The Dilemma of the #ChurchGirl .

The "church girl" concept is made up of 2 groups, first would be the single ladies while the second group is made up of the unhappy and unfulfilled married yet could be termed single lady. In all, the concept of the church girl is a dissatisfied (embodied with loneliness) lady seeking frantically to understand the reason for her incompleteness even after embracing what looks like a relationship with God. Some call it a thirst or quest to be filled while others see it as a product of a social systemic abuse that has allowed greed to creep in; whatever the case, there's gross dissatisfaction right at the centre of her being. Not one but almost all the ladies seem to keep searching even after the might have found what many perceive as love. It’s like the case of lot’s wife looking back at Sodom and Gomorra even when she had her husband, kids and divine deliverance/ guidance (Angels on assignment) The average church girl is similar to an incomplete book or a book with missing pages, you’ll never fully understand what the book is all about till you find those pages, hence she's highly informed about the "logic of God" yet completely absent minded on the dynamics of God’s operation in certain areas of her personal life. I mean areas that were nurtured by notions that she inherited from a highly dysfunctional society. She fed on the imaginations of a few authors, pen down on the pages of a book or magazine, the analysis of what makes up the content of her understanding of her emerging female identity is a summation of lies and bias. Often tailored towards empowering her but eventually revealed as a design to destroy her. The philosophies that make up the secular idea of female gender liberation are built on faulty principles. To start with, the idea that female is limited by male is a gross misinterpretation of what really is. I strongly believe that to properly understand where the church girl is and where she needs to be, we need to understand how she was formed and the purpose of her configuration as a female. Being female is not a weakness, it’s a uniqueness empowered and contained in the seemingly weaker structure to support her function of caring, birthing, incubation etc. The idea that female is inferior hence in bondage and need liberation is an aberration. The propaganda for liberation may seem intelligent but so long as it’s basic premise is derived from the idea that male is stealing the show; then the whole liberation brouhaha is wrong. The bible says we are not of those that compare amongst themselves for such people are not wise. The authority that defines the identity of the church girl has clearly distinguished himself over the generations as accurate and perfect- God; HE is her maker (God), at creation, he saw her and called her good, the one that formed and fashioned her to meet certain objectives. Female is not a disease, it’s the completing software for the male man. Considering my assessment of the female man above and my leaning towards God, I guess it would suffice to say the church as it exist at the moment has the where without to fix the missing link; unfortunately that's not the case. The church should but doesn’t seem to know what to do with the female man. Asides the loud noise of "God would do it" the current leadership of the church seem lost in their attempt to figure out why the church girl seem unhappy regardless of all her commitment and fellowship attendance. Its like Hannah seeking God for Samuel, on the face of it, she should be glad seeing that she is loved by her husband, but the truth is that for every Samuel that is yet to birth, there would be dissatisfaction in the church girl. A good church girl knows that there's more to her than where she is currently, either as a single lady or married. Being fulfilled takes meeting divine objective. We would always feel single so long as our potentials are grossly undermined. Relationships (male and female) are the biggest un discussed issue in church and for the church girls, who’s wired to respond to love and attention, when that is missing at home, she turns to pastor for answers but as usual, pastor roll’s out scriptures aimed at bulldozing the problem away, continuously brandishing Proverbs 31.10 woman as the standard without diligently addressing certain issues that makes it impossible to attain that status. The deepest cravings of the church girl is finding human/male love (or acceptance as case maybe) even after she has found Gods love. Its so easy to say God would sort her out but from the little I know of God, he won't do again what he has already concluded, as regards the case of acceptance, God called her good at creation, God accepts the church girl but the challenges she faces and the seeming lack of understanding of situations around her seem to make her think otherwise. So the church girl makes mistakes here and there then ends up like our mothers, tied to the apron of another man who might know so many scriptures yet no articulate vision for the lady to "help meet”. This is part of the dilemma of the church girl, a gross misrepresentation of how God works vis-à-vis the constant inability of the man to utilise her gifting without feeling threatened. There's a great divide, a war of clashing identities, the world system seem to have conjured a new identity, elegant, attractive and seemingly outstanding definition of who she need to be so she can fit in as a stooge for media advert and anywhere else she might be needed, an object of pleasure