WHAT IS A CHURCH??

It pains me most times when some people discriminate about churches or when they ask “which church do you attend?” and when you tell them they look at you like “you sure you serving God?”


For so many a church is just a house and so its easy to discriminate when I tell you I live in a face-me-i-slap-you kind of house, or maybe I say I live under the bridge. It might be impossible for you to come visit me there. However from my little understanding I believe a church is a place where you go to worship God.

Don’t get me wrong the word tells us we are the TEMPLE of God. I meant a CHURCH is a place of dwelling that we go to visit God. You been God’s temple means you have him with you all the time, that’s how it should be with someone that you love truly and sincerely. If you love a person irrespective of distance he would always be with you.
But a church? No that is a dwelling, the dwelling of that person you love. If you love God then you would not mind what the building looks like, what the name of the building or the street is, or what the other visitors or guests where to come see that same God, YOUR FRIEND!

According to the upbringing that I had, I was made to believe that when you go to church you have not gone to see someone or person, you have gone to see God. I go to church to visit with God, for me he is a friend, father, mother, husband, in-law and much more. Remember that when you go to visit a person you are not bothered about his or her house, the distance or what it looks like, you are more concerned about the person.

In church I dance like my friends would do in a club with abandon (just like David did) because a lot of times I feel a release of joy in my dance and I see God smile at me when I dance.

CHURCH IS WHERE YOU WORSHIP!!!

But I don’t just dance, for each visit God asks me what I want to be entertained with; like a friend would do for you when you pay him a visit. He asks what you would like to drink or eat. Same way God asks me what I would eat and drink and I reply by making my request then comes the time spent talking and listening. I talk to him and he listens then he talks. It’s a wonderful relationship for me going to church.

THAT IS GOING TO CHURCH!!

So I ask you today WHAT IS A CHURCH?? When you say “I AM GOING TO CHURCH” what exactly do you mean? Or what deductions do you want people to make from your statement? How is it that for many going to church has become a thing of criticism and a place to be discriminated? Why are you bothered about the name of the place I visit or what the house of my friend looks like? Why does it concern you the kind of cloths I were to visit my friend? Or the gifts I take to him?

WHY DO YOU GO TO CHURCH? AND WHEN YOU DO WHAT WHO DO YOU GO TO SEE?

It’s simple! I should be able to enter any house where I find my friend residing.

Because even a church is not God’s home. His home is more fantastic than what we can imagine so why bother with the house he resides to meet with us? He has given us this great opportunity to have a place where we can come visit him whenever we like or want to. But instead we look at the trappings and location, SUCH A PITY!

Because I love God I am not bothered with the name of the house, the colour, the structure, the butler or major domo, even the other workers in that house. All I know is I have gone to visit God in his house and I will enjoy my visit. For me it’s a party, yes! Let’s see church like a never ending party for God’s children. You know what you do at parties? You enjoy yourselves and you also remember to take a gift for the celebrant. AFTERALL WE ARE CELEBRATING JESUS!! At parties you dance, you get to know the others at the party, congratulate the celebrant and wish him well and be entertained.

THAT FOR ME IS A CHURCH!!
ENJOY YOUR CHURCH AND I WILL ENJOY MINE!!

OUR DESTINY, YOUR DESTINY, MY DESTINY

Destiny?! A great word with the simplest of meaning, the meaning is so near you that we tend to fail to see it.

Destiny is like cake in the oven, beautiful and delicious, filling and satisfying. However, without the right heat the cake would not turn out as we expect. So is our destiny!

Destiny is like a well-laid out business plan, one that investors read and get moved to risk their money. However, without the right mindset, skills and motivation/innovation to implement and make it a success, the business plan is a waste of effort.

Destiny is like beautiful lyric to a song; it makes good sense and touches the soul. But without the voice and personality to carry it the beauty of the song is lost and has no value.

Destiny is like a well-written constitution that covers all the areas of importance to a nation and takes it people and their will into consideration for which it is written. But when the people have refused to read and understand it, or have no respect for it then it is of no value.

