How’s it going? You know that saying/quote-‘change is the only constant thing’ is one that I am certain will never lose its relevance in the sanctity of life. Why do I believe so? We will find out in a jiffy.

The past two years have been incredibly insightful and enlightening, I have to say. You know when Elisha prayed that the eyes of the servant be opened that he may see the chariots of fire surrounding the mountain, I so feel like that servant now.

I am proud today to say I’m a child of God, a born again Christian. Not by my powers though, because I am weak vessel guarded by the strength of Christ. So in my little journey down this route, I must say that I have realised that there are so many terms that have been originated to be associated with being born again. Like ‘I am very spiritual’ or ‘I am very religious’ and many more terms.
I will just be honest and plain in this post. I understand being born again as a spiritual transformation that entails surrendering the spirit, soul and body to your maker. Being born again is a long term process, it does not just occur once with no further action taken.

I live in a world where religion has taken the order of the day, where laws/rules are abounding when grace is supposed to super abound. So here are the few revelations I’ve come to know over the past two years [need I say I am still learning]:

• Being born again does not have a fixed routine of qualification(apart from accepting Christ as your saviour): when Jesus was telling Nicodemus what being born again entails, He said ‘you have to be born of the water and spirit’. The spirit is likened to the wind in the bible which explains why being born again cannot have a fixed routine. Let me be concise. being born again does not mean you have to be a worker in church, attending all the church activities [i hear some ‘uuuuuuhhhhh did she just say that’ exclamations] Yes, I did. Working in the church is a good thing, don’t get me wrong. It becomes an issue when a person gets the notion that being a worker in church solidifies your standing with God, thereby securing a place in  Heaven. Or that as a worker in church, you are better than the members of the congregation. You remember the story of Mary and Martha and what Jesus told Martha when she complained in Luke 10:42. It’s safe to say that most of us have become Martha, getting so involved with the activities and not paying attention to what is needful. Don’t go thinking or saying that I said being a worker is bad, all I am saying is, if you have to serve in the church, do it with the right motive.
• Being born again is not synonymous to self righteousness: personally, I equate self righteousness to sin really. Because self righteous is taking the place of God, and with self righteousness brings judgemental ‘sibling’. They are intertwined. A person that’s born again does not get bestowed with the right to judge. That Joey does not smoke, drink, steal or kill does not make Joey better than Mike that who does such. [not being judgemental is not a day’s lenient job] it takes the help of God to see a human being beyond the physical traits they portray. I know how hard it is because human beings are generally judgemental, you see a lady/guy doing something that you feel is not in line, like smoking or drinking, you just label the person as bad. Remember what Jesus said, He did not come for the healthy but for the sick; and if being born again entails living a Christ-like life, which Christ are we following? Because the Christ I read about and know, dined with the unsaved, reached out to them. May God help me [us] to get to this point.

• Being born again does not mean you won’t fall or there are no stains: like I stated above, being born again is a process, you do not just give your life to Christ today and expect that the joy you derive from insulting people will just disappear just like that. Let’s be real, when you give your life to Christ, the devil is unhappy, therefore he has to make sure that your weaknesses are squared or even tripled. But basically, what happens when you give your life to Christ is that you can no longer dwell on your strength to overcome your flaws, so you wear the garment of God’s strength to overcome. Let me use myself as an example, before I gave my life to Christ, I used to tell lies, and I still told lies after sef, I cannot even assure you now that I did not tell lies two weeks ago, that will be telling another lie. I know this is one of my weaknesses, I took it to God in prayer. Last week, I realised that every time I knew within me I would have found an opportunity to tell a white/black/yellow [whatever colour] lie! I told the truth. I was amazed. But let me tell you what happened the next day, I was really happy with the new development, however, the next day, I told another lie. I asked for forgiveness and that was it. [still striving for an absolute truthful tongue, so help me God] and not abusing the grace of God as well [Romans 6:1-2] Remember what Proverbs 24:16 says about the righteous falling ‘seven’  times and rising. Yeah! So being born again does not mean you won’t fall, when you fall, rise because you are more than a conqueror.