today, tomorrow may be as a manikin for product exhibition, the use of the female as defined by the world system vis-à-vis her divine purpose seem to be in conflict hence she's trying so hard to meet up, a race set forth by the hidden hands that she first encountered in Eden, the same hands that sold the idea that once she ate the forbidden fruit of good and evil, she would be as God. That same hand is constantly working to keep the church girl busy to ensure her focus is distorted. From the above summation, its obvious she's at war with herself, however to fully understand the dilemma of the church girl we must dissect the male man. Just like Eden, the absenteeism of the male man who is supposed to be the custodian of the vision seem to have a direct effect on the obvious inability of the female man to accomplish purpose, this is because they were designed to function together, tending the garden (Eden) was a goal and in order to achieve maximum efficiency, a "help meet" was designed for the male man. When the male man is missing, blatant abuse of purpose is inevitable, its the same when the female man is missing in the life of the male man, his incompleteness shows in the exhibition of reckless animalistic tendencies that drives him into bed with every thing that skirts. The rhythmic consequences of having a visionary man available cannot be quantified. In creating a man and a woman, God seem to have locked up a lot about each other in each other hence we naturally gravitate towards each other. This is partly the reason why the church girl would seek to accomplish emotional balance by insisting on a successful love life. In this mix of identity crises is the God factor, the church girl is not without God or a form of God, she's born again, speaks in tongue, committed and professes faith, however the activities listed above have nothing to do with the practical application of God and Gods word. Its possible to be tongue blabbing, spirit filled yet be broke and clueless about life. One common mistake we make is to equate activities with understanding of God. We often embrace the person of Jesus while we toss to the bin his principles; whereas the world embraces his principles and ignore his person. Principles are everything, the universe was governed by laws/principles and so is the spirit realm. There is no amount of prayer that can save you should you decide to drive your car recklessly. Similarly walking in the fullness of Gods divine purpose requires an in-depth understanding of his will. There are laws governing relationships and an abuse of such laws would break you. The decisions we make often determine where we end up. As a lady or man, the choices we make have a lot to do with our philosophies, our philosophies are shaped by the quality of information we are exposed to; Unfortunately the church girl is exposed to a mix of good, bad and ugly information about who she ought to be. The media and social system seem to define who she should be at the expense of who God made her and as usual the glossy definition from the social system seem more attractive hence she embellish here and there with a few scriptures and a lot of activities to make the new identity look godly but at the end of the day, its all white wash. So much christainies yet no substance, we approach life with the said white washed and bible coated identity demanding a divine encounter which my friend is certainly impossible. You cannot sow into flesh and expect to reap eternal life or any spiritual substance, we cannot keep making decisions or living life using the new found standards (Social shenanigan) yet we seek to put a demand on the spiritual for something that’s of worth. That completely contravenes the scriptures. The bible says deep calleth unto deep, the true reflection of our value system is revealed in the decisions that govern our daily existence. We seem to have lost the sense of accountability that hitherto distinguishes us as people of God. There’s a very subtle way that our sense of godliness is eroded without our knowing. The bible calls it little little foxes that spoil the vine; so the church girl falls here and there, she prays so hard yet falls so easily, her list of why and when are endless, its back and forth, year in year out, the race is endless, the feeling of emptiness is ever increasing and we beg to understand like Apostle Paul, who shall save her from this life of misery, a mix of fulfillment coated with glamour, full attendance of daily Christian activities yet the feeling of insecurity knows no end. In the pages of history are littered the stories of other church girls that should ordinarily serve as a guide to the upcoming stylish church girl but unfortunately, the benefit of the experiences of those gone ahead of her seem to elude her, its still a mystery that we can make the same mistakes over many generations without understanding the pattern. Let’s take for example the case of choice as it concerns the average love life of the church girl. Its proven that most of the godly ladies end up with men less than expected, it’s a common phenomenon to have our best hands beaten and battered by one broken arrow called a man, I call him broken arrow simply because in my view, everyman that sees the success of a lady as a threat to his manhood is a highly incompetent and dysfunctional man, even if he’s a Christian, in fact that makes him more of a broken arrow. A man is meant to be the arrow head of Gods project in the last days, however most men have resolved to pursue their own