Contradictions are beautiful; as a matter of fact, I prefer them to conclusions. Conclusions tend to restrict and choke the freedom of individuals to think for themselves. Contradictions on the other hand allow the mind and spirit to roam freely and question everything.

I understand, though, that this holds true only for those who love to think for themselves, and who have developed their minds to do so. For the rest, I can imagine that contradictions would breed confusion. They would rather have conclusions, that is, thoughts that have been processed in the minds of others, and then served to them , either for a fee, or for free.

According to the New York Time’s A Scientist Takes on Gravity, Erik Verlinde, 48, a respected string theorist and professor of physics at the University of Amsterdam, has challenged the basic laws of Newtonian and Einsteinian Gravity. He categorically stated that ‘For me gravity doesn’t exist.’

It was quite thrilling for me to read that.

I truly admire the kind of mindset that is neither intimidated by the age of any conclusion, nor by the authority and expertise of those that made the conclusion.

I prefer to keep an open mind on all subjects and to keep learning.

Knowledge is infinite and extremely dynamic; there’s no end to it. So why conclude?

Heaven would be so boring were it not for the fact that we’ll be exploring the inexhaustible depths of God’s infinite knowledge and wisdom through all eternity.

I used to be upset and annoyed by dogmatic conclusions. Now I find it all rather amusing, silly, and boring.

I know what I know. I don’t know what I don’t know. But I know that what I don’t know is greater and superior to what I know. Furthermore, the progressive knowledge of what I don’t know will ultimately modify, or overwrite what I know.

In that case, I avoid any emotional attachments to any thing that I know, in spite of how sensible, reasonable, or logical it may appear.

knowledge is essentially dynamic.

To truly live, you must first die.

Death means loss. To die means to lose, to give up.

Whatever you can’t give up will rule you. Whatever you are unwilling to forsake, if necessary, will enslave you – be it a person or a thing.

It is only by giving up that you truly own.

In order to defeat death, and bring life to those who believe in Him, Jesus Christ had to give up His earthly, fleshly life. His earthly life was the seed. He obtained an earthly life, was made flesh and blood, so He could have a seed to sow.

It takes death to defeat death. Until you are willing to die, you are not yet ready to live.

“They overcame him by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” ~ Revelations 12:11

“The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” ~ John 12:25

You must exchange an inferior life for a superior life.

You must give up what you have to create what you want.

There’s no other way.

You can only break the power of fear over your life when you confront that fear.

Death is the path to life.

Please, share your thoughts below –

A relevant gift is like cold water to a thirsty soul; the receiver blesses the Lord for giving you the wisdom to buy such a gift, and the gift leaves such an impression that years after the gift has been given its still spoken of.

Many are of the opinion that the power of a gift is a matter of how expensive it is, how well packaged it is, and the attitude with which it is given.

Well, in my opinion, the real power of a gift is in its relevance.

Two weeks ago, I was given a gift that touched my soul. Prior to that day all members of our central church were told to present gifts to their home church leaders as part of the Pastor’s Appreciation Day. The home church leaders, in turn, were paired to buy gifts for their supervising pastors.

Because I was part of purchasing a gift for one of the supervising pastors, I decided to find out what the receiver really needed at that point in his life.

You know, sometimes you simply may not know a friend well enough to make an informed decision as to what he or she is longing for at any point in tme.

Well, we were able to find out what he needed most at that moment, which was a big high quality mattress, and pillows to go with it.

Though it was expensive, we made the necessary sacrifices to see to it that he got what he really needed at that point in time, and also to ensure that he would value the gift it as well.

On the other hand, I had no idea as to what gift my home church members were going to present to me! They all kept it secret till it was time for the gift to be presented to me. And they meticulously disguised the gift in a purple polythene bag, which from the outside looked like a well packaged NIV bible!

When it was brought out, however, to my delight, surprise, and relief, it was an expensive smart phone!

I was overwhelmed, speechless and filled with gratitude, not because of the cost of the phone, but because it was so relevant to me – it was exactly what I needed the most at that point in time.

You see, a few months back, I was robbed of my laptop, two cell phones, and a huge sum of money. Since then I’ve had to go to the cyber cafe whenever I need to make use of the internet, because the replacement phone I had after the robbery incident did not have internet browsing capabilities.

I was so overwhelmed with joy that I couldn’t help displaying the phone throughout that day to all and sundry!