I am aware of the  ‘Facebook appearance’ in our churches today. You know how we put up the best pictures on Facebook, that’s the same thing that occurs in church. No one talks about how as humans we are struggling with this or that, and are leaning on God’s help. It just feels like everyone who is in church is all-perfect like Christ with no blemish, which is not true.

So I am at that point where I just want to break free from religion, where I want to know my saviour
personally not just from what I hear from the preacher’s mouth, where I want to walk in grace and not laws and so many, so many other things are taking place. I know I am at a transient phase in my walk with God, and the freedom I have felt/feel in coming to the knowledge of the obvious but hidden truth is one that I cannot keep to myself any more, hence the reason for this post.

It is my desire that everyone that gets to read this post has an encounter with the father, and not get entangled with the perversion of religion but be Christ-like!

DISCLAIMER: I am not a pastor or an aspiring pastor, I just feel that knowledge which edifies should not be kept to one’s self. So tell me, what are the misconceptions of being born again, that you know about? and please give me a title…..

End Result!! Ta ra…..

Bonjour a tous! Comment s’est passe ton week-end? [trying to do my French teacher proud]. So, how was your weekend? What did you get up to? Mine was okay! If John Hughes of Home Alone wanted to produce a part 6 of the movie, I would have been the best candidate for the role of Macaulay Culkin in this next sequel. So Yeah, I was home alone for most of the weekend, out and about at a certain point, watched movies and read as well. So all in all, it was a good weekend. So you tell me how your weekend was, you know, when I ask; it isn’t a rhetorical question. I really want to know how your weekend was…

Ehen! So I have respect for certain groups of people amongst others, Bakers/Caterers. I admire their skills and their ability to see the finished product from their raw forms [eggs, flower,baking powder, sugar etc]. One of the attributes of our heavenly father.

On Thursday, my aunt and I baked a cake [Ermm let me rephrase that statement] I assisted my aunt in baking a cake that was ordered by one of her clients for her daughter’s 7th birthday. This wasn’t the first time of assisting her but every time I am opportuned to assist, I do so, with kids gloves, as I don’t want to ruin the cake as I am still an apprentice.

Also, the truth is baking a cake entails a lot. But this time, I saw baking a cake from a different perspective. When we started baking the cake, everything wasn’t going as planned. First, the chocolate cake spilled out of the cake pan and sunk as well, thereby making the cake unsuitable for the intended finished outcome. So we had to bake another. While baking the second one, we forgot to put the vanilla extract. However, it came out well.

We were hopeful…….

At this point, I will like to apologize as I do not have pictures of the cake in the oven or even when the mixtures were being made. The idea of the enlightenment from the cake did not take place till when we were halfway into the cake.

Gradually getting there…

So as we continued with the butter icing, there were so many hiccups from the butter icing not being sufficient to struggling to get the design right. The pictures say it all. You needed to have seen my aunt’s face during the process of fixing hiccups- no smiles at all, she was worried that everything was falling apart, and if there’s anyone that hates to see her handwork fall apart before her eyes, it’s my Aunt. But everything came together in the end, amazingly!

So here’s the thing- the cake can be likened to we, human beings and the baker [my Aunt] as God [however, no human knows all things like God]. One feature about God is that He knows everything [Omnipresent]. There are certain challenges that people go through to make them greater beings in the future. For instance, the case of Joseph in the Bible; from his father’s house-the pit-Potipher’s house-prison-Palace. He knew what his future was supposed to look like. But the happenings around him then were presentations of the opposite of his dream. But in the midst of all, he trusted in God, feared God and used his talent for God’s glory. Joseph had to wait 22years in order for his dream to come true, and it did come true.

In the process of baking the cake, we were discouraged on how the cake’s design was coming up. We continued though, not knowing how the cake was going to turn out. That’s the difference-God knows the end from the beginning unlike a baker who expects a given result after putting several ingredients together.

Another thing was the fact that, in as much as the vanilla extract was not inserted in the chocolate cake, it did not ruin the cake’s shape or appearance, in terms of the taste, it was unnoticeable. So also, even when it feels like you’ve lost somethings during the challenge; it can either be any of these: those things were never needed to make you or God will replenish all that was lost, remember Joel 2:25- God says He will restore the years the locust has eaten…….Indeed, He is capable of doing it as not one jot of His word will come forth without fulfillment.

