Ancient Words Ever True

Normally we don't imagine God will ever get fed up by the callousness of His (chosen) people. Sure we have this idea that He will punish evil eventually, but the overriding thought is that we can always come back to Him if we stray away. So we stray - happily - for as long as we like, without worrying about restitution: all we need is to say, "God I'm sorry." Right? Or maybe not, for "God has forgiven our future sins"; so why bother? Regardless of what we think about God, the testimony of Scripture is that God does get fed up with the callousness, faithlessness and hypocrisy of His people; and when that happens, He unleashes His fury - unless someone does something about it to stop Him. Eli was quite naive, never mind that he was a veteran priest. When the word came to him (the second time) that God was fed up, he simply said "“He is the Lord. May He do what He thinks is right.” In fact, his naivety is best seen in the 'counsel' he...

"One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple." - Psalm 27:4 NIV No doubt, everyone who has had some real encounter or experience with God will have the same desire and request David had, and will want to do whatever it takes to fulfill that desire. Unfortunately, God is not going to grant that request because He has a different plan for us. There's absolutely no value in God having us dwell in His House all the days of our lives gazing at His beauty, neither is there any value in us building "three booths" so we don't have to leave the "mountain of transfiguration." What God really wants is for us to get out there, into the world. He needs ambassadors out there to represent Him and help show the world what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. He needs witnesses out there to tell of His goodness, power and ...

“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” - Ecclesiastes 1:9 When you’ve been around as long as I have, you can look back over your life and note the events that changed your perspective and influenced how things turned out for you. They’re called turning points. They’re few and far between, and with good reason. Too many and your life would be one big chaotic mess. Of maybe five or six major turning points that truly influenced the outcome for me, one stands apart. And I’m going to share it with you because it just might make a real difference for you, as it did for me. I’m not exactly a bible scholar, but I do have a thing for the simple poetic wisdom of the Book of Ecclesiastes. I actually have my own versions of some of its key messages that I recite from time to time, including this one: The longer you live and the wiser you become, the more you’ll realize how littl...

"And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?" - Acts 2:8 NASB Today is Pentecost (aka Whit Sunday)! Being in a highly multi-cultural environment, we utilized the opportunity to act a little drama in church - getting as many people in the congregation as possible to read simultaneously Acts 2:1-21 in languages other than English. It shed a little light in our hearts on what happened that day when people from 16 different countries were gathered in Jerusalem for the (Jewish) feast of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit showed up in the Upper Room. One miracle on that day was that everybody gathered could hear the disciples speak in their own native language. No translations or interpretations were necessary. It was direct, clear and undeniable. Reflecting on the theme of the day, I submit that we will have a stronger impact in our world when we are able to "speak" to people in the language to which they were born. And I am convinc...

For several years, I served as Chairman of Committees charged with interviewing people for possible leadership positions in campus fellowship. On one of the occasions, we asked this brother when (and how) he got born again. His reply: I was born again from birth. Now if you're a Christian today, chances are that your reaction will not be too different from our initial reaction - to dismiss the guy ASAP. To make his case "worse", he doesn't even fit the usual definition of "born again"; as in, he's not the tongue-speaking, Bible-quoting, rhema-tic type. But then I was in charge, so he got his full chance - and eventually made it to the executives list! Was I taken aback by the "born again from birth" thing? Absolutely! I've never heard that before then. But then, in addition to understanding the Bible, I understood the development and evolution of theological narratives over the course of history. While the Bible has remained the same,...

In trying to apply "The Ancient Word" to modern life issues, most of us just resort to Authorities (as in, people we feel have wealth of spiritual knowledge and experience). Now, while Authority is a well recognized source of knowledge, we hereby advocate for a more scientific approach as this has proven to guarantee better outcomes. Just to clarify, Science is the systematic study of empirical phenomena. The Scientific Method we recommend is nothing more complicated than what you learnt in your Integrated Science class in Junior Secondary School (for those that schooled in Nigeria). It's simply a process of: Observations‬  Hypotheses‬ ‎Experiments‬  Theory‬  Law‬ So, for instance, when you make observations in life or think about issues, come up with possible Biblical explanations for, or answers to them. Thereafter, subject your best explanations or answers to experiments. Experimenting is usually about manipulating one or more variables while keeping the rest ...

Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness (1 Cor. 10:5, TNIV) Among many scriptures that have caught my  attention in the past, the one above stands out as very instructive, and I now wish to dwell on it a little longer. The Lord first brought this scripture as quoted to my attention sometime in 2012, when I was serving in Ebonyi state. I had gone upstairs to the (then) decking to pray sometime in the night with Isaiah Sabitu, close to the end of my service year in Ebonyi, and the Lord quickened this particular scripture in my heart as we prayed and cried out our hearts to God together. And the way it is quoted above is the way it reads in the Today’s New International Version of the Bible which I was using then, and which I had bought along with Bolutife Ogunsola at a book fair back in UNILAG, in 2009. The scripture above takes on more meaning when you read the first four verses of the tenth chapter of First Corinthian...