Doctrines in Brotherhood of The Cross and Star
Everything done in Brotherhood of the Cross and Star is ONE. Certain questions have been raised as regards certain procedures and practices in various stations in the fold. There is only ONE Leader and Teacher in the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star. He is the Holy Spirit, the Triune God, personified in Leader Olumba Olumba Obu. The Sole Spiritual Head. Whatever is done in the Brotherhood fold in all planes of creation should be as we see Him do or as He directs or teaches. We must not imagine procedures and practices that are not in accordance with His divine instructions and directives. To ensure uniformity and remove doubts from the minds of brethren, the Holy Spirit directed that a comprehensive Handbook be written for the guidance and adherence of brethren in the fold. This document is a compilation of the direct instructions and directives of the Holy Father and as such the official book of procedures and guidelines for the Brotherhood world.
Leader Olumba Olumba Obu The Sole Spiritual Head of the Universe
Wearing White Garment
Some call it cassock but we call it soutane. Others wear different colours but we wear white. As a colour, white depicts purity. Those who overcome are clothed in white (Revelation 3:5; Revelation 7:14). It is expected that the white garments should be white (Ecclesiastes 9:8; Revelation 3:4). Those so dressed are found worthy to stand before the Lord (Revelation 7:9).
“Knocking” Heads on the Ground
Kneeling and bowing our foreheads down on the ground is paying obeisance to God. This is in keeping with the tradition as noted in the scriptures and described in various ways as “bowing down”, “falling down”, “bowing themselves” as evident in Genesis 24:26, 48 and 52; and 2nd Chronicle 7:3; Psalm 95:6; Matthew 2:10-11; 1st Corinthians 14:25; Revelation11:16-17; Revelation7:11; Matthew 26:39. In Brotherhood of the Cross and Star, this act of reverencing God, being translated from the Efik language, is known as “knocking our head on the ground”.
So we worship God (Acts 10:25-26; Revelation 19:10) by “bowing” or “knocking our heads” to honour, praise, glorify, and thank Him. It is also meant to alert him and seek His consent in our daily endeavours. It is worth remembering that the earth (ground) is God’s footstool (Matthew 5:35; Psalm 99:5; Revelation 1:17; Acts 7:49). Wherever we knock our heads on the ground, it is right at God’s feet.
Brothers and Sisters
The highest honour we can accord our fellow beings is brother or sister ̶ signifying unity, harmony and oneness. We are all of a common parentage (Genesis 1: 26 – 27, Malachi 2:10, Matthew 23: 8 – 9) and therefore brethren (Acts 9:17; Revelation 6:11) and brothers and sisters. We all come from one family of God and God created every human being.
Playing Musical Instruments
We do not engage in the use of musical instruments during worship, following in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ. A change in the priesthood precedes a change in the law (Hebrews 7:12). Our Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples did not engaged in the use of musical instruments of any sort. As His followers, we remain duty-bound to follow His examples. Therefore, in accordance with the scriptures, we praise God with our lips (Hebrews 13:15; Acts 16:26; Colossians 3:16).
Thursday Fasting
Fasting is the refrain from eating or drinking of liquids for the duration of the fasting. It is a period devoted to prayer and supplication to God. A period to commune with God through self-sanctification and a period of separating oneself from cares of this world (Exodus 34:28; 1st Kings 19:8; Isaiah 58:6-14; Matthew 4:2). BCS regards Thursday as an important day being the day Our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. All BCS members commemorate his sufferings and passions of that day by fasting from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. He was condemned to death at 6 a.m. on Thursday crucified at 9 a.m. He gave up the ghost at 3 p.m. He was brought down from the cross at 6 p.m.
Feast in BCS
Feast plays a very important role in BCS. Our Lord Christ always broke bread with his disciples from time to time (Matthew 15:36; Matthew 26:26-28; Luke 22:17-20. He made them to understand that the bread symbolises his flesh and the drink symbolises his blood and if they do not eat of his flesh and drink of his blood they have no life in them (John 6:51-56; 1st Corinthians 10:16-17). He commanded His disciples to do this to remember His sufferings and death (1st Corinthians 11:23-26; Luke 22:19-20) the cup He gave signified the new covenant through His blood. The disciples of Our Lord Jesus Christ continued in this tradition of breaking bread and they found favour in God’s sight Acts 2:42-47). God worked wonders in Egypt after feast celebration the first born of Egyptians were killed by the angels and the children of Israel were set free by King Pharaoh (Exodus 12:1-51).