Similarly, the leader of Infinity Home Church – Pastor Anuli – was so touched with the gift given to her that she couldn’t hold back the tears of gratitude.

As for the Supervising Pastor to whom we presented the gigantic mattress with soft pillows to, well, till date he still hasn’t stopped expressing his gratitude to me.

A relevant and timely gift can change someone’s life. The more your gifts are personalised and tailored to satisfy urgent and important needs, the more they will be appreciated and valued.

When presenting a gift ask yourself if you have sufficient information about the receiver to be able to give a gift that meets a need; what are the things that could make that person happy?
It is helpful to invest the time to know more about the receiver so you could easily generate helpful ideas as to what gifts the receiver will definitely appreciate.
If you don’t know, then ask those close to them.

Make sure your gifts are relevant. I believe that one act of kindness sets off another, causing a ripple effect. Make your gifts valuable possessions in other lives.

There is really no shortcut to enduring personal success. It’s rather a gruesome marathon demanding speed, strength, and, most importantly, stamina.

Enduring personal success is the eventual consequence of doing so many things – both big and small – right over a protracted period of time. Its an accumulation, a convergence in time, of several consistent (as opposed to random and erratic) success actions.

Consistency is the power that keeps all the right acts together until convergence occurs. The magic that is celebrated happens at this point of convergence.

You can do the right things here and there, every now and then. But if there is no pattern to your right actions, and if they lack consistency, then they really don’t count at the end of the day.

It is this consistency in executing success actions, plus that delay-overcoming tenacity, that I consider the magic essence of personal success.

Yes, time is a gift from the Almighty.
But it’s not just a resource, it’s a force.  You either conquer this force, or it conquers you, making you it’s slave.

The future races into your present one second at a time, yet so fast you are most likely to waste it if you are not skillful, courageous, and wise.

It’s difficult to harness and manage a resource that’s pouring down at you at such a vicious and ferocious speed.

You have to master time, to conquer it before you can use and ride it.  Until then, you remain a victim of time, trapped in the rhythm of the rising and setting of the sun

Like a horse, time must be ridden.
Like the tidal ocean waves, time must be surfed.

So, it takes skill to master time.
It takes courage and wisdom too.

But when you do, time serves you and works for you.

Time can be tamed, but only by force.
Hence, each of us is engaged in a fight, a race, against time.

Billions of people have been, are being, and will be conquered by time. They keep asking, ‘where did the time go?’
Well, it sped by why you slept, played, worked, and went through the mindless rituals of existence.
Most people come to the end of their lives wondering where all their time went.

Only the wise and courageous few conquer and master time.

The important thing is not the speed of time, but it’s quality, what is done with it.

Martin Luther King Jr. for instance used only 39 years, look what he did with it.
Moses lived 120 years, look what he did with it.
Jesus 33 and a half years, look what He did with it.

It’s not how long or how short, but how relevant, and how impactful you’ve lived – the value of your time to present and future generations.

Slow-paced, fast-paced are all matters of perception. What matters is the value of time used, to God, man, and yourself.

The future races into your present one second at a time, but you can slow it down!  And the point of slowing time down is to improve it’s use and output.  It’s this capacity to slow down time that I refer to as ‘mastery.’

It takes force to master time, because to accomplish this mastery, you’ll have to reject the hectic paradigm of 21st century living.  You must denounce the values of exploitative market forces, and resist the seducing spell of the manipulative expectations of other people.  To master time demands that you refuse to abide by the warped and perverted priorities of fallen humanity, and stay deeply rooted in God and in His word.

That way, it wouldn’t matter anymore whether you used 45 years here, or 120.

Immortality is only for those who truly master time, and only those have truly lived.

Visions of the future

Welcome to the year 2010!
I’m so glad you and I made it to this year.

First of all, I want you to know that this will be an extremely challenging and difficult year.  I know that because God often reveals to me things that are yet to occur.  This has actually been happening to me – as my mom told me – right from when I was only 3!

I have been extremely careful and responsible with this gift and very rarely go public with these visions of the future.  I’d rather share the revelations that I receive in very indirect ways in order not to attract undue attention to this gift, or violate people’s right to make their own choices.

But, yes, sometimes, I do become very open and direct in sharing the visions of the future that God shows me.

