SCRIBE & INK

Just how are you living each day? It's one thing in my own life that I take seriously. How did I live yesterday and how am I living today? People need to examine their lives seriously. Do you live in constant fear and agitation? How often do you worry? Do you leave the house scared of road accidents? Do you come home at night scared of burglars or robbers breaking into your house? Do you walk the streets at night scared of being victim of physical attack? Are you worried that one day you might be down with an incurable sickness? Do you fear for your future or for something you can't explain?

Paul Aremo-Oluwa Dear Believer , No kidding everyone loves being valued. There is a special thing about someone or something saying or doing what makes you feel special. That is probably half the reason we tell half the world about our birthday on Facebook when we have Facebook reminder already doing that. Relax! I do that too. I want people to tell me am a great and funny guy. I want them to tell me I can break walls with the power of my mind. Who doesn’t like hearing sweet good stuffs about themselves?

Marriage is one of such adventure... You are bound by oath before God from its inception to remain faithful till death. Simi in her all white flowery gown and Kunle spruced up for the occasion can be seen before the altar grinning from teeth to teeth. My vision of the two love birds was temporarily blurred by my inner thoughts. Racing in my heart is the quest to know if by some profound soul searching they understand the implication of the exchange of vows. Are they devoting their lives to each other or to the construct of their fantasies about one another? When you make a pledge of for better and for Worse, in sickness and health till death do us apart , to a human (subject to change) with imperfections just as you, What are the possible upshots?

WHAT THE APOSTLES TAUGHT Grace is Christ's finished work... until ourselves become the finished work... In part II we shall wholly consider what the apostles taught the early church, by the careful layout of their warnings. But before we do, I want you to keep in your heart the thought that warnings becomes a necessity where hazard is a reality. Let's begin from Hebrews.

...forming the assumption that... nothing can make you L ose your salvation Once saved always saved or Once saved forever saved , also known as Eternal security, you probably must have heard the statement before, or argue against or for it at some point. Perhaps you are just pondering on its meaning for the first time. How does it affect Christians? Some preachers, teachers and Christians preach, teach and say, respectively, that once you are a believer (Christian) you cannot backslide no matter what. This inevitably means that once you are saved nothing you do or don't do can take you away from faith or affect your eternity in Christ. Once saved then means you are forever saved .

My help comes from the Lord, who resides within me Partnership is a mutually beneficial relationship between two people. If you want to lift a piece of furniture and you don’t have enough strength to do so, you don’t go to the gym to exercise your muscles, you ask for help; someone that will partner with you and complement for your weakness. Not all believers of Christ are aware of the importance of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. There are many Christians who pray like orphans, who are overwhelmed by the feeling of helplessness and would cry about their lack of power and ability. They are in pursuit of human help to complement their inadequacies. Just what is the Holy Spirit doing in us?

What does the devil stand to gain in  that temporal moment a saint indulge in sin?   I weighted the theme I am about to address for weeks. I had written it half way and left it in my notes indefinitely until now. At first I could feel my reluctance to put my thoughts into words, I guess because such theme would seem like introducing the concept of the Old Testament during this Grace Revolution . Or perhaps it is a theme in scripture many would wish it disappears from the pages of the New Testament. Is the wages of sin DEATH under grace? Can believers still suffer consequences of sinful habits under grace? Do believers fall short of God's glory or virtue when we trifle with sin? How did the apostles communicate this gospel of grace?

The ultimate test of faith in prayer is revealed when prayer becomes a conversation with our Heavenly Father, when we make use of active and complete sentences and phrases as we discuss with Him P rimarily, prayer is we (believers) fellowshipping and conversing with our Heavenly Father. However, our Father has an expectation on how we should approach him while praying. If you listen and observe believers praying (especially here in Nigeria), prayer has become more of a super-religious exercising. People hold their heads screaming and shouting in prayer to God. Some would jump up and down while praying, and some believers would chant same words with their heads shaking vehemently. In so doing, prayer ceases from being a dialogue between the Father and His children and has taken a form of formal and human innovation to impress and get the attention of a supernatural being.

The New Testament presents a sharp contrast against the Old Testament way and manner of praying. That would suggest that the experiences in prayer under the Old and New Covenant are entirely on different scales...

While none of us would dare erect altars as Abraham did, we don't mind tithing like him...