agenda in place of Gods divine plan. Such men end up seeing the strength of the woman as a threat and his best shot is to shut her down to enable him flourish. The question I asked is how did the church girl end up with such a looser, what went wrong? The answer is simple; in the words of one of my friends, who happen to be in bed with such a man, she said and I quote” being a man is not about TM shirts and trousers, being a man is about character” I’ll never forget those words, she said them after she had the ring on, it was already too late. A very intelligent and God seeking lady; she however made the decision regardless of all the obvious signs. Yes I said obvious signs cos most times the signs are there, we just choose to ignore them. Its easy to conceal a habit like inconsistent study of the bible but its impossible to conceal complete disregard for everything that God stands for, yet there’re so many church girls that justify their romance with the shadow of darkness while hoping to change him. Like my friend above, she saw the signs but felt he would change, anyway the rest is history, it would suffice you to note that she also said people don’t change, situation would always bring out who the are. I don’t know about that but I certainly know she seem to have more facts and truth once she made a mess of her life by hobnobbing with the wrong man. Decisions are life lines for personal fulfillment, our decisions reveal the quality of our values, it’s the true indicator of where you stand as a child of God. It’s so easy to speak all the “bless you” without actually taking a hold of the substance of the God we seek to lay claim to. When we make decisions using shallow indices, what we get is always a shallow return. It reminds me of Prophet Samuels attempt to choose one of David’s brothers as king but God stopped him saying man looks at the outward but God looks at the inside. Its so common that the elegant ones are the misfit, whereas the seemingly dejected ones are the chosen ones, its still a mystery for me, I am yet to fully understand why God choose to conceal the best in earthen vessels while the empty pots always wear the pretty looks. It’s a spiritual mystery, its something the church girl needs to really understand that the scars of battle are not in themselves a disadvantage, in fact the are an indication that character is forged in the furnace of affliction. God is in the business of concealing the best in the mended pots hoping we would unlock it by the act of faith. Finally to conclude I would share a story with you, a certain church girl met a young man who really like her, she had knowledge that the guy was all up in her business; anyway when I asked her reason for ignoring him she said I don’t like him, I asked why, she replied he’s got flat butt, I was shocked, she had looked at all attributes and qualities in this young man, everything was good except his butt ,anyway it took the application of wisdom to get her to see the emptiness of her assessment. My point is we really need to work on our indices, the battle within us is best revealed in the decisions we make. The dilemma of the church girl is that of indecision and misinterpretation of God and Gods ways. Beyond all the spiritual gymnastics, its pertinent to seek understanding of who we are becoming. Use the word of God as a yard stick for measuring the worth of your decisions. It’s a continuous process, we need to keep assessing ourselves to enable us reap the benefits of a relationship with God. The bible says be transformed by the renewing of your mind, it’s an ongoing process; we need to be refined daily. There is hope for the church girl just like there’s hope for the broken dysfunctional male man but it takes commitment, it takes making the right decisions, I say ‘baby steps make giant strides. I strongly believe that we have all we need to effectively achieve success in all areas. Gods grace is sufficient for us, especially at this time when our strength seem small. To be continued… Author:Igonoh Godwin/27th April 2012

Thou shall have no other god before Me... I have none.

What's up guys? How's life with you? Do you remember the ten commandments? I learnt them as a child! My dad use to make us read up the entire Ex 20, it was so long for me as a child but what's amazing is that I never forgot those scripture even as an adult. Thou shall have no other god before me is one of the commandments! It has being ringing in my head with a new twist. Now here's what I mean. Whenever you go into church and its time for worship or any activity that requires the congregation participating, I noticed that so many of us are often too heavy to move. We are like run down molue, I don't understand why moving our bodies seem hardest in church. Anyway, God had been speaking to me on the above issue. There's a point you get to in life and you'll have to declare your loyalty and follow through. Its something the men of our time knew a lot about, I mean check out Adolf Hitler, Idi Amin of Uganda, Mormma Gadafi of Libya, Nelson Mandela of South Africa, the list is endless, very bold men who took on their generation, many of them had selfish intentions, only few fought for a good cause; yet the fought to the death, suffered for what the believed, the moved so the world would move in their direction. I have never seen a people so obsessed by themselves or so uninformed about the person of their God like Christian, I know you'll say "its not true" but trust me, the way you move determines the knowledge/value you have