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Bahamas: 2008 is a Time for Bahamians to Really Take Their Country Back From All the Violence and Pain, and Recommit to Making The Islands a Better Place "...the Nation Itself Needs to Get Back to the Basics."
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Religion: A New direction and a brighter future in 2008:
By KARAN MINNIS, Guardian Lifestyles Reporter -
Nassau, Bahamas:



Finally 2007 has past! And yes, we have all successfully brought in the New Year. The churches were filled and the Christians were out in full force making New Year's resolutions and spreading the holiday joy.

However despite all of the holiday cheer, many of us have found it easy to sum up all of this year's events and to realize that despite the many good things that might have happened, there were many areas in which we may have fallen short. But as several local pastors have put it, the New Year is definitely not about our inadequacies.

"This is a brand new year," says Pastor Trent Davis of Golden Gates Assembly. "It's a great time to reflect but not on the bad, but rather on the future and on God. And in this New Year we at Golden Gates Assembly see a manifestation of God's power and presence in the church and its family. So we are all expecting God to do unprecedented things. And 2008 for us, as a nation, is definitely going to be the year of unusual expectations."

Adding that this transformation will really blow the church's mind, Pastor Davis said that it will all be done through the power of God.

"God is going to do something that is really going to blow the church's mind, both corporately and individually," he said. "We are moving higher in our praise and worship and in our commitment to him. And to prove that we're really intensifying our ministry as we anticipate the Second Coming of Christ."

Additionally Davis said that throughout the month January Golden Gates Assembly will also be in and about the community at large to spread the goodness of Christ.

"This is a great opportunity for Christians to reconnect with God," he said. "And this is also the time to reconnect with God and with your family. This is a new year and a new time. Therefore it's a time for change. It's a time for us to really take our country back from all the violence and pain, and to recommit to making The Bahamas a better place. So at this time we are encouraging The Bahamas to take this opportunity to renew our commitment to praise and to try to turn our country into a Christian nation again."

Pastor Dan Simmons of Carmichael Bible Church believes this year will not only be a year of transformation, but it will also be a year of revitalization and a great awakening.

"One of the things that I think is paramount for the Christian church as we head into a new year, is to remember that the new year starts right after Christmas and that Christmas is a reminder that as we face a new year and all the challenges that are going to come up in a new year, that we are not going at it alone," says Pastor Simmons.

"What Christmas reminds us is that God himself became one of us and that God is with us now, Emmanuel, God with us. And so, as we start to think about the year ahead of us, we've got to begin with that recognition that Christmas has reminded us and taught us that God has become one of us, has lived and has died in our place and has laid a foundation that we can actually look to a new year with a lot of hope."

Adding that we are all aware of what the nation went through in the past year in terms of crime and violence, Pastor Simmons says that the Bahamas is more than ready for a change.

"All year the church has been crying out to God in prayer and the messages that various pastors have been bringing is one of hope," he said. "Not that we in ourselves have been righteous before the Lord and not that he will restore us because of our righteousness but He, God, will restore us because of His righteousness and His love towards his nation. That's what's important."

"And from the messages that I have been receiving, I believe that God will restore us because He will use this nation and the church to affect the world and the entire Bahamas. We will be used as the model for change. That's what 2008 will be and mean to this country as a whole, not just the church."

According to Pastor Ulric Smith of Zion Baptist Church on Shirley Street, this will definitely be the case, as he also believes that 2008 will be a year of true spiritual awakening. However, he said, this will only happen through the redevelopment of the church.

"In the midst of all that we are experiencing as a country and to the extent to which we have it, I think that the negative will still affect us in the New Year," he said. "But in the case of both, nationally and internationally, I don't think we have really thought about the long-term effects of it. And to add, I do not think that we have really realized that there are some simple issues or things that have caused this to happen.

"Now having said that, because the crisis that we are experiencing there is an opportunity to fix it, and there are a lot of persons who are looking for the answer but they have become disappointed in the church. Therefore we as the church must recommit ourselves to the nation, and to the public," he said. "We must we show The Bahamas and the world that the church is here and is ready to adjust to their needs. We cannot continue to follow traditions, and while some traditions are needed, we need to understand that we must change with the times and the country. So that change process is what I see the church doing in this new 2008 calendar year."

On the other hand, Pastor James Newry of Calvary Deliverance Church says there is one more thing that is just as important as recommitting ourselves to God: becoming more involved in your children's lives and Christian development.

"I think that with this new year, the nation itself needs to get back to the basics," he said. "And in saying that I mean to get back into family commitments, and family devotions. And I truly believe that by getting back to family devotions, family prayer and worship we can change many, many things in The Bahamas. Parents need to start attending services with their children instead of just dropping them off. And they need to stop leaving their kids to the baby-sitter or the television and reconnect with your kids and help with their spiritual development.

"We understand that you have to work and that we are all trying to get more for our kids, but the damage that we are doing to them spiritually and emotionally will be long lasting," he said. "And I feel that recommitting yourselves to the development of your family through Jesus Christ is the best commitment to yourself that any parent can make. And once you do it, the blessings that you will receive will be unmeasurable and vast in abundance."

January 3, 2008 | 3:46 PM Comments  0 comments

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