Destiny is a properly drawn out plan of a house, drawn with specification for a structural masterpiece. However, without workers and builders to translate the drawn out plan into a dream house, the house cannot turn out as it is on the plan or as the architect had drawn it.

Or maybe it’s like a building in which the contractor has decided to cut corners? The house would invariably crumble and maybe kill or injure people living in it.

Destiny is like a bundle of cloth that has been laid aside for a Princes, she decides the design and style that the cloth should be cut into. This she wears and must be proud of. THE CLOTH IS HER’S.

Destiny is like a beautiful clock bought and set in a place of prominence to mark time and sound the alarm but the owner forgot to set it to the right time. The clock would mark the time wrongly and wake its owner up at the wrong time.

Destiny is like a road to a magnificent house that has been left to crumble and overgrown by the owners, it becomes difficult every time they embark on a trip out and back to their magnificent home.

Destiny is like the ugly duckling, an eagle living with ducks. His life would be limited by the surrounding and environment he finds himself and it won’t be able to fly until it is among its own.

Destiny is like a talent that each and every one has, a talent like the proverbial guy in the bible who took his talent of gold and hid it in the ground, it would not multiply and yield fruit.

Destiny is like a beautiful lady who decides to not take care of herself because people have said she is beautiful believing that without care her beauty would continue to remain, and then wakes up one day to look in the mirror to see a fat and ugly woman instead of the beauty.

Therefore let us all remember that even though we have all come to this world with our own destinies, destiny is what we make of it. We have a choice to make good of it or make it bad. The life of man is like an open book and we have been given the pen to write the story of our lives. What you write in that book is dependent on you alone and no one else. NOT EVEN GOD CAN HELP YOU WRITE YOUR OWN STORY. Remember it is your destiny, your life and your story to tell.

Make your destiny your own today and take the choices that would take you on a journey of fun, success and the envy of everyone around you!

HIT THE GROUND RUNNING

I remember a story I heard a long time ago of a guy who was able to “hit the ground running”. He was not held down by his challenges but kept finding new ways and opportunities to make life better. Actually, it might be a dream but then……………………..

Their once was a man whose wife went into labour and gave birth to a healthy baby boy, however, before the mother could get to know her child she died living her husband with a new baby with nothing to feed the child with. All the man had back home was a pregnant goat and the vegetable farm he had inherited from his father. His immediate challenge was how to feed the baby and how to move on.
He took his Son home and checked on the goat, it had given birth to two kids, seeing the kids feed an idea came to his mind, “the goat can feed my baby” and feed the baby it did.

HE HAD HIT THE GROUND RUNNING!!

It is said that this man eventually became one of the richest men in his own time. (Don’t ask me where I heard the story from). Why? He discovered that milk from animals is also good for babies and turned it into an opportunity to make baby food. He solved his own problems and that of a lot of motherless babies.

It is typical for us to wake up tumbling out of the bed or like a song said, “To wake up with the world on top of you”. But when you do tumble out of your bed and land on the floor, do you remain on the floor? Most would remain dazed for a longer period than is necessary, some would nurse the pain of the fall the whole day, some would simply go back to bed while some would see it as an opportunity to start the day wide eyed and ready to go.

Pain would remain if we continue to dwell on it and give it room to fester. The man could simply have blamed the fate that took his wife from him and his new baby, he could have looked at the child and blamed him for his problems, or he could have looked at the goat and its kids and seen additional problems.

“BUT INSTEAD OF DWELLING ON HIS PAIN AND SEEING ALL THE BAD SITUATIONS THAT HAD COME HIS WAY, HE SAW OPPORTUNITIES AND MADE GOOD USE OF THEM” THIS IS HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING!!

How do you hit your own ground? Do you hit the ground and just stay there not knowing what to do next? Or do you apply speed and keep moving in spite of all? Opportunities abound everywhere but most importantly opportunities are most seen in our most trying times.

LOOK, SEE THEM AND MAKE GOOD USE OF THEM!!