of the God you serve. Worship and praise is never done in quiet, its not possible to be in your Molue mode and say you are worshipping. If really we say we serve a true God, why do we find it so hard to move and showcase our awe of him. Thou shall have no other god before me is a command and I say I have none, I make bold to say I have none and you can see this when I move. Can you say the same? What are we so obsessed about, what is in you that makes you too big of too classy to praise like a rascal, where do we draw the line between being civil and being grateful. If you believe God is all you've got, then act like you know. Let people in your office know that you are a son or daughter of the kingdom. Quit filling forms and writing Christian if you cannot showcase God in character. We are the custodian of the grace of God for the last days. We speak cause we believe. 1corth 1.18 says I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for its the power of God unto salvation. To lay claim to that scripture you'll have to do more than just showing up at meetings, you'll have to be actively involved. Infact to show you how much active praise and worship/participation means to God, the initial 3 commandments are worship based. Let's see them: 1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me 2.Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 3. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; Guys God says my glory will I share with no man. Its no joke when we refuse to worship, from the way God gave the commandments,I see that the soul purpose of man is to worship God. That's why we were created. Not to wear shoes and bags or drive Suv. We are the worship generation not the Prada or Gucci generation. Our first goal is worship. Praise is what I do. Worship is an art. Christians are people that act like Christ. If you are not bold enough to declare God, please start rehearsing in you room before your mirror, whatever you do please learn to move. I remember King David dancing his life out and his wife got upset he danced to the point of being naked. God punished her for querying David's devotion. God is interested in radical show off. I call it loosing your composure for God. Bring yourself to the lowest level to praise. Forget the hair, the shoes and bags, forget what they call you at work or how much you have at bank. God is Lord of all. Let everything that has breathe praise the Lord. Its my prayer that we would loosen up and praise like a rascal. Praise like you know who's the boss. Speak about him to someone as evangelism, just do something guys. Being docile is not good enough. We have grace for dominion. We are the arrow head of Gods agenda for the last days. Thou shall have no other god before me... Lord I have none. What about you? Igonoh Godwin 4/04/2012

The Science of God!

Good day to you! Let me go straight to the point by defining science as knowledge, as of facts or principles; knowledge gained by systematic study. This is a tricky one, cos I just flip the God of science to get the science of God. The objective is simple, to help you understand the systematic culture of a constantly dynamic yet consistent God. Now that just made it more complex hahahaha. Anyway let me explain. God is the only unchangeable changer, so we see that he changes everything but he's a constant, if he's a constant, then systematically he can be predicted as unpredictable. The term systematic is a core part of the definition of science, this is because science deals with a body of fact that when subjected to test by anyone, the result would be the same. Hence if we test the hypothesis that 1+1 is 2, its expected that the result would be 2 all over the world. Science insist there must be certainty in out come of event, simply put, science is predictable. Now I know we were told that God is not predictable,however for the purpose of understanding what God is about to do in this generation, we'll be subjection everything we heard about God in the past to test. If you say God is not predictable then God is limited. What do I mean? If God is everything, alpha and omega, first and last, omnipresent and omnipotent, then God is everything hence God is a predictable God. Predictability implies being able to say what the outcome would be. If we constantly cannot hold God down by limiting him by our concepts and definition, then he is predictable by never allowing you predict him. The issue here is God cannot be held down or limited by certain facts, that in itself is certain. If we agree its true then God is predictable by being unpredictable. Where am I going with this you may ask? There is a need to understand how God works, its a common thing to say God cannot be boxed in yet we say his ways are not our ways. If we agree he has ways then we can equally study his ways. God dealt with Abraham,Isaac , jacob, david, Daniel, mishack, Abednigo, Esther etc using faith. Faith is a constant factor in dealing with God. When you study the account of Joseph,you'll see that he had a dream and saw the sun,moon and stars bowing down to him, his family felt insulted based on their limited understanding of the implication of the dream. However neither Joseph's family nor Joseph could predict the process that would lead to the revealing or performance of the dream. In fact Joseph could not have imagined being a prime minister in Egypt cos that would be incomprehensible seeing that he was in cannan and obviously not of Egyptian origin. There are so many things that God says and our minds