For instance, about 2 years ago, I was shown a global economic recession.  I saw stock markets and banks crashing around the world.  Governments were confused and were running from place to place in search of solutions.  I saw hundreds of millions of people caught in the vicious grip of hunger and starvation.  I was told that these things were going to happen and become so terrible that even the wisest of men won’t be able to find any solutions to the problems.

I went up to my pulpit then at the Success Academy Nigeria and began to share these visions.  I told my audience that I saw a global food crisis coming, stock markets crashing, banks going bankrupt, and so on.  I told them not to purchase stocks then, even though that was right in the middle of the stock market boom here in Nigeria.  Of course, no one paid much attention until it all began to unfold. Some folks who heard the warning from my mouth actually lost lots of money that they had invested in the now useless stocks.

As you know, the world is now embroiled in a terrible economic crisis.  At the beginning of this crisis, as nation after nation began to fall under the wave, our own Central Bank Governor at that time went to press and said that our economy was immune and that the banks in Nigeria were safe.  I read his comments in the papers, and again went up to my pulpit and warned that this man was lying to the nation.  People then asked me whether I was an Economist, and how I would dare say that such an authority could be wrong.  I told them I wasn’t an Economist, but was only saying what I heard in the counsel of the holy ones, in the presence of God

Eventually, it all became clear that the man was lying.  Thousands of people are now being laid off in Nigerian banks as they try to withstand the onslaught of the global economic crisis.

Is the crisis over?

No.

The worst that was shown to me then hasn’t even happened: I won’t go into the details of that vision because they are extremely scary.

Why the crisis?

What is important, however, is to understand that there are underlying spiritual reasons why these economic upheavals will continue to ravage the nations of this earth.  The reason is that human beings have generally turned their backs to God.  We have turned to other 21st Century idols such as the human intellect, mammon, sensual pleasures, and so on.  Man’s continued rejection of the supremacy and authority of God has invoked the very peculiar economic curse that’s about to plague our world today.

God never designed a universe that can permanently and successfully ignore Him.  Even if humanity doesn’t recognize the supremacy and authority of God, the created universe and all of her forces do.  And every now and then, the created universe and all of her forces rise to thwart man’s purported scientific advancement and intellectual prowess, reducing humanity to mere fools.

This global economic crisis has been sent as a warning to mankind.

And it will get worse.

National economies will tumble and crumble under it’s onslaught.  Whole corporations and business empires would be wiped out in seconds in the months ahead.  Families will weep and gnash their teeth as the pangs of the famine begins to strike home.

Make no mistake about this, there’s a ferocious storm up ahead!

Yet, you don’t have to go down when others are going down; that’s actually my purpose in writing this new year post – you don’t have to partake in the pain.  As a matter of fact, you can actually turn this year into the very best year of your life!

Distinction is possible!

Yes, distinction is possible.

You don’t have to go down when everyone is going down.  While this year will be a year of troubles, trials, and difficulties for billions, it could well be a year of daily testimonies and breakthroughs for you and your loved ones.  This could be the year that you mount up on wings like the eagle and soar to greater heights of glory.

Here’s a promise to think about:

“A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.  You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.  If you make the Most High your dwelling – even the LORD, who is my refuge – then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.” ~ Psalm 91:7-9

God’s message to you through this post is that you don’t have to panic.  Really, distinction is possible – provided you do the right things.

The most important first step in escaping the storm that is about to engulf the world is to lay a solid foundation for your life.

Build your foundation on the rock

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” ~ Jesus Christ, (Matthew 7:24,25)

There you have the warnings of Jesus Christ spoken thousands of years ago that, “the rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house…” That’s referring to crisis!

Yet, there was a house that didn’t fall, because it had it’s foundation on the rock.  If you build your foundation on the rock, you will experience distinction in the perilous times that lie ahead.

The best way to do this is to start this year with God

Acknowledge the reality of God in your life.
Recognize His absolute supremacy over all the Universe.
Submit to His authority in all areas of your life.

The reality of God

The reality of God – the All-Mighty, Creator of the Universe – is obvious and implicit in nature and all creation. The inability to discern and acknowledge this reality, in my opinion, consists the grossest blindness of all.

To reject the notion of God and still claim to be an intelligent and sophisticated thinker is laughable.  Every intelligent, intuitive, and enlightened student of nature arrives at the same conclusion, which is that mere chance could never have given rise to a universe of such order, complexity, beauty, and precision. There is a Being, an absolutely supreme being, that designed and made the universe.