OUR DESTINY, YOUR DESTINY, MY DESTINY

Destiny?! A great word with the simplest of meaning, the meaning is so near you that we tend to fail to see it.

Destiny is like cake in the oven, beautiful and delicious, filling and satisfying. However, without the right heat the cake would not turn out as we expect. So is our destiny!

Destiny is like a well-laid out business plan, one that investors read and get moved to risk their money. However, without the right mindset, skills and motivation/innovation to implement and make it a success, the business plan is a waste of effort.

Destiny is like beautiful lyric to a song, it makes good sense and touches the soul. But without the voice and personality to carry it the beauty of the song is lost and has no value.

Destiny is like a well-written constitution that covers all the areas of importance to a nation and takes it people and their will into consideration for which it is written. But when the people have refused to read and understand it, or have no respect for it then it is of no value.

Destiny is a properly drawn out plan of a house, drawn with specification for a structural masterpiece. However, without workers and builders to translate the drawn out plan into a dream house, the house cannot turn out as it is on the plan or as the architect had drawn it.

Or maybe it’s like a building in which the contractor has decided to cut corners? The house would invariably crumble and maybe kill or injure people living in it.

Destiny is like a bundle of cloth that has been laid aside for a Princes, she decides the design and style that the cloth should be cut into. This she wears and must be proud of. THE CLOTH IS HER’S.

Destiny is like a beautiful clock bought and set in a place of prominence to mark time and sound the alarm but the owner forgot to set it to the right time. The clock would mark the time wrongly and wake its owner up at the wrong time.

Destiny is like a road to a magnificent house that has been left to crumble and overgrown by the owners, it becomes difficult every time they embark on a trip out and back to their magnificent home.

Destiny is like the ugly duckling, an eagle living with ducks. His life would be limited by the surrounding and environment he finds himself and it won’t be able to fly until it is among its own.

Destiny is like a talent that each and every one has, a talent like the proverbial guy in the bible who took his talent of gold and hid it in the ground, it would not multiply and yield fruit.

Destiny is like a beautiful lady who decides to not take care of herself because people have said she is beautiful believing that without care her beauty would continue to remain, and then wakes up one day to look in the mirror to see a fat and ugly woman instead of the beauty.

Therefore let us all remember that even though we have all come to this world with our own destinies, destiny is what we make of it. We have a choice to make good of it or make it bad. The life of man is like an open book and we have been given the pen to write the story of our lives. What you write in that book is dependent on you alone and no one else. NOT EVEN GOD CAN HELP YOU WRITE YOUR OWN STORY. Remember it is your destiny, your life and your story to tell.

Make your destiny your own today and take the choices that would take you on a journey of fun, success and the envy of everyone around you!

RENE AND MAGELI

Women of magnitude/ two of a kind but poles apart
Weaving-in out of life /Webs and intimate intricacies
That makes existence an ultimate challenge
Though they started young /Weaving mirrored glasses
That magnifies things in rainbows
And bestows the ideal of everlasting summer
On their believes and outlooks
They came out of a world in which they were born
To find themselves and conquer the world
Not knowing that without removing
From their faces the mirrored glasses
The world would continue to deal them a terrible blow
And after two terrible bangs on the frame
It breaks and falls off /the great trumpet is blown
The mighty wall of Jericho is fallen
As in the bible no one would be able to build this wall
And so the new ideals start /from the debris and rumbles
Come a rambling magnificence /A fortress that cannot be equaled
This is the result of gradual work /Painstaking decisions
Sacrifices made for essence of survival
And since life must go on /they do nothing but go on living
In a life in which they refuse to be
Nothing but the actors, directors/ producers
Refusing to be spectators /or viewers on the outside looking in
At an early age they learn /that life, truly, is not a bed of roses
Lavishly they court the true essence of living
Fighting and winning a war never started /Always on top of whatever it is That life decides to dish out to them /and as we look on and marvel
At the goodness and beauty of it all /we fail to realize that sacrifices have
Been made in lieu of happiness /in their race they have been able
To do what most would not do /they have made a name for themselves
Overcome all odds and become over comers
We need not contemplate /Lives of two never known to the other
But fighting hard without relenting
Retreating and coming back to win /Never vanquished
They stand out among all /and forever will remain a legend
To be admired from race to race
And generation to generation /they stand out among many
And never cease to amaze
Neither is there a chance /of them not been able
To surmount all obstacles

THE BEAUTY OF OUR NATIONAL ANTHEM!

