Sow a Seed Grow a Friend: Rediscovering the Revolutionary Message of the Parable of the Sower and the Seed

By Benjamin Haruna

The problems facing our youth today are not new. The temptations of young people today might come in better wrapped packages than they did a generation ago, but they can still be summed up as “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” resulting in
• drug/alcohol abuse,
• violence in school,
• materialism,
• obesity,
• poverty,
• teenage pregnancy, and
• homelessness.

The old trap the devil used has always been our “friend.” Adam was the first human to fall in this trap when his friend (wife) gave him a forbidden fruit to eat. Eve also fell in this trap by making the devil her friend and listened to him. They both died (spiritually). Hanging around a wrong friend is not only dangerous but also deadly.

For the first time in two thousand years, the secret code has been revealed. God’s solution to the youthful and social problems in our generation and the generations to come is revealed. Combining practical biblical principles with powerful, modern stories, Sow a Seed Grow a Friend is your personal guide to escape the deadly impact of wrong friendship.

Benjamin Haruna tells you how to identify these friends in your life through the relationships between the
• seed and wayside ground,
• seed and rocky ground,
• seed and thorny ground, and
• seed and good ground.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 25, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984520227

Benjamin Haruna

Benjamin Haruna serves as an elder at the Long Island District of the Church of Pentecsot, USA Inc., and the presiding elder of the Pentecost International Worship Center-Long Island district. Benjamin has been in the youth and young adult leadership for over 15 years. Benjamin is married to Mrs Diana Haruna and the couple lives in New York.

Book preview

Copyright © 2018 by Benjamin Haruna.

Library of Congress Control Number:            2018904170

ISBN:                    Hardcover                    978-1-9845-2024-1

                              Softcover                     978-1-9845-2023-4

                              eBook                            978-1-9845-2022-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scriptures are taken from King James Version.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 04/10/2019

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

777719

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Prologue

Foreword

The Concept Of The Sower And The Seed

Wayside Friendship

Rocky Ground Friendship

Thorny Ground Friendship

Good Ground Friends

The Greatest Friend That Ever Lived And Is Still Alive

Scripture Notes

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my gratitude to God Almighty for His infinite wisdom.

I am grateful for my Elder Joe Prempeh who embraced this book wholeheartedly, encouraged me, served as my editor in chief and persevered with it and finally to publish it.

My Pastor William Jones Kyeremeh and Mrs. Vera Jones Kyeremeh for their guidance and advice.

Finally I would like to acknowledge with gratitude, the support and love of my life Mrs. Diana Haruna who shares her thinking with me daily and all those who contributed immensely towards the launch of this book.

PROLOGUE

The causes of modern social problems, from divorce to homelessness and obesity, are often thought to be based in areas such as poverty, stress or unhappiness. But researchers suggest we are overlooking something crucial: friendship. Our society and the church are ignoring its importance. The friends we make in the church determines to a large extent our growth and maturity in the Lord. If you make a friend who compromises on the Christian values when there is hardship, it is likely you will do same.

In his book the rhythm of life Matthew Kelly wrote "The people we surround ourselves with either raise or lower our standards. They either help us to become the-best-version-of-ourselves or encourage us to become lesser versions of ourselves. We become like our friends. No man becomes great on his own. No woman