He is God.

The realization of this truth and humble submission to it is the foundation of happiness, and the beginning of spiritual wisdom.

“The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom…” ~ Proverbs 1:7

An ancient foolishness…

Some people like to imagine that the notion ‘there is no God’ is some form of sophisticated and modern thinking; you know, an advanced way of thinking.

That’s ridiculous!

A guy told me sometime ago that the concept of God is an archaic and obsolete idea that has no place in modern man’s advanced and contemporary thinking.

I asked him if he was acquainted with the bible. “Of course,” he replied with that arrogant air of so-called lofty intellectualism. “I know practically all there is to know about bible history,” he continued.

“So, you most likely know when some of the books of the bible was written?” I asked.  “Sure,” was his very confident response.

“You will agree with me then when I say that the book of Psalms was written thousand years ago?” He did.

I then referred him to the verse from the Psalms quoted below,

“The fool says in his heart, ‘there is no God.’” ~ Psalm 14:1

“You see, my dear,” I continued, “there’s nothing modern about the ‘no God’ notion. People were already thinking that way 3000 years ago!”

Then I said to him, “there’s nothing sophisticated, modern, or advanced about the notion that ‘there is no God.’  It is nothing but an ancient foolishness!”

Blindness to the reality of God is about the oldest form of spiritual and mental foolishness known to man. Truly enlightened human spirits are amused when fools parrot their ignorance of God as ‘sophisticated thinking.’

Yet, its not just foolishness, its a killer disease. The ignorance or proud rejection of God plus the refusal to submit to His authority is a killer disease. Its the fountain of unhappiness and confusion in the human soul.

And it is this very foolishness and disease that lies at the root of the mess this planet is plunging into.

Don’t be a part of it.  Make a choice today to:

Acknowledge the reality of God in your life.
Recognize His absolute supremacy over all the Universe.
Submit to His authority in all areas of your life.

That’s the right way to begin 2010…

“In the beginning, God…” ~ Genesis 1:1

I found myself posing this question to a fellow blogger recently on Facebook.  Hardly had I asked the question when I thought, “Hey, why not pose this question to all your blog readers.”

Of course, as soon as I sat before my laptop to type the question, a whole blog post flooded my mind!   … you know, thoughts on love and all my opinion on the subject.

But, I eventually held it all back and resolved rather to make this a platform for you to express your own opinion on the subject of love.

So, what does love mean to you?

We are now heading into the heart of the Christmas season, that time of the year when Christians all over the world pretend to be celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, whereas, in reality, most of what we do amounts to just more selfishness and vanity.  In Western nations, it’s predominantly about shopping, Christmas  lights, trees, and that idol called Santa Claus.  Many who enjoy this season of celebration have no clues as to what it’s all about.

I don’t really celebrate Christmas for reasons that are mostly personal.  We weren’t brought up in my family to make much ado about it, anyway.  But as I grew up and reached my own conclusions about things, I decided not to make much ado about it either.  For me, it’s just another day.  It’s roots are way too pagan and idolatrous for me, and it’s practice is way to worldly and materialistic.

Of course, I do not preach against it from my pastoral pulpit, and neither do I forbid members of my congregation from celebrating it.  I also do not stop my wife and children from celebrating it and enjoying themselves that day.  My views about it are basically kept to myself.

Along the way, I decided to spend the three days that lie at the heart of Christmas as days of praying, fasting, and charity works.  I preferred to spend the 25th in the hospital chatting with the bedridden and praying for them.  It gives me great joy and inspiration to do this and I’m not suggesting that you join me at all, but that’s the way it is for me.

My suggestion to those who do make much ado about Christmas is to never forget the reason for the season, and that is Jesus Christ.  Christmas should not be about Santa Claus, or lights, or gifts, or any of those things. Let it rather be a time to reflect on the Love of God that gave up His only Son to die for the sins of the world.  Let it be a time of sharing this love through our deeds and our words.  Let this be a time to think about the helpless of this earth and take whatever steps we could to help make their burdens lighter.

