares.” We’ll let those who are into those things think about that.

Before my graduation from the university, I was notified in a night vision that I would not be pursuing a “secular” career. I must admit, however, that I did not really understand the revelation at the time, or perhaps resisted understanding it, for it was quite evident that the Lord was asking me to offer my secular aspirations as a “sacrifice of a sweet savor” to Him. Although I knew it, and those around me could discern a special grace and call on my life, my thoughts and dreams were to pursue those ministerial things on the sidelines of a secular career.

All along, the revelation of the coming kingdom of our Lord  that I am presently sharing with the saints and the world at large was slowly, yet pervasively, gaining shape in my mind. The fact that I had to give up my secular aspirations to hid the call to the ministry is quite imperative, for the springboard of my message is The Golden Promise of Matthew 19:28: “And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.” It’s a question of what we might individually have to give up in the present time in order to fulfill our life purpose and lay hold on the glorious promise of the coming kingdom and eternal life.

However, after my graduation I went on to undergo the one-year Shell Intensive Training Programme for Graduates (Engineering Specialization), conducted in Nigeria by the Robert Gordon University, UK for Shell Petroleum Development Company. Right from the outset, I was once again notified that that was not my lot. And by what might be attributed to the hand of fate, I narrowly missed being recruited by Shell at the end of the program. Nevertheless, I could see the divine purpose and wisdom in my undergoing the program, for it was a time when I was exceptionally exposed to and trained in the use of computers and Information Technology, which have been of unquantifiable benefit to my present ministry. The Lord indeed works in mysterious ways.

It was towards the end of this training program, when it became increasingly evident that I would not be pursuing a career in engineering, that I finally got down to preparing an outline of the manuscript of my coming book, THE COMING GLORY: OUR KINGDOM REIGN WITH THE LORD, an encapsulation of the message that I have been entrusted with. It has been over seven years now and, to the best of my present understanding, this blog and the Facebook page I felt led to put up are partly to help lay a foundation for and give currency to this coming book. Although I have been sharing some portions of it on this site, the bulk of my revelation about the coming kingdom as contained in the book, as well as their detailed biblical bases and contemporary evidences, are still being jealously guarded. Indeed, I’m still trying to figure out how to write an overview that would truly convey all what the book is about. Going by the book, some parts of which confound even me, some really astounding things are in store for the saints and the world!

(To be continued next week.)

God bless you always.

In the King’s Service,

David Olagoke Olawoyin.