cannot conceive its possibility, in fact many of us would not write down the details of Johns revelation on the island of pathmos, that's because it doesn't make sense. How often God shows us what he's about to do but we ignore it cos it doesn't make sense. We are a generation of sense racking experts, we know logic and we celebrate degrees. From Bsc to MBA and PhD, either from Harvard or Yale, its all out there. So paying tithe won't make sense neither would the idea that one can die for all make sense. The question is who told you God is a "sensible" God, since when did God start swimming in your ocean of logic? Its so easy for us to use scriptures to justify everything hence we also seek to use Gods word to demand he play by our rules. Common guys, wake up HE is God. From his antecedents we read in the bible, we can systematically prove that he is above board. God has ways and once thing I find interesting is that his ways are not our ways. The bible says the human mind cannot understand the things of the spirit, that means quit analysis of God using your natural or canal mind. Everything God says is true. We might not be able to break it down but trust God cos his word is yea and amen. Remember the bible records that if the devil knew the outcome of the death of Jesus, he won't have followed through with the crucifixion. God is a master planner, in faith we follow him believing that he knows what he's doing. Its important for us as believer to understand the nature of God as a science of walking in ways completely different from ours. When we say God can never fail, we simply declare that cos its proven that God always come through for those that believe in him. I feel ashamed whenever I see the way I easily take the words of my bank manager to heart when he says we'll give you the loan when you apply,same goes for my motto Mechanic,then my laundry man, even the okada man seem to attract more faith than God cos we gladly sit on a bike to be ridden by a boy we don't know, we've never had fore knowledge of his bike training but we just jump on the bike and off he goes, we trust him that he won't fail, we believe the Okada man but we doubt God. What an insult. This is the magnitude of mess we are in. Faith is the cardinal point of walking with God. Faith means believing in what God says. How come you find it so hard to rest in what he says? When would you stop trying and start trusting? Is it possible that all you need is unlocked by faith in God? Can you trust and let God so God can systematically unveil his plan for you? The science of God is the systematic walk of faith. Its historically proven that none can deal with God except you believe. The life of faith is not limited to confessions, its a practical walk. Faith shows in your lifestyle just like fear shows when you panic. Guys, our God is in the business of showing up in every situation but on his own terms. Like the case of Lazarus,Jesus knew he was sick but God had a plan. The seeming inability of Jesus to show up while Lazarus was ill did not negate the certainty of what God was going to do. Not even death could stall the certain resurrection of Lazarus via the hand of Jesus. By implication God is never limited by death or time. Our God is Omnipotent, no situation is beyond him. The science of man entails the ideologies of man, it is process based, similarly the science of God has its own processes, faith is a constant in understanding the science of God. Logic is the constant in human science, the problem begins when we try to use the logic of human science to demand interpretation of the science of God. It won't work. The bible says be transformed by the renewing of your mind. We need to be washed by the word of God,for faith comes by hearing of Gods word. I pray that grace would abound, I call it the grace to know. May God reveal himself in ways you can understand. Above all, may you receive understanding that God is not a man that he would lie. If you can trust your okada man, imagine what would happen of you put that same faith in Jesus. God bless you. Igonoh Godwin 24/04/12

The Aroma of Sin. (Understanding the road to a fall)

Hello guys!How's life with you? Its a new day and its April 1st, in fact the beginning of another quarter in 2012. I'm excited, not because of what I achieved in the past but because I have another opportunity to start and finish strong. I want to share few thoughts on certain issue, I call it the Aroma of sin, its actually aimed at helping you understand the reason for your last fall and hopefully assist you avoid the next one. If you've been to a bakery before, you'll notice the strong aroma of bread even from a mile away. Its so easy to tell what's cooking; if something is really cooking. Aroma is a product of heat effect on any substance. Put a piece of meat on the grill and you can be sure to draw attention in few minutes. The case of sin and the believer is a case we must openly discuss if we are to achieve relative sucess in our walk with God. There are habits that seem impossible to put away. We pray so hard yet we fall so easily. To fully understand this point, let's take premarital sex as an example. Its a common issue amongst young adults to struggle with sin of fornication. Its even worse when the church find it difficult to openly discuss our shortcoming in this areas even when its said to be the black-est sin around...if you know what I mean. Fonication or sex sin is a torn in the flesh, its the young man or young lady's greatest undoing. If you study the fall of every