The New Wine
- The New Wine
- Host Bethlem Resort
- Location Ile-Igbon
- Date 8th - 12th February
The Burden
Calvary greetings.
May the increase of His grace and Lordship be fully multiplied unto you, requisite to the present Kingdom demands in your life in Jesus name. We want to specially bless the name of the Lord for crossing us over from that turbulent 2021. In mercy, He has settled us into 2022, another credit of 365 days of Life-time opportunity, hope, enlargement, wealth and more impact at Individual, community, society and globally. He has repeatedly assured us of commensurate grace and mercy. Jeremiah 50; 34 Psalm 85:12 To Him be praise and dominion for ever and ever.
This letter is to specially invite you to the next Christian Workers Congress, coming up between February 8-12, 2023. Last year, the theme of the Congress was, Contending for the Faith. The Lord re- emphasized again that the entire Bible has only one message and that's JESUS. Any approved teaching/message must show Him clearly without lifting any other mortal directly or indirectly to obscure Him... He warned us of various cosmetics or embellishment that are quietly arranged for organizational or individual identity. He reminded us of the Tower of Babel which would have ranked as the greatest human architectural master piece on earth but God turned it into rubbles and rubbish because He was not there. That still awaits any work that is outside His perfect will but cleverly packaged in His name. It calls for sincerity and soberness on the part of all Ministers of the gospel especially those entrusted with leadership opportunities.
This year the theme is... The New Wine..... It is still a further instruction to emphasize the need to do away with the "old" when the "new" has come. "Religion" has been for years even before the Lord Jesus (God in man) came but on arrival, He announced that the old is not perfect but in Him is the fulfilment of the Law(old) but they did not understand. They, in ignorance, went ahead to blackmail and murder Him not knowing that they were fulfilling the scripture! For years since the death and resurrection of our Lord and the birth of the Church, the personality of JESUS and His Life which is the message that bring life has been transcribed into mere doctrine, creed, and ceremonies but the real life is obscured! He came to His own but they did not recognize Him, some even rejected Him outrightly. It is unfortunate, that even today only few people truly recognizes JESUS and His voice, the voices of "Bishops, General Overseers Pastors and other categories of Ministers have become much more louder and "clearer" than the voice of the Master Himself.
In John2:1-11, the wine finished abruptly, the reason for this could not be immediately discovered but it was obvious that the Lord knew about it. The wine here can mean so many things among which it may represents the "merry" (life) that kept the ceremony (celebration) going and getting the attention of all participants. Events globally are confirming the fact that 'Wine' has finished in the church for long- this is the reason for all kinds of doctrines, maneuvers, gimmicks, motivations, rules and regulations, punitive measures, mechanically arranged activities put in place to keep members but despite all these, multitudes are getting tired of the "church" religious rituals) not JESUS. JESUS has remained refreshing for all those who have encountered Him but the Church’s (mere religion) is becoming more of a routine and boring to multitudes. God has good news for us this year, He knows that the wine has finished or at best, it is the cheap(traditional) wine that's being served-the new wine has come-this Wine is not human, you cannot find it in any brewery in the human race, it is divine. It is JESUS undiluted. The Lord is inviting you to this New Wine which is not really entirely new but we have settled too long to the cheap old human made wine (because there is readily no alternative). The critical burden in the heart of the Master before departure is the oneness of His body, He spent the entire John 17 agonizing on this. 2000 years after His departure. His body is much more divided and fragmented! The age long mystery has been "How do we truly become ONE in unity and not uniformity, depth in Christ Jesus and not in material/ organizational enlargement, oneness in love and not in religious, denominational sectarian dogma which birth rivalry, competition and enmity". "How do we reclaim the one family of Christ without oblivious of the fact that there are special endowments, capability and disability but only one and same family with only ONE surname"-this is the new wine! This new realization can only be possible with God alone and only through men that have been made "perfect "by HIM.
Dear friend, fellow ministers and co-pilgrims, this is the invitation this year. Come and let’s be filled with this wine that will empower us to fulfil His desire and counsel in this world. There is no more work or labour in Heaven, our only jurisdiction is here on earth. The urgent labour is to please and do the will of Him who has sown His Life for our redemption. May the Lord find you trustworthy and dependable in this final lap of the race. Labour sincerely to bring several others into this congress. God Bless You!
Your Brother, J.E Tobih