And if you’ve not yet consciously and deliberately given your heart and your life to God the Father, through His Son, Jesus Christ, then as you fill your stomach with food and wine, do remember that without the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, there’ll be no Christmas.  You always have the choice, while there’s still breath in you, to surrender your heart and your life to God.  Simply ask Jesus Christ to come into you and take over your life.  Say it the best way you can and in the most simple terms.  He’ll hear you and he’ll come in and change your life forever.

Well, I guess it’s time to say, have yourself a merry Christmas – at least I prefer it to that stupid phrase, ‘the sparkle season.’

Hello…
Are you there?

The motivational speaker declares to his enthusiastic audience, "You will get there!" They shout back at him, "Yea!"
Again, vibrating and shaking his pointed finger at them,  he proclaims, "I say you will get there!"  This time, they all jump to their feet, stomping all over the auditorium, and again screaming back at him, "Yea!"
And all the time, I’m sitting and silently wondering, "Where is there?"

Well, in this post, let me pose some interesting questions, and share some  intriguing thoughts on the subject of ‘there’.

What is ‘there’?

Where is it?
In what terms do you, or should it be defined?

Is it some preferred reality, or an expected future? A dream you seek to realize, or a goal you aim to achieve? A deep seated aspiration, or a passionate ambition?

Is it something hoisted upon you by culture, tradition, and religion, or is something you discover yourself?

Is it a virtue, an experience, or a position? Is it visible and tangible, or is it their opposites?

Is ‘there’ a substantial location or shifting optical illusion? Does it really exist?

When you get there will you know? Is it absolutely definite, or does its nature and form keep evolving with every step you take towards it?

So far, two of the most intriguing thoughts I’ve received on this concept came from two siblings:

One said, ‘I think we are already there.’
The other said, "I think I am the ‘there’!"

What thoughts!
I am there…
I am the ‘there’…

Another person said, "When you get ‘there’, you discover another ‘there’."
Hmm…

Lol…

So, what do you think?
Do you have a ‘there’?
Where is it? What is it?

Are you there?
Please, talk to us.

Several years ago, I had an out of body experience where I found myself in a very indescribably beautiful and breath taking environment – heaven.
I can never forget one of the things my guide told me,

This is a world that is perfect and the beings are ever happy. 
Long ago it’s appointed ruler left it in pursuit of other schemes. 
That was a long long time ago but the memories still linger on…
and he is ever desirous to return to his former home, this paradise!

So your aspirations for a better world are lingering memories of where you used to be…where you’ll rather be.

Deep in your heart is an inner vision, a quiet awareness, beautiful pictures, and lovely songs of hard-to-describe realities. 

Have you ever felt this?

For some of us, this living picture is still robust, vibrant, and  passionately longing for expression. For so many others,  it has become dulled by the tragedies, disappointments, and betrayals of the material plane.  Yet – because its divine – this spring of awareness is indestructible and continues to make the arduous journey to the surface of our human consciousness, still longing for that one genius stroke of expression.

And in this sense, you and I are artists.

Naturally artists are very powerful communicators. Artists try to project their inner visions of realities on visible and tangible materials, usually two dimensional planes. This is no easy task, but they often manage to do it because they are gifted with powerful brain to hand coordinating abilities.

The artist attempts to translate his inner visions outwardly into forms that allow us to see what’s on his mind and to share in his subjective experiences.
If he is successful, we enter into very tangible experiences of his joys, hopes, pains, pleasures, and other dimensions of his being.

The artists challenge is a very difficult and complex one – to capture multi-dimensional realities, and often esoteric visions, onto two dimensional planes.
How does the artist capture, for instance, hope, on a canvas?  How does he express the young woman’s need to be courageous in the midst of a harsh, hostile, and abusive cultural milieu?   Indeed, how does the artist project his dreams of justice on a piece of material fabric?

True, some artists manage somehow to do this, and when they do, we enjoy rhapsodic reflections. 

Many others, however, fall short of their  inner ideal. Though we innocently acclaim their works as masterpieces, yet within their soul, they know that we haven’t the slightest clues as to what they are trying to say.  I refer to this later state as ‘creative frustrations’, that is, the artists awareness that even his so-called masterpiece remains far below his inner vision in spite of his best efforts.

As I stated earlier,  we all harbour dreams and inner visions that long for beautiful expressions, which is why I think that you and I are artists…

It may be true that none of us can perfectly capture these dreams on any of the visible planes available to us…

Yet, like every artist knows, we can at least give it our best shot…