Are You a Kingdom Man?

Like the version for the women, this book is also in form of a question because it demands an answer from every man who reads it. Jesus asked us to pray, “Your kingdom come; Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven”. What is this kingdom? What does the will of God on earth look like? Who is a kingdom man? What makes him different from every other man? What is God’s priority for this kingdom? Find out as you engage with this book, which also challenges believers to take their walk with God seriously and focus on living in this world as ambassadors of God’s kingdom. In this book we also see how Jesus used parables to explain kingdom principles and the kingdom life.

The book examines what a kingdom man looks like in his relationship with God, in his home, in his ministry, business, the community and so on. You will definitely know him by his fruits. He is a man of prayer, a worshipper, purpose driven, a lover of God, and selfless. He has an insatiable desire to please God.

With over five decades of Christian Ministry, Dr Elewechi Ngozi Okike has touched many lives through her inspirational writings. She is a pastor, an evangelist, an award-winning author and a motivational speaker, who is passionate about seeing Christians develop a deep and meaningful relationship with God and fulfil their calling to become ambassadors of God’s kingdom on earth. Dr Okike has worked within the higher education sector for almost four decades. She is a consultant and a much sought-after conference speaker.

Dr Okike has also authored The Greatest Debtor to His Love and a Trophy of His Grace, Your New Life(1^st and 2^nd editions), Living for Purpose, The Torch Bearer, How I Stood Up to Cancer, Are You a Kingdom Woman?, Life’s Lessons from a Collection of Donkey Stories and Together Forever: 15 Secrets to Life-long Marriage, amongst others. She is passionate about making a difference in the lives of others and showing the love of Jesus in practical ways. This is reflected in all her writings.

Her desire to make a difference in the lives of others led to the establishment of BOOK AID FOR AFRICA, a UK registered Charity that is addressing the imbalance in educational provision in Africa. She has had radio and TV interviews about her “dramatic and eventful” life, as described by a former BBC Reporter, and the charity work she does with Book Aid for Africa.

To find out more, visit www.bookaidforafrica.com.

Although all those who endorsed my book, ‘Are You a Kingdom Woman?’ indicated that the book was appropriate for both men and women, because of the title, most men have been hesitant to pick up the book for themselves. Some of the men that purchased the book, did so for their wives. However, given the importance of the subject matter, the burden to write the version for men has been very strong. I knew I could not avoid it, and so I am delighted to be writing this book to inspire male believers to become all that they were destined to be.

Like the version for women, the title of this version for men is also in the form of a question, ‘Are You a Kingdom Man?’ This is because it requires every man who reads the book to answer the question sincerely and realistically. It demands some soul-searching and hopefully by the time the male reader gets to the end of the book, he should be sure of the answer to the question, ‘who is a ‘kingdom man’? and what distinguishes him from any other man? What kingdom are we referring to here? It is anticipated that by the time we have answered these questions, there will be no doubt in our minds as to what we mean by ‘a kingdom man’.

The Church of Jesus Christ has preached all sorts of messages, doctrines, sermons on faith, healing, prosperity, heaven and hell, how to fulfil your dreams, and so on. Indeed, these are all part of the kingdom message. However, the gospel of the kingdom of God has not occupied the pride of place it ought to have. Yet Jesus, whom we all seek to emulate, preached nothing else but the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven. All His parables were used to explain kingdom principles and the kingdom life. What a difference it would make in the church if we all simply went back to basics, to educate ourselves all over again about what the kingdom life is about, and what we have been saved to do.

At the start of Jesus’ ministry in Matthew 4, we read that He left Nazareth and went to Galilee and began to preach saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). What was He trying to say here? We shall be exploring this later in this book. We also find that whilst He was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He found Simon Peter and his brother fishing. He called them to follow Him, and they left their nets and followed Him. So also did the two sons of Zebedee, James and John. What happened next? We are told in Matthew 4:23 that “Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of diseases among the people”. He was not preaching about ‘how to heal the sick’. He preached the gospel of the kingdom, and then began to heal the sick. This tells me that when people understand what the kingdom of God is about, they would understand that sickness and disease are not part of this kingdom Jesus was talking about, and when their understanding is enlightened it becomes easier for them to get healed.

As we continue further into Matthew’s gospel, we find in chapters 5, 6, 7 and so on that followed, that Jesus began to teach the people about this kingdom; how this kingdom operates and what it looks like to live in this kingdom. For example, in this kingdom if someone “slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also” (Matthew 5:39). In other words, you don’t fight back if someone hits you. This book explores these principles and concepts of the kingdom.

Also, in Matthew 9:35 we read “Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people”. Here again we find the same pattern; He preached the gospel of the kingdom and then healed all sicknesses and diseases. Could it be that we are not seeing much miracles in our churches today because we have stopped preaching the gospel of the kingdom?

The Apostle Paul was responsible for over half of the contents of the New Testament. So, what did he preach? We read in the LAST TWO verses of Acts 28:30-31 ‘Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him’. In other words, the Apostle Paul preached the gospel of the kingdom of God. This tells me that we are meant to teach people about God’s kingdom. It is my sincere prayer that this book will get us back on track.

This book focuses on men in this kingdom. What does a kingdom man look like? Does Jesus say anything about kingdom men? Yes, He did, all His disciples learnt so much about the kingdom of God from Him, and we see how they went about putting into practice all they learnt from Jesus about the kingdom of God. We shall be looking at these in this book.

Every man who is ‘born again’ and sincerely desires to live a fulfilled life, the kind of life that Jesus left His throne in heaven to bequeath to us, must read this book. Are you not tired of just keeping the motion and living a mundane life? Why are we not experiencing ‘heaven on earth’? Where have we gone wrong? The bible says in Hosea 4:6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”. It is my prayer that the life of every man that reads this book will be radically changed forever.  It is time for us as kingdom men to rise up and begin to live and walk in our kingdom authority. God has overlooked our days of ignorance (Acts 17:30).

Although this book focuses on men, it is not exclusively for men, and nothing prevents a woman from reading it. As a matter of fact, every believing woman ought to read it as well so they can gain insights too about what a kingdom man looks like. More importantly, every married woman after reading this book should hopefully discover how best to support her husband to live the kingdom life.

Elewechi Ngozi Okike