Voila!

I may be wrong, but I believe in the time of Joseph, there were people who never knew who he was before being the Prime minister or never knew what he went through, all they could see was a new, different ruler. That’s the mystery about the ‘in-between’, no one or only a few people will know when you are going through the challenge/training. Not everyone will know about the ‘in-between’. But here’s the outcome of the ‘in-between’- you are strengthened, enlightened, wiser, and hopefully closer to God and fulfilling your purpose on earth.

If Joseph became the Prime minister without the ‘in-between’, he would have flopped . All those ‘in-between’ experiences made him capable of being a reputable Prime minister of Egypt at that time, so also, your ‘in-between’ experiences are preparing you for greater exploits and positions. So don’t just pass through them, learn through them.

Everyone goes through the ‘in-between’, looking forward  to the end goal, should keep you going. Patience and Perseverance are key virtues that help through the ‘in-between’ stage. May the Lord help us. So what has your ‘in-between’ phase worked in you/for you?

Thanks for reading.

Have a formidable exciting week!

LESSONS IN THE PAST…

Evenings for me have become times of the day I do not really look forward to. Because, one gets to where he calls home and everything seems to cry out for attention at the same time, all screaming, ‘prioritize me!’. First the phones go off, then the latest news on some device, usually with some tragic content announces itself in some noisy way; at that same time more emails come around and then you realize you are still hungry and the burning smell of what you thought you were cooking, is actually roasting. My brother, it can be frantic and frenetic every time the clock hits the PM if you are a bachelor. 

But it happens like this, every time, every evening and the look on my face expresses surprise as if it was the first time. As always, I leave every other thing and prioritize my stomach first- well, didn’t they say, ‘A hungry man is an angry man?’ I must be right then. In these days of ‘fast everything’ and multitasking, food is chunked down while scouring the unforgiving Internet for latest news bits. Our world loves tragedy, so it is not surprising that almost all the headline stays tragic- or tries to stay tragic in its own way. Home, they say, is where the heart is, little wonder why my eyes actively sought for news about Nigeria- which seemed to be everywhere.

Ah! Nigeria! The giant of Africa! The proud nation! The newly MINTed country! Good people, good nation! The footballing giant. The nation with the happiest people on earth- and the conceited accolades play in my head. They always do, isn’t that patriotism? At that exact time, the most distracting app (name withheld) ever produced by mankind tells me I have a new mail. I checked, obvious annoyance spread like wild fire across my face. It was an old friend, some old secondary school class mate. When I realised and remembered the bonds we shared in common, the frown immediately dissipated. 

‘Sa’anu abokina! Ya ya dei?’ I hailed him in his native tongue, Hausa. You see, those of us that claim we know all languages, do not miss an opportunity to show off, even when it is clearly unnecessary. And we started talking, chatting, each reply drawing smiles, blushes and laughter from me- I believed the same from him too. The young men, in a second became boys, as we relieved old times we spent in one of our nation’s Unity Schools and compared it with the present. Jobs, career pursuits, acquired possessions, future academic plans, even the subject which I was quite weak in, relationship, was discussed. We laughed, teased ourselves, called ourselves the odd crazy nicknames and promised to keep in touch. We talked about the government and governance, how developmental projects in Nigeria is hardly a direct consequence of just efforts by leaders, but a consequence of other things. We agreed that leadership was not as difficult as rocket science, like what we are being led to believe. And just like old times, the friendly flame hadn’t gone out.

That was two weeks ago. I remember these things now and wonder what had happen to us? Two different individuals, from different sides of the Niger- what happened? Before the dark shadow of capitalism and socialism had covered us, we were once progressive children. Before the unscrupulous amongst our elites had made us realize that Christians and Muslims were warring factions and not peaceful religions, we were once children. Before our elders exposed us to politics, and our leaders exposed us to it’s dirtier form, we were once children. Before we were told to see people by the farcical lines that proscribed them and not the content of their character, we were once children. We were once honest friends and children across the Niger. We believed in the triumph of good over evil; of merit over mediocrity; of truth over falsehood; of love over hate; we believed in goodwill and peace to all men; we shared these things, we believed in these things, it worked for us. What happened to us?

