Let The Lord Prove Himself

Let The Lord Prove Himself.

Some years ago I was eating at a fast food restaurant in Lagos, Nigeria. A lady recognised me, came over and asked me to speak to her ‘fiance’ who was with her. She was about to get married to him and wanted to know what I thought about him.

I sat with the guy at his table and spoke with him about different things; his job, the church he attended, business, etc. As I was speaking to him about those things, I was listening to what the Lord had to tell me about him. When I was done talking with him, I told the lady: “this man doesn’t want to marry you.”
Lady: “how do you know? Did he tell you he didn’t want to marry me?”
Me: “No, he didn’t.”
Lady: “Then how do you know that he doesn’t want to marry me?”
Me: “The Holy Spirit revealed it to me.”

We Cannot Make This Journey Alone.

We cannot make this journey on our own. As much as we would like to think that we can make it on our own we should realise that Christ never intended for any of us to go on this journey on our own. He had twelve disciples for a reason: mutual support and encouragement.

Some people with strong ‘Type A’ personalities, like me, sometimes think we are strong enough, wise enough, prayerful enough, spiritual enough, brilliant enough, well connected to the Holy Spirit enough, know the word enough, are experienced enough, rich enough, even educated enough to make it on our own, by ourselves, without any input from other members of the body of Christ, but that is pride, self deception and it eventually leads to disaster.

Making Love Work

Hello everyone,

Here are some keys to making love work.

1. Seek to serve, improve and help your partner become better.

2. Celebrate and encourage your partner’s success.

The Gift, Part 3. Short Story.

‘You have to let Kola know what is going on. You shouldn’t keep this to yourself. If he finds out on his own it may destroy your relationship.’
Shade regarded her friend for a moment. ‘You want me to tell my fiancé that I spent the night in the home of a cultist but nothing happened? Kola will never believe me. This is the end of my marriage plans,’ Shade sobbed.
Uche placed a hand on her shoulder. ‘I know this is hard for you but the best thing for you to do would be to come clean, be totally honest with him.’
Shade looked at her friend. ‘Honesty cannot work in this matter. If I tell Kola that I was in that man’s house, I cannot predict his reaction. He may drive down to his house and confront him.’
‘That wouldn’t be a bad idea,’ Uche said. ‘That short man should get his butt kicked for what he attempted last night. I can see him running away from Kola, totally scared out of his evil mind,’ Uche said.
Both women burst out laughing.
Shade wiped the tears from her eyes as she laughed. ‘Uche, you have such a dark sense of humour. I can imagine Kola using him as a punching bag.’
‘At least I made you laugh,’ Uche said.
‘I love Kola very much. I don’t want anything to come between us. He has not called me since he dropped me off at my place. I am afraid that this situation is irredeemable.’

Uche’s phone rang. She looked at the caller. It was pastor Cornelius Akanbi.
She covered the mouthpiece and whispered ‘pastor’ to Shade.
‘How are you doing?’ the pastor began.
‘I am fine sir. Thank God.’
‘All the group leaders in the church have been invited to a love feast at Deacon Soleye’s place tomorrow after the church service,’ her pastor said.
Uche had always suspected that her pastor was spiritually immature. Now he had succeeded in eliminating all remaining doubt from her mind. Inviting all the heads of department of the church to a luncheon at Soleye’s home was the height of spiritual irresponsibility. How could a man who called himself a pastor be so blind that he couldn’t see that the man organising the luncheon was the enemy of Christ? It bothered her deeply that a pastor who was supposed to watch over the sheep was sending them all to the slaughter in the house of their mortal enemy.
‘Uche, are you there?’ the pastor asked.

The Pastor’s Secret 5 (Short Story)

He entered the sitting room and sat on the sofa. He picked up the remote and surfed through channels, his mind pondering the possibilities that existed in his relationship with Susan after this new information he had acquired purely by accident. Ogedengbe did not consider himself as spiritual as pastor E. A Adeboye or Bishop T.D Jakes, but he could recognise God’s providence when he saw it. Listening to Susan’s conversation with her husband was an act of divine providence. It was a sign that God wanted him to move on with his plans for Susan. How else would you explain this wonderful gift that was given to him even without his asking? A placed his hand on his forehead trying to sooth a twitching vein. No matter how he felt, there was only one meaning to what happened this evening: God wanted him to deliver Susan from the hands of that monster called Bassey Akpabio. He will assume the role of a deliverer sent to her by God; his relationship with Susan would be an act of mercy. No, it would be a supreme act of God’s grace on his hurting daughter who desperately needed help.

The thought crossed his mind that he was married and this would be a sin in the sight of God and man, but he waved it off as you would an irritating mosquito buzzing around your ears. As a deliverer he was entitled to some collateral benefits arising from his acts of mercy. What was wrong with Susan thanking him personally with her love if she so desired? She could reward him with some money, but he didn’t want her money. She would be his reward.

