Question:Ketonguno from India asks:

Dear Pastor Chris,
I have been hearing that God is real but I’m finding it very hard to believe. I just don’t know what to believe and how to believe. I have been reading the bible but I don’t understand what I’m reading. Also, I have been praying, but I don’t know to whom I am speaking. What do I do?
Pastor Chris Answers:First there is a little bit of history that you’ve got to get. Almost 2000 years ago, a man named Jesus was born of a virgin and he declared that he was sent from God as God’s son. His birth was a miracle birth because he was born of a virgin and then he also told us, by several miraculous signs that he came from God and he brought a message from God and the Bible tells us how that he died for us as a sacrifice. He was buried. The third day God proved that he was truly from him by raising him from death. Jesus was raised from the dead as proof that he was from God. After his resurrection, he ascended in the presence of 120 people who saw him. The Bible tells us more than 500 people saw him after his resurrection. Now this Jesus ascended physically through the clouds to heaven- one more proof that he was the son of God- this Jesus being proved by God Almighty. When you say you don’t believe there is a God, you have to understand everything in nature could not have come accidentally there is too much order in nature to have come as an accident. It’s impossible! You’d have to deceive yourself.

Another beautiful thing is that every human being has the capacity to believe in an unseen God; everyone! It is natural to human beings to believe with their hearts. Believing is a choice and that’s why we talk about Jesus because he was more than a religious leader. God Almighty, whom he came to declare, testified of him through his birth, through his miraculous life, through his death (which he commanded). That’s another miracle- he gave up a ghost, he gave up his own spirit at his death and then by his resurrection from the dead and finally by his ascension into heaven- he didn’t just vanish! He ascended before the eyes of those who were watching him and through the clouds and the biggest part of all of this is that God vested power into his name such that almost 2000 years after all of this happened his name still has power today. His name still has power- at his name miracles happen, at his name demons tremble. His name still has power today! So, if you would believe in this Jesus of Nazareth, he would impart to you eternal life. You don’t have to see him with your optical eyes first- you can believe with your heart because his name still has power today. So, if you would believe this little information that we have given you and accept that Jesus Christ is the son of God, you would have eternal life- the life that he gives. You can receive that into your heart and then all of your sins that you’ve committed would be purged out of your heart. The nature of sin would be gone, because that’s the reason he came to die for us- to wash our sins away and settle that with God Almighty so we could have eternal life. So, this is very important for you. It’s a simple information but very powerful.

Question:Harrison from Nigeria asks:
Thank you Pastor for this opportunity.
I have studied the story of the three Hebrew guys- Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the book of Daniel. My question is: where was Daniel when the Hebrew guys were thrown into the furnace? Was he not around or did he obey Nebuchadnezzar and bow?
​Pastor Chris Answers:Interestingly, there is good curiosity for this. He wasn’t among them but, the issue was not whether Daniel obeyed or did not obey, what happened was these three were reported directly. Those who reported them took aims at them directly. They were named as ‘disobedient’, even though it started out with telling about the Jews- that the Jewish people act like ‘this’. Then they singled them out, so, that was the problem. 

But here’s another thing- Daniel occupied a certain role- a certain office at the time. It is very possible (speculations exist in church history), that he might have been on an official assignment at the time. Nebuchadnezzar ruled the world and Daniel was at this time, managing the province that had the headquarters. He had asked for these three to be allowed to work with him, so they were under him. He was higher than the three of them because of the interpretation of the dream that he gave to Nebuchadnezzar- he had been promoted because of that. There is a little mystery but he definitely didn’t bow. It’s just that it was pretty silent there, as to where he was. So, there are a lot of speculations, but not about him bowing- we can tell that from everything else that followed.

​Pastor Chris Answers:Simple things, number one: a prophet of God draws people to God and not to other gods but to the father of our Lord Jesus Christ and draws people to the Word, not to himself or to some other god. And then, the things that he says come to pass. Now, that’s a little tricky because sometimes, you have a true prophet who makes mistakes (because there are some who have made mistakes). Don’t forget that you are not made a pastor, a prophet or an evangelist because you are perfect. So sometimes, some of them can make some mistakes and I don’t want you to judge them with their mistakes, because sometimes, out of enthusiasm (that’s over enthusiasm) or the expectations of those who are around them, they can do or say things that they are not supposed to do and then some might not even be living right and so things go wrong because they are not paying attention to the Holy spirit. But that does not make them false prophets. See, a true prophet can make mistakes and say the wrong thing, as a true evangelist can say the wrong thing. So sometimes, there are problems like that.