So, my brother/sister I think about these things. The President releases new appointment of service chiefs and army personnel, and we are more concerned with ‘where does he come from’, rather than, ‘is he competent enough’? And the thought refuses to go away. Believe me, I chase these thoughts, I use the most powerful nocturnal weapon known to man to chase these thoughts- sleep; but it won’t go away. I think it is there, because we that were once children, have it within us to return to that likeness. And no, not the likeness of children, for that will be medically impossible, but the the likeness of the values we once practiced and shared and valued. It is possible. Don’t get me wrong, it is not going to be that easy. When one stops taking a drug that has been ingested, methodically and with great care for a long time, there will always be withdrawal symptoms. But like a friend tells me, ‘an old woman never forgets a dance which she did in her youth’, change is possible, if a group of people, a generation collectively makes that bold step and conscientiously follows it. Yes, it is possible to replicate the lessons in the past, into the future. I think it is possible, but these thoughts refuse to go away.

Okechukwu Okorie.

I am not ignorant of the developments taking place around the world, I try to keep up. From the new bill that was recently signed by President Goodluck Jonathan to the winner of the Ballon d’Or winner, Cristiano Ronaldo. Ehen! that guy is good oh. How do I know that? Well, since I was lil’ girl, his name was the first I heard about when it came to footie [international], and till today, I am still hearing about him. Then I did small amebo research, and realised his number is 7, I was born on the 7th; that just sealed the deal. Ride on CR7!!! #Backtothematter#
     

However, there’s another ‘eye-catching’ news that has caught my eyes- Francois Hollande’s affair.

Francois Hollande is the current president of France, he has been the president since May 2012. Recently, a tabloid Closer printed a seven-page article on his affair with Juliet Gayet, an actress. This is really ‘rocking his boat’ at the moment. There have been people who have said “it is his private life and it’s nobody’s business” and trust there are other people who feel otherwise.”He’s a president for crying out loud, he should have known better” and all sorts. In the news two nights ago, a news reporter said that this act has affected his credibility, thereby loosing the trust of his people gradually. His approval rating has drastically dropped from the time he was elected to this present moment, I won’t say as a result of the affair though; and the French economy is weak with persistent high rates of unemployment. The list is almost inexhaustive!

On a lighter note…..lol

The president has only given remarks like-‘private matters should be dealt with privately’, ‘it is neither the time nor place to answer questions about his personal life’. Even when being pressurized by journalist yesterday in a news conference, he still kept schtum, maybe not schtum, but he definitely did not give the journalists what they wanted.

Basically, I am aware of ‘the right to privacy’, the right people in the spotlight, wish they could have absolutely. Unfortunately, they can’t, no matter how hard they try. I am also aware that there are certain standards/expectations that are attached to certain positions. But here’s the thing- why is it that when a celebrity/Doctor/Pastor/CEO/Senator/MP/Judge/House of Assembly member gets involved in something that is against the moral/societal values, eyebrows are raised, we hear statements like’he/she should not have done that’, ‘that’s just wrong’? But when an individual (not in the spotlight) ventures into such, no one bats an eyelid, we here the statements like-‘it is nobody’s business’?

Do not get me wrong, I am not justifying the actions of the President, neither am I saying: ‘Mr President, you should have known better’. I just guess there are certain people who are wondering why this disparity exists!
Yesterday, I read about a Pastor who was preaching in a Lagos bus. He said all sorts: ‘devil invented make up’, weave-on is from the marine world’, if you have pre-marital sex, you’ll burn in hell’…….Later, while he was laying hands and praying for people in the bus, two durex condoms fell out from his bible. The angry men who were feeling guilty due to his preaching, pounced on him. Then he started screaming: “I also preach safe sex, safe sex is good”……

In the above scenario, you might say that the reaction of the men is quite understandable considering how he [the pastor] voiced out his opinion and belief. In other words, he was not practicing what he was preaching.