Love feast in BCS is very sacred and can accomplish almost anything. This is taken generally by every member of the fold irrespective of one rank or status in life. Love feast can be celebrated with any amount of money because there is no price tag on feast. Fruit feast may contain bread, biscuits and fruits which are available in the locality. Full feast may contain rice, plantain, yam, “garri”, ground rice, or any other food item which is available in the locality.
Smoking and Snuffing
The Holy Spirit is the most expensive gift one can think of, unfortunately it is not bought with money. The only price is repentance, self-sanctification then God who is a Spirit will come to dwell with you and you will know everything for He will become your teacher (1st Peter 1:15-16; 1st Corinthians 3:16-17; John 14:23; 1st Corinthians 6:19-20; Acts 8:18-22; John 6:45). Smoking is not an acceptable practice before God (Ezekiel 8:17)
Wearing of Shoes
It would appear that of all religions in the world, only in Christendom do you find that people wear shoes into places of worship. When Moses was before God at Mount Sinai, he was ordered to take off his shoes (Exodus 3:5). At Jericho Joshua was told to remove his shoes (Joshua 5:15) Isaiah was thus instructed (Isaiah 20:2). It is clear that wearing shoes into places of worship is unacceptable, let us note that the earth is God’s footstool (Acts 7:49; Isaiah 66:1). Consequently, every place on earth is a place of worship.
Greetings
In BCS, we greet each other by saying Peace. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). By saying “peace be unto you” (John 20:26), we are effectively saying “God be with you”. More so our Lord Jesus Christ instructed us to do so (Matthew 10:12-13). By greeting others “peace” we are merely obeying His instructions and also following His example “John 20:19”
Ministry Work
Evangelical work is the same thing we refer to as Ministry Work in BCS. It involves leaving one main place of worship or home to another, which could be in another city or country. Owing to the fact that every human being is uniquely gifted and blessed (1st Corinthians 12:14-22; Ephesians 4:11-12; Romans 12:5-8). Whenever we embark upon ministry work we share and use our spiritual gifts when we visit or are visited by others. The purpose of Ministry Work is therefore to bless others and be blessed by them.
During His ministry, our Lord Jesus Christ shared His gifts of healing by making the lame walk (Luke13:10-17; John 5:1-47;) the blind saw (Matthew 9:27-31; Matthew 16:5-12; John 9:1-41); the deaf heard (Mark7:32-35); lepers were cleansed (Matthew 8:1-4; Mark 1:40-45; Luke 7:12-16) and the dead rose (Luke 7:11-17; Matthew 9:18-26; John 11:1-44) and many more (Luke 7:22). Wherever He went, He ministered to those He met. He has also commanded us to go and evangelise the world (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-18; John 20:21-23).
Ear-rings
Ear-rings are part of outward adornment (1st Peter 3:3; 1st Timothy 2:9-10) which God disapproves of. Just as an obedient wife will not continue in things that upset her husband, it will be disrespectful to God if we wear them. God was displeased when Aaron made an idol god out of a collection of ear-rings (Exodus 32:2-4). Because wearing these was unacceptable to God, Jacob stripped members of his family on their way to Bethel (Genesis 35:4). For this same reason, the Israelites removed all outward adornment at Mount Horeb (Exodus 33:5-6)
Why We Must Not Drink
We in BCS are a New Generation. We are separated from the world and we are to live our life unto God. Anyone who separates himself unto God must not drink wine or any strong drink (Numbers 6:1-3) and must not touch anything unclean (2nd Corinthians 6:17-18; Romans 14:21; 1st Peter 4:3; Proverbs 31:4).
Our Lord Jesus Christ prophesied during His ministry on earth saying, ‘I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you to all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come (John 16:12-13). The Holy Spirit to whom Our Lord Jesus Christ spoke about is the only teacher teaching us the ordinances of God which nobody who is not guided by the Spirit of God can understand what BCS is all about. One of His teachings is that drinks defile the body and Spirit.
Eating of Fish and Meat
After creation, God prescribed the type of food man, animal and other creation must eat. To man He said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, with seed in its fruits; you shall have them for food. (Genesis 1:29)”. Everybody today is praying for a better world where there will be peace, happiness reigning at all time: which is a return to the Garden of Eden, The new heaven and the new earth as promised by God. In this New World everything will be new and only those who are able to practise what is obtained in the New World will be able to dwell therein. One of the practices there is that no one must eat flesh, we must stick to the food prescription given to us by God from the beginning (Isaiah 65:25; Isaiah 11:6-9; Romans 14:21). The wind of change is blowing. The New Kingdom of God is now with man. Obedience is better than sacrifice. A carnal man never knows the Spiritual changes going on now in the entire universe. We are now in the New Age. We need to listen to the teachings of the Holy Spirit and abide by them this is the only way of salvation to our souls.