God fully aware He'll bring both Jews and Gentiles together into one fold someday to become one new man...preached the two dispensations to Abraham...

God placed more emphasis on how the nation was governed over the religious ordinances which does not visibly impact the society. If we read the Old Testament as a book bearing careful records of how a kingdom (nation) sprang to being and how it was governed, we would have an illuminated perspective about human societies and God's concern for it. Far more helpful will its lessons drill purpose driven life into us. Rather than read through vast volumes only to see religious ordinances/laws, we will see vital lessons for national development. Undoubtedly, God spoke to Israel as a Nation and not as a religious organisation or institution. " And ye shall be unto me a KINGDOM (nation) of priests, and an holy NATION. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel . " Exodus 19:6

God didn't saddle  earthly governments with  the responsibilities of justice and equity. No sir! Lets stop looking for order within chaos. What flood your view when you say Abraham's blessings are mine? Do you see bars of gold stockpiled, a room filled with treasures or something beyond material possessions? Surely as I live I know Abraham didn't abandon family and friends in pursuit of God for cash inflow. There was something the Lord said to him that was far more than material possessions. " Now the Lord had said unto Abram, get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of (or from) thee a GREAT NATION, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing. " Genesis 12:1-2

The Bible is that compass by which we can navigate through the woes of all human societies and offer precise solutions. If the church is a country colonised by heaven and believers its citizens. If tithes are taxes and offerings are miscellaneous levies. What are the basic amenities and social welfare packages put in place for citizens? Is there not perhaps an oversight in our midst? To what end then is the purpose of our offerings and tithes if Christians needs are not meet by the Church (country) they belong. If the structures of our assemblies cannot enhance infrastructures to solve welfare problems of her citizens we have failed. We cannot cede our duty to (earthly) governments. The Church is a government, a representation of a heavenly one.

Few years ago on live broadcast with a New-Age teacher and author Eckhart Tolle, Oprah Winfrey said, " I took God out of the box because I grew up in the Baptist church and there were rules and belief systems and doctrine. I happened to be sitting in church in my late 20s. I was going to this church where this great minister was preaching about how great God was and how omniscient and omnipresent and God is everything. Then he said, “The Lord Thy God is a jealous God.” I was caught up in the rapture of that moment until he said jealous. Something struck me. I was thinking, “God is all. God is omnipresent. God is all and God’s also jealous? God is jealous of me?”  Something about that didn’t feel right in my spirit because I believe that God is love and that God is in all things, and so that’s when the search for something more than doctrine started to stir within me.  I love this quote that Eckhart has where he says, “Man made God in his own image, the eternal, the ...

I once heard a preacher preach a long sermon about the seamless garment of Jesus that the soldiers cast lot for. Nutshell, His emphasis was, "the most expensive outfit should be found on believers."

How the gospel was conveyed by the early church is so profound. You have to wonder how we made it so complicated. Perverted/twisted preaching of prosperity had imparted many saints with the gift of covetousness. Contentment is gone with the euphoria of we must be rich (in material possessions). 

Today Believers are the least content with their lives. We want to own and drive Cars (plural) and build mansions by the waterside. This seduction of our souls is a result of the kind of teachings that flow from the pulpits. As the Church is painted before us in the epistles, I say to you, All Christians will not be rich (in material possessions) and all Christians will not be poor.

Lord You made a way In you every need is met And every bill are paid In Jesus matchless name Lord you have done it again. We can stand and testify, Your goodness is great You'll not allow us to be ashamed Neither permit that we carry burdens Too great for our frames

"...W e have brothers who are emotionally dead, having suffered a deathly “Stroke” in their feelings, incapable of sensing the feelings of others. As a result, Christian marriages and relationships is one of the most challenging ones not because of spiritual attacks but because we are emotionally deformed. " The phrase “Sisters Keeper” certainly doesn’t appear on the pages of the Bible. But I guess you’ve got a knack of all it’s about. It suggests being sincerely concerned for the state of being of female folks. In this context, I write strictly to the church of the Living God. On second thoughts this should have been titled, “Letter to insensitive brothers.” Let me indulge you for few seconds. Why do Christian sisters fall victim to deceivers? Why would they prefer to marry outside God’s fold? Why does it seem their heart is with God’s family but their eyes are ever wondering into the world (as it seems)? Why is there such an exploitation of your sister and my sister...