But in a situation where a person has not preached, he/she just occupies a ‘spotlight position’, do you think a ‘misconduct’ should ruin the credibility of the person in the position? If the function of the position is being executed very well, will people still take notice of the misconduct(s)/ should people take notice of the the misconduct? Over to you!

Oh yeah! it’s been ages, I know. A massive ten days. Whew! I can hear you ask ‘where have you been?’ ‘what’s been happening?’, both in your mind and in deeds (checking up for updates on the blog). Your questions will be answered-‘exclusive gist’ of the day.

So how have you been? How’s the new year going for you? Are you meeting your targets for the day/month/year? I have missed doing this, you know. Every second, every minute, every hour, every day that I did not put up a post, I thought of you, Yes! You. So I tender my unreserved apology for not being around. Forgive oh! And please tell ‘them’ to come back, cos I am back to do the thing!

Why was I away? *singing this is my confession to you*Sometime last month, I was given course works (assignments) 3 of them. You ask: what’s the biggie? Well! it’s no biggie to anyone else but me. I hate course works, I cringe at the sound of the letter ‘C’ of the word. I silently panic at the moment a lecturer says ‘the question for the —— coursework is out’. I don’t know why I hate it but that’s the story of my life since I left Secondary (High) school. Give me exams any day, and you’ve just made a girl happy. But as life is, you cannot get what you want at all times. Having the three course works was not the challenge (yet), it just happened that the festivity was on, I was over-the-moon and all. On a normal day, that wouldn’t have been an issue; it was just that every day I read the question for one of the course works, I had no understanding at all. It was very discouraging having to look at a directionless question, really! The discouragement veered into procrastination, which affected the other two.

To cut the long story short, with tears and sleepless nights, I have finished the course works on time, with my all in them. At this point, I will like to salute those that do ‘lastminute.com’ with assignments, you guys are powerful. This is surely my one and only last experience [I will make sure of that]

From this my short story, big lessons have been birth. I am a person who believes in new day resolutions. I also respect people that do new year resolution, whatever rocks your boat! As the year 2014 has begun with the course work experience, this is my take for the year.

Be mindful of what your feelings generate. I was discouraged because of ‘a directionless question’ that I did not even take note of the other two questions that I could have done easily (not so easily, it’s still coursework, remember) while still brainstorming and researching for the other one. This led to time wasting, procrastination and lots of stress in juggling the three at the same time. This year, there may be something that is not coming through as you expect, don’t dwell on it or build negative energy while waiting, focus on the things that are working, while on it; trust me, it (they) will come around. Time reveals all, be patient!

The time to do anything is always now. Because I know how course works make me feel, I usually start immediately the question is out. But this time, apart from the fact that I had a ‘heady’ question, I became complacent because of how I did the previous course work-I started on time and confidently did a good job on it, so I felt I could fold my hands this time, as I was still revelling in the moments of the past. That’s the thing with human beings at times (me inclusive, I am human). 
The truth is ‘you never arrive’, there’s always something to improve, do differently and achieve. You remember what our brother, Paul said in Philippians 3:13-14: I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. I am sure when Paul wrote that letter he must have achieved a lot, won souls, people must have been praising him; telling him to cool down. But here is the thing-in as much as success is relative, the primary determiner of success is God, not you or your friends or your frienemies. 

This year make conscious steps to know God for yourself to know when he is saying: go, stop, do it gently, don’t venture into that….because that was what Paul did, even when it looked as if he ‘had arrived’ in the eyes of men, he knew there was still more to do. So maybe last year, you got promoted, don’t relent on your productivity. You may have won a thousand souls, there are still more souls in need of the word of God. Or like me, you may have done so well in your previous coursework; still keep up, don’t procrastinate. 

So Happy new year once again! Dare to be the best God has called you to be this year, set realistic goals and always keep moving! As for me, the new year has started off with lessons, and I’m excited to use them WELL and learn from them. What lessons are you learning/have you learnt in the early days of year 2014?

I am back and not going anywhere. Spread the word! #nextpostonwednesday#