There are other distinguishing factors: does he walk in love? A key- walking in the love of Christ- is very important! Then, the consistency of the word of God in his mouth, because, as you have a false prophet, you can have a false pastor, you can have a false teacher, and then the Bible also talks about false brethren! So, it’s not only false prophets; there are false prophets according to the scriptures, there are false teachers according to the scriptures and there are false brethren according to the scriptures! And you are going to know all of these in the same way, sometimes not immediately. Sometimes it takes a while but you would see certain things consistently, especially faltering on the word of God consistently- that’s a major sign.

Then, there other problems that make it very difficult- you’ve got the use of material mediums. Incidentally, there are true Christians, true pastors, prophets, evangelists, teachers and so on, including apostles. There are true ones that have been misled into the use of material mediums, praying through certain things. They’ve got some cloth to pray through, they’ve got some holy water to pray through, they’ve got all of these stuffs and they are problems because a true prophet should not use them! But some of them have used them and are using them. So, it becomes rather difficult to distinguish between them for some people especially when you understand that sometimes some of these ministers have come from a background where they were children and grandchildren of juju priests and priestesses. Some of these things they have carried over into Christianity and they are using them. So, I’m saying that’s not enough to condemn them because they are using some things out of their ignorance. Someday soon they’d learn from those mistakes and stop using them. That is why that’s not enough to tell that they are false. But, if you listen to the Word of God that’s taught you, that’s the most important. Go to the scriptures for yourself and listen to what they are saying; compare what you are hearing to what is in the Word and that would help you because if that minister continues to falter on the word of God, you’ve got to know something is wrong. So, that’s the biggest sign.

​Question:Wilson from Nigeria asks:
What do I do after declaring that I have a particular thing for so long and it seems it’s not coming to pass at the time I need it?
Pastor Chris Answers:Pastor Kay?

Pastor Kayode proffers:
I think that he’s the one giving himself a deadline because, like you taught us sir, faith is not a leap in the dark- it’s a leap on the word! And if he truly believes that he has what he’s asked for, then he should not put himself under duress to say that it must come today, or, it must be tomorrow. He knows inside him that he has it, and he stays with it, and he is going to get the result.

Pastor Chris answers:
That’s it!

See, faith remains unshakeable irrespective of circumstances. As long as you are thinking: ‘I’ve been declaring that I have this thing. It hasn’t come, oh lord! I’ve been declaring!’ and then you get under pressure, you’re not in faith! You are thinking that the constant repetition of your confession is what faith is; but that’s not faith. Faith is not that you’re confessing it. We make the confession because we have faith- our confession is an offspring of faith. ‘… as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak…’ (Scripture Reference 2nd Corinthians 1:13). It doesn’t say we speak and therefore believe. ‘I believed therefore have I spoken’- that’s what the Word says. So, the faith takes a hold of it first and if your faith has taken a hold of it, it is impossible to deny you, because you already have it. How can you come back and say, ‘oh I thought I had it and I found I didn’t have it’?

Faith is a knowledge. It is a spiritual knowledge that you have it. You’re not trying to get it, you have it! The scripture says: ‘Now faith is the ‘substance’ of things not seen’ (Scripture Reference Hebrews 11:1). It is the ‘substance of things hoped for’. If you were hoping for it, if you were wanting to get it and praying about it, when you take a hold of it with your faith because you’ve been hoping for it, your faith has it! It is substance, not an assumption. It didn’t say ‘faith is an assumption of things hoped for’, it says ‘faith is the substance of things hoped for’, which means it has become tangible to you.

Then, the second part of Hebrews 11:1 says: ‘the evidence of things not seen’. ‘Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence…’ If it’s evidence how can you come back and say, ‘I thought I’d been confessing that I had it and then it didn’t come when I wanted it’. That’s impossible because it is evidence! How can you claim to have had it and then you discover you didn’t have it, if it’s evidence? If it’s evidence, it means it’s proof. So, the fact that you are asking this question tells you that you were not in faith when you thought you were!

So, the real question is not going to be ‘what do I do after declaring that I have something and then it doesn’t come when I want it’, your real question should be wanting to learn more about faith. You’d want to know more about faith- How do I use my faith? because you have faith! If you didn’t have faith, you wouldn’t be a Christian because when you hear the gospel, the gospel comes with faith- the seed of faith. Once you receive the gospel of Jesus Christ, it imparts faith into your heart to receive eternal life- you become a Christian. So, faith is already resident in your spirit. The question is, How do I use my faith? That’s what you would want to learn and our book ‘HOW TO MAKE YOUR FAITH WORK' would help you tremendously, so get a copy of it. You can get the digital copy- just get online and download that copy. It would help you.