June 30, 2010 I was at a program and at the end we had to sing the second stanza of the national anthem. Some days before at another function we sang both stanzas and when while I was proud that I could actually recite the lines with faltering and feeling the anthem I realized that most of us can't even remember the lines of the national anthem of our country.

If that be the case then what is it that we are fighting for? Why is that we are clamoring for a better place when we don't even know what our anthem says about a better place? How will we be able to serve with heart and might? How can we build one nation that is founded in freedom, peace and unity?

I was so happy that I could remember all the lines and that in my own way was actually working out the words of the anthem that I joyously laughed and said (loudly) to myself "I remember!" Some people took at me like "and so what?" For me it was a big deal.

How many of us have the ability to arise? or are we still sitting down waiting for miracles that won't come? Are we compatriots or just citizens? Do we even hear Nigeria's call much less obey it? How many of us actually serve our father's land? I aint talking about lip service we pay online towards service or that criticism against the people in power. I am talking of actually rising up to serve and do it with love, strength and faith. A lot of Nigerians don't even believe that Nigeria will be better, they don't have faith in their own individual strength and we no longer love our neighbours.

Now I see that the labours of our fore fathers, heroes that have gone by (no matter how bad we think they did it, they fought for independence) is now in vain. Some days ago someone was saying it would have been better if we were still a colony. Imagine!!

No one have a good vision, we are not collectively reaching for greater heights and with the corruption and the constant fight for who gets what we can't even see the lofty heights we must attain therefore we have remained a country. Instead of us building a nation were peace and justice reigns we have continually worked towards chaos and injustice. A country were the judge can be bought and justice can be perverted because of power and position.

Even though Nigeria has more churches than a lot of countries or nations combined, we have removed God from nation building. However the start of the second stanza asks God for direction. How many of us are noble? How many of us have noble causes? We don't pray for our leaders because we don't give God his place in nationhood. Most of our youths don't know the truth about what is happening; only what they hear on the news or read in the papers (if they read) and that is what they rely on. Without truth it is impossible to see the light.

It is important that we go back and memorize the words of our national anthem and live by it. If we can do this then Nigeria would be better.

Power of the people

Today I saw first hand how Nigerians can as a force collectively work together to achieve a positive growth!!

I had planned my day but somehow I had to add to the plan so I could make time to meet another responsibility. Like most changes, it required additional resources even though I had looked at what I had and assumed that it would be okay.

After leaving the last place of appointment (the added appointment), I got to the bus-stop to realize that the Transporters had tripled the fare. It was crazy!! It is not new that their was a crowd at the bus-stop no. What I found fascinating was that this people actually refused to pay above the normal rate. Even though some would come and board at the inflated rate, the others refused.

Out of nowhere came this Patriotic Nigerian dressed in suit and looking quite elegant, he insisted that no one should board any of the vehicles. The park touts took it up with him and suddenly the others on the outside looking in joined and it was the passengers against the bus drivers and touts. It was a sight to behold. No fighting just an insistence that the fair should be brought down.

I had to leave the bus-stop for a while cos I had to go meet someone but when I got back MAGIC!! The fare was back to the normal price and their was no longer a crowd at the bus-stop. I was proud to be a Nigerian. Like my people would say, "e sweet my belle say dis kain tin fit happen"

Reflecting on this I realized that collectively we can have the change we want if we want it enough. Today this people realized that it is their right to dictate the price and that they could if they worked together. One person stood up to lead a group of people with a common goal and the others followed in his quest.

If we can come together and find that common goal, work together to see it happen then we would be better off for it. All that is needed is for us to realize that the destiny of the country is in our hands and not those in power!

God bless Nigeria!
God bless Nigerians!!