Can iPads Cast Out Demons?

Every word of God that is received is an inroad for God’s spirit to cause a transformation. He always speaks. Every word of the Holy Writ received wholeheartedly precipitates God’s spirit. When he does, he always blesses, based on his word. Hebrews 12:22.

The coming of the Messiah shattered the veiled views of God. The walls succumbed to the redemptive power imbued in Christ. We, the saints of the church, can become free in deed; our deification of God unfettered no longer by walls made by human hands. Unrestricted by dogmatic fellowship with God, the ‘city of God’ in our hearts spreads its tentacles beyond our physical locations. The church’s unbounded limit is her strength. It’s a progressive tag.

The church ought to champion the march of renaissance. She ought to be at the forefront of natural revival, but at some points, the church struggles.

Growing up as kids, my parents told us they celebrated the Holy Mass in Latin. The priest had his back to the congregation. All they had to do was to recite the prayers and songs from hymnals and missals. Whether what they sang was understood or not, they did the motions. It seemed to confer on the liturgy an aura of mystery, holiness and mysticism on the liturgy. The sanctum sanctorum wasn’t to bejoked with.

They understood that God physically dwelt there and they were in awe always.Then we progressed. The priest began to face the congregation. Mass celebration became a combination of Latin and English. Then it progressed to the use of native language. We celebrated mass in our native dialect, and by doing so we could appreciate the process.

However, through these phases “old time”conservative Christians complained bitterly. They craved for the good old days of ‘incomprehensible’ Latin. They felt the aura had evaporated. They were stuck on those. They yearned for a return to the old patterns. It didn’t happen. They miffed and coined a name: “New Generation churches”. The reference was more often derogatory than descriptive. They couldn’t appreciate new methodologies.

In an argument, someone opposed the ubiquity of techies in churches today. Church folks use Blackberry phones, Samsung tablets, and Apple iPads. Bible apps battle for attention with printed Bibles. He opined that we can’t use iPads or other tablet computers to cast out evil spirits. Hilarious as it sounds, this aptly captures the apathy towards techies by so many Christians, especially the ultra-conservatives.

The ease of mobility is a purposeful virtue; your apps, books and contacts all ensconced in a pretty portable device. The problem is the overemphasis on the usage and this is usually skewed towards the mundane and horrific. Like money (largely tainted in concept), these devices are amoral. It’s the use to which they are put that defines the extremes.The overemphasis on the immorality of the digital platform is why the church struggles and hence miffs at its adaptation and use.

Some may argue about the non-human characteristic
of virtual platforms for sharing the gospel. To them it’s a disadvantage. The disadvantage, according to the apologists,is that we tend to lose the ‘feel’ of our pastors’ presence or the communal feel of the congregation in worship.
Human contact is essential. However, that non-human feature of the virtual platform is a huge advantage when dissected properly. Folks who attend church do not all express themselves in the same manner. While some will openly appreciate communal fellowship and mutual sharing of challenges, some will recoil at the very thought of it. Don’t
get it twisted, not everyone can raise hands in public or open up in the privacy of a pastor’s office.
While we argue that the social media is a vast terrain replete with ungodly philosophies, on the other hand, it’s a gold mine. Its huge potentials can be tapped profitably by the church.

Over the years the church has been on a struggle to separate Christianity from science. It’s a real struggle that shouldn’t be. They opine that scientific teachings are at loggerheads with teachings on divinity. In my view, both schools of thought can
be harnessed profitably. This sort of polarization has made the ‘world’ produce while the Christians sit back and pray before consuming the products the so called heathens produced.
What is the church teaching the saints to produce? We just can’t be carrying gigantic Bibles in print format anymore!
The same philosophy is being peddled regarding political leadership. “Politics is a dirty game,” we have all heard. And so the saints leave politics alone, stay within church walls to pray for fire and brimstone to rain down on the evil leaders. The church can engage her young erudite and scholastic minds to develop faith-based enriching apps rather than separating
them. Members can create Twitter handles and follow that of church. The church follows back too. A Twitter manager can manage tweets. Announcements could be made via Twitter. Tweets and Facebook posts can be monitored if necessary.

Human needs are decoded through words. You may not track 100%, but you can salvage a soul on the brink of destructionwho finds social media expressive enough. We cannot be stodgy, holding onto certain jaundiced perspectives, stuck to a spot like an iroko tree. We can do the works of God via social media. It’s absolutely possible. Rather than disdain it, the church has to learn. The words “You are healed!” expressed by faith on social media can tear through the realms of the supernatural to raise a dying man who also connects by faith. The voice of God’s love can be heard and felt beyond the physical confines of local assemblies. You can preach via social media! When folks see that God’s word is a vast brook of blessedness, they will join the family.

What is the church doing in that regard? Above all, God needs you for this job of procreation of heavenly souls in the earth.

This is an excerpt from the book Unchurched by Emeka Nobis

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I am @bookoons, reminding you today to Make A Difference!