Below is a keynote address for the opening of the 47th Annual Bible Study Conference given to the Anglican Youth Fellowship Conference - 'Abuja AYF 2004' by the Primate of all Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Revd Peter J Akinola:


My dear people of God,

It is my pleasure and privilege to be here to welcome you to Abuja for your Annual National Bible Conference. I thank God for bringing all of you here in safety from all parts of our Church and from various parts of this vast country.

I am also heartily grateful to the founding fathers of this major youth movement of our Church and all those who in their several generations have been effective vessels in the hands of our God in directing the affairs of the Fellowship. I pray that the LORD will continue to bless the works and services of the Fellowship.

Your gathering is called "National Bible Conference" which presupposes that it is a gathering from all over our Church of people who are committed to biblical ideals and are prepared to uphold the integrity of Scripture as the revealed and written Word of God.

At a time when there is an ever widening gap between biblical teaching and practice, and a time when much is being done by many to manipulate and discredit the Bible from being a timeless God-given basis for quality life, what can be more gratifying than to see such a large number of our young people gathering from all over this large country in recognition of the need to read, mark and inwardly digest the revealed and written Word of God-the Holy Bible.

"Fake Gospel"

It is in this regard that as I welcome you I must also charge you to exercise great care in what you hear and believe in these last days. More than ever before, there are far too many preachers of fake 'gospel'. They deliberately twist and distort the word of God to suite their fancy and selfish ends. Their 'gospel' is according to their needs. They neither know Jesus of Calvary nor have any thing in common with the holy Catholic and apostolic Church.

The LORD Jesus taught us, among other things, three key elements of authentic discipleship, namely, self-denial; carrying one's cross and following in the footsteps of the Master. And to answer his call, obedience and repentance are central. In their new teaching many of these modern preachers cannot countenance poverty, pain, and self-discipline. They have no room for the condescension of God; no mention is ever made of the passion and cross of Jesus. Nor do they see any reason for repentance. It's all about money and wealth.

For them God exists only to serve and meet their needs. For example, basing their argument on a faulty reading of Isaiah 45:11 they teach people to learn to command God to do their bidding. {Illustrations] They sell 'holy water, holy oil and holy handkerchiefs' to their gullible followers who are running from pillar to post looking for miracles of instantaneous wealth. When no such thing happens and the scales fall off their eyes these religious prostitutes suddenly discover the tricks being played on them they then resort to blaming God for all their woes. Please be warned.

Youth and Graduate Unemployment

Let me touch briefly on the question of youth and graduate unemployment and its many attendant problems. It is has been said that idle hand is Satan's workshop. And the Bible goes further to direct that he who does not work should not even eat. There are no ready-made and easy solutions to these problems.

But could it be that there are possible answers in the hands of each one of you looking for jobs; May be all that is required is to be a little more pro-active in your way of looking at life. By now, many of you must have realised that many of the subjects you studied in universities are not as marketable today as they were three decades ago.

(e.g.: Micro Biology, Public Administration, Political Science etc). Others who read supposedly marketable subjects: law, medicine, computer science etc are endlessly searching and waiting for Government appointment. Consequently, many graduates are unable to secure any meaningful job. I ask you must you forever be under the illusion that government owes you a job and a living.

Your mindset must shift from being someone else's staff to being your own boss. Where is your own creativity, your ingenuity and your sense of innovation? Why can't you aim at being your own employer?

What stops a number of you from collaborating and starting some small ventures together?

I would want to appeal to the national and each diocesan council of the AYF to identify carrier counsellors to help our youth think through all available possibilities. And if there are any specific ways you think we can be of some help, let us know.

Occultism and Armed Robbery

I believe it is also important for me to ask: What is the AYF doing about the increasing menace of occultism in the nation's tertiary institutions? How about the rampant cases of armed robbery by young people-male and female? It is our expectation that those of you who have come to know the LORD will help others to come to know the joy of knowing and serving the LORD. You don't hoard the Christian faith. You share it. You spread it. You have tremendous energy and talents, which if surrendered to the LORD can be harnessed and used for a better society. And within the context of our Church's Vision and commitment to Evangelism I charge you all to imbibe the principle of "Every Anglican an Evangelist".

Spiritual Gifts

Ephesians 4.11-16 gives a fairly long list of spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit makes available to individual members of the Church. No one is without a particular gift. But what are these spiritual gifts meant for? One thing is very clear from the text; they are not for personal aggrandisement.

We need to emphasize the point again and again that every gift of God including your enormous youthful energies are for the building up of the Church-the Body of Christ. Every bit of your efforts and services should be clearly seen as not engendered by any underlying motives of self-glory, but exclusively for the glory God.

Today, the world says that if you do not blow your own trumpet, no one will blow it for you. But the Bible insists on something different: if you do not blow your own trumpet, God will not only blow it for you he will elevate you.

"For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted" Matt 23.12 AND
"Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older.

All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you" (1 Peter 5: 5 - 7).

And I hope you do believe the Bible.

The Last point I like to stress is on the Church of Nigeria Vision statement, which says:

"The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) shall be; Bible-based, spiritually dynamic, united; disciplined, self-supporting, committed to pragmatic evangelism, social welfare and a Church that epitomizes the genuine love of Christ."

This is the fourth year of the vision. We are yet to receive reports of active and full involvement of our youths in its implementation. As a major group and bona fide stakeholders in the affairs of this vibrant Church I ask that within the recognized structures of the Church of Nigeria, you should make more effort to be seen and believed to be working for the welfare of the Church at all levels, not as rivals, confrontational or destructive group as that seems to be your new reputation in some parts of our Church. Your study of the Bible and the application of its teachings to daily living must therefore address two important urgent matters:

The need for a proper understanding of who you are in the context of the whole Church: that youthfulness is not and cannot be synonymous with rebellion and that humility and respect to constituted authority is an integral part of biblical Christianity. As your theme this year - "Living Faith" suggests; Christianity is a living religion with a faith that is actively seeking understanding of God, the world He has created and how to get the two to relate harmoniously. Thus our youth should be seen as those very desirous by all intents and purposes to understand and identify with the Church to which they belong, its heritage, constitution, liturgy, and government.

The need for a much more action oriented youth - not just talking and engaging in endless conferences and seminars but truly active in consonance with the Bible. Your preoccupation should no longer be with wonderful ideas which are never in short supply but your focus should be on the implementation of these ideas in positive ways for the welfare of the Church and society. Nigerians are known for their wonderful ideas and theoretical solutions to every problem, but we are yet to see any appreciable political/spiritual will power to turn this theoretical prowess into some tangible pragmatism.

I call on you therefore to face the challenge and come out of this conference shunning the present empty and flamboyant lifestyle of our people, and showing yourselves as a new generation bent on making a difference.

Let me conclude by saying that if you sincerely address these issues as part of your commitment to biblical ideals, your Christian faith will surely become a "living faith". I beg you; do not be satisfied with just being wonderful speakers and hearers and never doers of the Word, deceiving yourselves. In the words of St. Peter:

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is short sighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers (and sisters), be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."
II Peter 1:5-11 (NIV)

May the good Lord bless your conference and make it fruitful. May He also grant all of you mercy and safety in your return journey to your respective stations.

And now in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, I declare this 47th Annual Bible Study Conference of the AYF, open

Peter Abuja


(Courtesy of Church of Nigeria News)


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