Christian in this area, you'll identify similar pattern. Many times we start out acting like it can NEVER happen to us and bla bla bla. I assure you that you may be victims sooner or later;(except we do the right thing) because we seek to negate the word of God that says "He that thinketh he stand should be careful less he fall." I have come to understand the scenario the precedes a fall to be one that must be dissected and exposed to enable us live above the fall and avoid subsequent falls. Christians are human hence flesh and blood. There's nothing like "it can never happen". The human body is a very vulnerable piece of art. If you try to under rate the power of inordinate affection/attraction between male and female then you might as well kiss your faith good bye. The bible says be not deceived, God cannot be mocked, what a man sows that he shall reap. If you sow into flesh you reap corruption,if you sow into the Spirit you reap life eternal. Many times we expose ourselves to dangerous encounters while acting like we have it all under control. Investing valuable time and resources into processes that would facilitate a fall yet dining the possibility of falling is tantamount to self deceit. The bible also says that who is he that would embrace fire and won't get burnt? We cannot keep entertaining the same people, environment or lifestyle that brings us to our knees yet claim God is in control. As a child of God, its expected that we would learn from past mistakes, there are certain people or events that you are vulnerable to, its the fact. Considering your weak position with God,(in that you are young) its important you guard your heart with all diligence and in the case of fonication or sex sin, its flee away from all appearances of evil. If you look at the last time you fell in the arms of lust, you'll identify certain elements: depression,insecurity and loneliness. Let me explain; for the young adult that feels left out in the fashionable game of our generation,in pursuit of fame and sucess, its so common to seek recognition and that is a sign of depression,insecurity or loneliness. I call it the big DIL. Big DIL (Depression,Insecurity and Loneliness) is a tool in the hands of the devil. Once you are tricked into believing nobody likes me, nobody cares and nobody see's me. You are about to fall. The ME factor always seem to precede self obsession of most young people which eventually leads to a fall. We can call the ME factor self centered-ness. Self is a seed that when fully formed reveals a tree called pride within you. The bible says pride goeth before a fall. Remember also that to be canally minded is death. For a better understanding, you should read the account of Lucifer. Before his fall;Lucifer was son of morning. He was the anointed cherub yet his heart was lifted up in awe of himself at the expense of God Almighty. Don't forget the bible records that God shares his glory with no one. The moment you become self obsessed with the idea that "ME" needs to be financed, then you are toast for sin. There's a direct correlation between self,pride,depression,insecurity, loneliness and all types of addictions. We cannot keep playing to the gallery on matters of sin and claim that God is in control. You are expected to work out your salvation with fear and trembling;that implies diligence. Be sober and be vigilant for the enemy runs around like a roaring lion seeking whom to devour. Diligence and vigilance helps you seek out the schemes used by the devil to bring you down. The Aroma of sin can be perceived by application of scriptures and constant practice of diligence and vigilance. Its the same old tricks guys, just different location and scenarios. The purpose has not changed. To steal,kill and to destroy. Understanding warfare requires walking in the spirit. The bible says for we wrestle not against flesh and blood.... But that does not mean that flesh and blood cannot serve as weapons used by principality and powers to frustrate you on the battle field. Friends, we need to rise up, sin is not a thing we dine and wine with. This is a call to order, you are Gods heritage, Gods workmanship. Yes you, I mean you reading this article, God is counting on you. The church of God is waiting for you to live an exemplary life so others can follow. Quit getting into bed with the enemy all in the name of liberty. Break that addiction, from sex to alcohol,from beating your wife to chronic telling of lies,begin to invest in fighting that habit,there is sufficient grace to overcome all weaknesses;you have grace to overcome the sins that easily besets you. I am confident in one thing that he who began a good work in us is able to complete it. That's the truth but that entails taking responsibility, sin dwelleth at your door step but God says you should have dominion. Check yourself, prune your friends and associates that seem to entice you into situations that get you compromised. Be yea unequally yoked with un believers;its still true that evil communication and association corrupts good manners. We need to end some relationships and start more productive ones. If after an hour with any friend and you feel empty then its time to let him or her go. Iron should sharpen iron. Friends are the window through which our lives are either refined or consumed. I pray that God would enable us to identify grey areas of our lives and deal decisively to prevent another fall. Now that's the benefit of understanding the Aroma of Sin. Igonoh Godwin. 1/04/2012

TRIBALISM...you're your own delay.

