After our study of the beginning and spread of the early church, it is necessary for us to consider the sacrifices made by the early Christians, especially the disciples left by our Lord to propagate Christianity.
- SIMON PETER: Tradition says he was crucified in Rome head downwards.
- JAMES THE ELDER: He preached and converted many in Jerusalem. He was eventually beheaded by Herod around AD 44.
- JOHN THE BELOVED: Laboured in Asia Minor especially at Ephesus; was banished to Patmos Island where he wrote the book of Revelation. He was freed afterwards and died naturally.
- ANDREW: Crucified on a St Andrew’s Cross.
- PHILIP: Stoned to death at Hierapolis.
- BARTHOLOMEW: Burned at the stake in Armenia.
- THOMAS: Suffered martyrdom in India.
- MATTHEW: Thrown alive into hot oil in Persia,
- JUDE: Said to have been burned alive in Persia.
- MATTHIAS: Martyred in Ethiopia. .
- LUKE: Believed to have been hung on an olive tree by the idolatrous priest of Greece.
CHRISTIAN APOLOGIST: DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH
The martyrs proved by their joyful endurance of persecution to the end that their faith was better than life itself. It was left to those who lived to explain to Jews and Pagans what the faith really was. These writers were called Apologist, because they wrote books, which explained and justified Christianity. The arguments they used in defense of Christianity can be divided into four way or groups.
- Appeal to the authorities to treat Christians Justly;
- Attack on pagan religious beliefs and practices;
- Presentation of Christian beliefs and way of life;
- Theological arguments to justify Christianity.
These apologists included Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian, Aristides, Quadrates, Tertian and a host of others.
We leave our review of the development and life of the early church with gratitude to God for all that He gave to Christians through those times of persecution, and express our hope and confidence that God will surely complete the building of His body, which is the church.
– gabriel ajibade
| I work with a financial institution and I have come to discover that for most people savings with a bank is all they know or are content with when it comes to setting money aside. Most people have their seeds sitting in bank accounts earning not more than 3% per annum. So sad!
Letting money lie idle in the bank is according to the Master the least form of investment. In the parable of the talent, Jesus’ explained that the least the unfaithful servant could have done was to put the money in the bank so that on his return he would have collected it with usury (interest). Notice that is the LEAST. Money earns much more when put to work.
So here is a simple rule to follow. With our understanding of seeds we know that they multiply when planted. So money invested produces more money. The soil on which you invest matters. You must invest money where you earn far above the rate at which money looses value. So if prices of things are increasing at 10% per annum then you must invest where you get more than that.
What do you do with the proceeds of your investment? Spend it? No!!! Doing that deprives you of exploring the eight wonder of the world. Somebody put it simply. If you have two servants and they give birth to a third, you don’t give out the third. You put all three to work. The three will give birth to two more then you put all five to work. All five will give birth to three more then you out all eight to work. Let all eight go to work and give birth to 4 more then put all twelve to work. With time you will have a house full of servants. Money is a servant. It grows faster when compounded. By compounding we mean you re-invest the proceeds from the investment. Each time you do this you compound your investment and reduce the time it takes to reach your financial target.
If you invest 20,000 one time and don’t add to it and you reinvest (compound) the proceeds for lets say 47years at 10% above inflation then you will have nearly 2million. Now notice that is a one time investment. On the other hand if you save 20,000 in a bank and keep adding the same 20,000 yearly at the funny 3% returns it gives you will have less than a million after 47years. Now if you invest 20,000 and keep adding 20000 yearly for the same period at the same rate you will have over 17million.
That is the power of compound interest and Einstein called it THE EIGHT WONDER OF THE WORLD. Earn interest on your interest. You have no reason not to leave a fortune for that child. A one time investment for him will make him a millionaire before he even begins work.
Make an investment decision today. Compound your investment and enjoy the eight wonder of the world. –emmanuel aladenusi |