The thought he had swatted away returned, this time louder, like an enraged bee. Yes, he knew this would be considered sin in many religious quarters but he refused to be judged by any of those hypocrites who pretended to be better than him. His face creased in anger as he thought about the religious licence his colleagues had given themselves to contravene all the sacred teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ by acquiring material things and heaping up money like pagans who didn’t know God, yet they preached publicly that their followers should follow God.
‘Hypocrites!’ Ogedengbe spluttered, throwing out the word like a piece of stone found in a meal of beans.

‘Who are hypocrites?’ Ngozi asked, walking into the sitting room.

The Pastor’s Secret 4 (Short Story)

The sermon notes he was preparing for the following morning were scattered on his table.  He picked up a note and read it. He sighed deeply, pushed aside the papers,  stood up and paced his study. It had been four days since he spoke with Susan. What was going on in her life, in her marriage? Had Bassey changed his ways or was he still treating her bad? This silence was almost driving him crazy. A thought scurried through his mind and he stopped pacing. Had Susan found a man? Had she found somebody who would treat her with the respect that she deserved? A frown creased his forehead. From somewhere within him anger rose up slowly like steam rising from a pot of hot okra soup as he contemplated the possibility that Susan could betray him in that manner. He sat down heavily on the orthopaedic chair he had bought to help with his lower back pain. It didn’t seem to be working. The pain shot through his back and he stood up again. Surely Susan couldn’t have met another man and abandoned him after all the work he had done for her? She should understand that he was important to her happiness. She should recognise that he was a man who has feelings for her. He had gone beyond the boundaries of counselling her and now took her life as a project. No, it felt more like a calling to make her happy, to put a smile on her face and deliver her from the misery that Bassey inflicted on her daily. That man was nothing but an animal.

Don’t Cast Your Pearls Before Swine.

Don’t cast your pearls before swine.

1. A relationship should not be forced, coerced or manipulated into existence. If you force yourself into a relationship, you will regret it. Love should be freely given. It should never be based on certain conditions. Demanding that your partner fulfil certain conditions before you ‘love’ him or her is NOT love. True love is freely given, unconditionally.

Gold Digger 5

Gold Digger 5

Tina entered the hotel room, threw her handbag on the bed and ran into the bathroom. She came out minutes later and sat on the bed. She brought out the money Dayo gave her and threw the bundles of Naira notes on the bed.
She got up and stood before the mirror and looked at her reflection. She rubbed her stomach in slow round motions.
Her phone rang. She answered it.
It was her childhood friend Shade.
“Yes, you can come up to my room.”
Moments later Shade joined her in the hotel room. Shade had forced her wide hips into a very tight pair of jeans and wore a large top. Tina wondered how her body could breathe in those jeans.
“What did he do when you told him?” Shade asked before she sat down.
“I couldn’t say anything. The first time his stupid sister was there.”
“You could have pulled him into a room,” Shade said.
“I wanted to have his full attention.”

The Other Side Of Love

The other side of Love.

Anita was exhausted.
The event had been a complete success.
She took a shower and changed into her nightwear. Her phone rang. It was her fiancé Edward.
“The news about your show is all over the city. You did good.”
“Thanks.”
“When is the next one coming up?”
“As soon as I recover from this one, it was really exhausting.”
“I am so proud of you.”
“How did your meetings go?”
“We had a few hitches, but generally they went well.”
“Are we still doing lunch tomorrow?” she asked.
“Sure.”
“Until something comes up,” she said.
“Nothing will come up this time. I have cleared my table. Tomorrow afternoon is free for us.”
“If you say so.”
There was a knock on her door.
“I’ve got to go. See you tomorrow. I love you Edward.”
“I love you Anita.”

Soul Deep.

Soul Deep.

‘Mom, are you saying that sex is bad?’ Rita asked.
Her mom was silent. She had a far away look in her eyes, something Rita had never seen before.
The noise of the crickets filtered into the room. Night birds shrieked at each other with playful delight as they scampered in the remaining portion of forest that civilization had not encroached on.
‘Ada,’ her mom paused. When she wanted to tell her something very important, she called her by her native name.
‘Yes, mom?’
‘You know I love you very much.’
‘Yes I do mom.’
‘Have I ever told you something, anything which you later found out to be false?’
Rita thought for a few seconds. There had never been an occasion when her mom deceived her or told her to tell a lie. A long time ago, Rita had eaten a portion of her dad’s dinner before he returned from work. Rita loved egusi soup, with grilled goat meat. It was too tempting to resist. When her dad returned from work and found out what had happened, he called the four children together. But before he could say anything, her mom had fished Rita out. She was the only one, apart from the last born who liked grilled goat meat. The last born was in school, so the culprit must be Rita. She confessed and was given a short lesson in honesty and integrity. Several years later, this lesson remained with her.
‘No, mom, you have never told me a lie.’
‘A man who says he likes you should be patient to know your soul before he goes after your body. Your soul is the seat of your emotions, will, personality, dreams, hopes, likes and dislikes. Your soul is what makes you unique, different from every other woman.’ Her mom paused and drank some water. ‘A man who likes you has to walk through the passage of your soul to get to your body.’