Hello guys! How's life with you? Its good to know you're pushing hard to fulfil destiny. I want to briefly pen down few words dropped in my spirit regarding an issue that's secretly undermining our opportunities. its the issue of tribalism. To properly dissect and expose the probable benefits and obvious disadvantages of tribe/tribalism as a hindrance to the overall performance of the purpose of God in a believers life, I'll use the current structure of the "this present house" family popularly called the tribe to further drive home the positive benefits of tribe yet pointing out the disadvantage of tribalism which is misrepresented of tribe like we see nowadays. This present house has what is called the tribe. Its the sum of expression of the vision of a governing church; that's my definition and its based on my understanding of what Pastor Tony Rapu once shared. The tribe is broken down into many expressions, namely: this present house(TPH), God bless Nigeria Church (GBN), the water brook church (TWB), the underground Church(TUC) and Freedom Foundation. I want to believe there are other expressions of the tribe but let's keep it at 5 for the purpose of this piece. The tribe as listed above is an expression of a vision, each expression differs but the literally have the same objective. I believe that objective is to articulate the purpose of God for man by building a whole man that lives to exemplify the will of God on earth which is dominion and worship. Now that's my definition, more like I just para phrased it. Hahaha. Anyway so the governing church has clean upwardly mobile people yet we have the area boys and prostitutes of GBN, we also have the young at heart from TWB and the seemingly rebellious teenagers seeking expression under the Underground church. All are part of the tribe, none is better than the other. Everyone is unique, the inter relate and feed from the same grace that's indicative of the call on Pastor Tony Rapu's life. We would miss the point of the tribe once we begin to compare using shallow parameters like who dresses best and who's service is more tight. The bible says we are not of them that compare amongst themselves for such people are not wise. Now back to tribalism. In the dispensation of grace, the bible says hence forth know we no man after the flesh, I believe that scripture meant we no longer relate or seek to define people based on human or worldly parameters. Tribalism is a thing that from my survey hinders most, the performance of Gods will in our lives after sin. Tribalism makes you short change your opportunities for bais/sentiments. Its so common to see Christians confess the purpose of God yet reject the opportunity of God (obviously unknowingly)simply because its coming from seemingly unfamiliar terrain. Nigeria is a muilt lingual country, with over 250 ethnic groups, we sure have our diversifies but in God we are united as one body. Most young people were raised by parents that sold opinion based on certain events the encountered, some are true but often limited to the persons they met. Using events in few people's lives to justify your tribal bias is tantamount to cutting your nose to smite your face. A very popular example is the notion that igbos are money slaves, a child raised with this notion sees every dealing with an igbo as something to be careful with as its believed an igbo would go for your money. Same goes for the notion that Hausa people like killing people so even when you meet a sincere peace loving Hausa man, you think he has a sword and he's going to kill you now; this is the same idea the fuels the believe that most men want to take a lady's money hence ladies in an attempt to be careful become ridiculously bias about every man they meet. No tribe is left out, I once heard my granny talk about tribe, so I decided to ask about every tribe and she had a bad report of every one, when she was done, I asked what about igalas, she goes; well we have our own issues but really we're not that bad. Hahahaha. I was amazed. The issue here is my granny only sees the good in her tribe while every other person is bad. My granny is about 80 years, I expect little from her but what's more shameful is when a young upwardly mobile person thinks like my granny. Its more embarrassing when a said born again Christian thinks and act on my granny's opinion. Let me also say that its not completely wrong to identify certain traits with certain people and that I would explain. Its true that Igbos are more business inclined than any tribe in Nigeria hence the possibility of disagreements based on failed deals would involve more Igbos. Its also true that Yoruba ladies and Benin ladies love the western life hence the travel more and naturally would want to associate with anything that enables them see the world but that's not good enough a reason to brandish the Igbos fraudsters or the Benin and Yoruba ladies an unsettled tribes. Prior to former President Olusegun Obasanjo's term in office, many Igbos bought land in Abuja FCT, infact it was said that about 50 percent of land in FCT belongs to igbos; so its expected that when Elrufai demolished houses, more igbos would be affected because more igbos bought land in places the should not have bought. We cannot say Elrufai picked on Igbos. Similarly who gets robbed at night the most in Nigeria? the igbos, that's because the travel more than the Yoruba or Hausa people; does that mean the god of armed robbery is against the Igbos? Answer is No. When the bible says hence forth know we no man after the flesh it meant we are delivered from human assessments. You cannot define people by tribes. God can use any and every one to reach out to you. Walking through life based on your defined tribal parameters is tantamount to restricting your opportunities to what's obtainable in that tribe. The earth is the lord and its fullness thereof. If your parents raised you with negative words about which tribe is good or bad; thereby making your tribally bias,its your duty to begin to deprogram yourself using Gods word. The bible says be transformed by the renewing of your mind. When something goes wrong either in a relationship or in business, its the person involved that should be analysed not his or her tribe. Relationships succeed or fail based on character not tribe. If your walk in the spirit, God says you would not gratify the deeds of the flesh, it means remaining in the law of the spirit is the security against falling into sin. Friends tribalism is a killer when it aims to demonize rather than showcase the dynamics of who we are. Dating or marrying based in tribal bias is not a guarantee to a successful home neither does it make understanding each other better. If you are disfuctional and broken, you would reflect that either with a Yoruba lady or Hausa damsel. Character is the security of relationships, communication is the life of a relationship and when I say communication; be careful not to think its just words cos you could speak igala but lack the rhythm needed to understand me. God is in the business of working wonders, he might send your tribes man or lady but he sure won't be restricted to your wishy washy definition of what's acceptable. Many of us loose our opportunities to either date or do business simply because he or she is not from our tribe. I am an Igala man, I respect and acknowledge that but if you think being igala is enough to get funding for a project then think again, the banks don't care where you from, the principles governing financing are not tribal,the are globally tested lending criteria; so why do we seek to justify events based on tribe when we acknowledge that doing business or making money has nothing to do with tribe. In closing, Jesus was told his father and mother are here looking for him, he said this people are my father and mother. Jesus was able to raise the bar beyond human definitions of what's family. We are expected to be like Christ, we need to define acceptance of each other using higher laws. The law of the spirit of God. Doing otherwise is tantamount to delaying the performance of purpose in your life as a believer. God bless you. Igonoh Godwin.

The Benefits of Rejection

Rejection is a bitter thing when it comes from those we expect more from! A long time ago,a friend told me that the path to greatness is a lonely one,one thing he did not say was it would be littered with rejection. When we run to those we presume closest to us and the throw it back at us,it hurts pretty bad. There is nothing like it! Doing business in Nigeria is hard but doing business in a doubt stricken and mediocre minded society is harder. I have never seen a place littered with doubt like Nigeria yet I make bold to say:not even the church is left out. There is a philosophy I call agreeing in principle but completely objecting in practice. When people accept the letters of a contract without standing by the details,we say you are inconsistent. The nature of rejection in the church is wide spread. When Jesus said if you are rejected,don't be surprised cos I was rejected too,many of us would think it was restricted to preaching on the street. Anyway I assure you rejection is in every regard. When God ask you to do a thing,I noticed that the first trial is doubt and rejection by the people around you;if you don't believe ask Noah,Moses,Joseph, Jesus etc. There is a long list of persons rejected cos they seek to birth a vision. My friend,you are no exception. In fact what I learnt is that a time of rejection is a time for sober reflection,a time when you learn to trust God and him alone. Rejection makes you ask question that have no answer,you'll ask why lord? Why me? Why can't they see? Anyway if what you seek to do is unique and a revelation,then you can be sure that it takes a few to see what you see by divine revelation. The benefits of rejection are inherent in the character of doggedness formed in us afterwards. The bible says if you fail in the days of adversity then your strength is small. Rejection is a clear signal that you need ONLY GOD. Until people's yes and no means nothing to you,you are not ready to pursue a dream. My friend would say your waiting would weary your enemy. We have to get to a point where an inner voice assures us of the positivity of what we seek to achieve. What I have learnt doing business is that the voice of one can be the voice of God. Majority is a sign of mediocre. The cheapest option is almost never that best answer to birthing vision. There are no short cuts. Vision is birth in pain. Pain is a prerequisite for achieving the extra ordinary. You cannot birth a dream without character and character is forged in the furnace of affliction. Patience,tenacity,perseverance and faith determine the outcome of your pursuit. All this character traits are formed at the point of rejection or the dream dies with the dreamer. This is what I have discovered,that when you are rejected,dust your feet and MOVE! From business to love relationship,keep MOVING at the point of rejection. Forget who walked away so long as you know what you made of. Let heaven fall but stay focused. Life is a teacher. The people who left you would seek you when the time is right. The benefits of rejection are best understood when you understand that separation is the key to revelation. We cannot know beyond focus. Knowledge and understanding comes from a calmness of the soul which is best attained when you are striped off what you thought you had;hence rejection births your next level. We need to deal with rejection and master the sober moments that precedes rejection. Let the hurt go and receive the newness of reason. Seek that which can aid your fulfilment of vision cos your best is revealed in solitude. Have a happy comeback. Written by Igonoh Godwin. 24/10/11