On your Mom's Passing (Poem A friend wrote for moi)

When every memory of her is a shackle
and the bitter sweet of Love is strong
and your laughter becomes a noose,
from which your pain is hung,
when every new day you awaken,
only to welcome a deeper mourn,
condemning the hope
nuzzling the nerve endings 
to your broken heart
as wrong,
remember she danced the crook of your smile,
spoke you in dreams the day you were born,
remember her labor, how she taught you ways 
to create new joy from scorn.  

Remember her voice. 

Let it now urge you on more resolutely than before,
rouse you to the depths of Love's potential,
ever closer to your inner core.
For although it may be true 
that no sorrow exists quite like the passing of Love,
no goodbye quite so brief,
yet no occasion quite so extreme as death 
may hold the seed of your dreams.
And it is precisely when it seems impossible,
that you must embrace continued growth;
for it is in the darkest hour of our darkest nights
that our Lights must truly show;
even in grief, our grim universes reap
the seeds our spirits sow.
Your heart is a metronome,
so use your mother's Love as the beat that keeps it going.  

And even through the tears, you smile,
knowing her Love won't always roar,
and as the years fold atop one another 
she may not come each time you call,
but with every ephemeral flake of snow,
in every sharpened blade of grass,
through every autumn leaf that falls,
her Love will whisper you of the past.
In every word, you'll remember a smile,
every prayer'll harbor a vow,
and in a moment of disagreeable anger,
her kiss will smooth your brow.
For your mother awaits you in the beyond,
she went forth to pave your path,
so that when your responsibility to your Loved ones
had been seen through to its last
you would behold her gentleness once again
upon Heaven's hallowed ground.
She merely merged into a breath of God,
Who speaks her softly to the wind,
that she may lead your soul home once again
to His great Kingdom within.  

So when every memory of her is a shackle
and the bitter taste of Love is strong
and your laughter has become a noose,
a hook, from which your pain is hung,
remember that she expects from you 
a demonstration that she always taught you well.
Remember she Loved you, that you may Love yourself
and in your life excel.
When every new day you awaken,
only to welcome a deeper mourn,
prey on your every inhibition; 
she saw you as more than just a man.
Love has always rested on your temple, 
where God's been perfecting His plan.
And whether or not you believe in Him,
He will always believe in you,
so if you call on all your strength of Love... 
the Eyes of the Great Beholder...
will always see you through. 

 Amen.

The Archilles Heel of our Nation

For half a decade, terrorism has been the topic of the day in our dear country Nigeria. Once the Giants of Africa, Nigeria has a wide array of resources but the parsimony and mismanagement of the government has made it seem otherwise. 
Even with the administration in office making claims of curbing the noxious situation caused by the violence, Nigerians still live in fear with the doors of exploration shot closed. In an attempt to deal with the situation, many inhabitants have turned to faith believing that with God, all things are possible. YES! Indeed all things are possible with God but I must say that in other to see the impossible hit our nation, the church needs to reexamine its course.
Pastors with the support of many Nigerians, spend nights doing crusades where prayers, fire and brimstone are being called down from heaven to consume corrupt government officials or anyone that opposes their so called destinies or ministry.
Catchy quotes like “attack is the best form of defence are used to enforce the pre-cross way of resolving issues. People go as far as believing that killing or inflicting pain on their parents through "warfare" prayer is what they need to do in other for a breakthrough to happen. Suffer not a witch to live is what we hear when the Nigerian church is trying to protect each other by killing alleged witches. This is absolute bonkers! In a country where diabolism is prominent, it is very easy for the elite to be swayed into believing unbiblical doctrines.
A pastor shared a “testimony” once of how a boy who sold bole(fish and plantain) disrespected him and an indignation rose within him which led to the pastor cursing the boy. He retuned to the bole shop a year after and he was told that the boy developed a rare mental condition and is running naked on the streets. I was in total disbelief. My mind wandered around to uncover what the testimony in this story really was. 
In the bible, Elijah called down fire to destroy people and even his helper Elisha also called judgment which came in form of bears mauling boys that mocked him. In the same bible, Jesus was walking with his disciples heading for Jerusalem and was not welcomed by the people. His disciples(James and John) then asked Him, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them" but Jesus turned and rebuked them saying "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them" (Luke 9:54-56). Reading the Old Testament without the eyeglasses of Jesus is futile. The entire bible needs to be seen from Jesus’s perspective.
Now note that the disciples asked Jesus what action he required of them to take and Jesus responded with Love. They had the authority to rain down fire from heaven but they did not understand what Jesus was all about. The disciples were familiar to the prophets and their practice of calling forth the judgment of God on people. 

Our generation today is crying out for judgment on people but Jesus is presenting Mercy on the table. What is Jesus saying in a situation where you find out that your Grand mother is responsible for your wife’s unfruitfulness? What is Jesus saying when you have been cheated by a close family member? Its simple, The Gospel is the remedy. Christ is not in us to destroy people but to save people despite their actions. When an individual is equipped with the right paradigm, you see every situation already solved. 
In conclusion, the church needs to stop killing people loved by God. Jesus doesn’t just love the church he loves the World. We need to intentionally choose to see the good in people. Nigeria is great-Nigeria is gigantic and there is room for the greatness of God to be showcased. I may grow old and not see what I envision but one thing I know is that God is a generational God and when he starts something, He finishes it perfectly. As the real Gospel is rising in Nigeria, let us rise and obey our calls because the best is yet to come. God bless our Land.

HIS FORGIVENESS, HIS LOVE

The forgiveness and Unconditional Love of the Father

These two subjects I believe are one of the many most misconceived ideas in today’s World. According to the Webster dictionary, Forgiveness refers to the act of giving up resentment or to grant relief from payment.

First of all, we have to understand that Forgiveness is more than a theology but is a significant nature of God. On the other hand, Unconditional love is Loving an individual without being swayed to cease loving due to the persons actions (good or bad). When the Father loves, he loves all the way and nothing that we do can jiggle the love of God towards the world.

God demonstrated His love towards us, in that when we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Do you know that because of Jesus, asking God and pleading for forgiveness is illegal? YES, it is! In the new covenant, you ask God for forgiveness because you are already forgiven. God is not waiting to smack you on the head because you forgot to ask him to forgive you of something you did. We are perfect in Christ but God is not surprised by our imperfect actions. Do you think God was surprised when Paul denied Jesus? Do you think God was surprised when Sampson failed? We are clinging too much on the revelation of our daddies and now is the time to let go of it and allow God to dismantle our theological shelves full of the ministry of death – The Law. God is not looking for humble sinners that acknowledge their sin but He is looking for Righteous men that acknowledge Jesus. Your sinful nature was crucified on the cross. Most people conclude that living in Grace is having a license to sin. Well, there is a lot of people out there today doing bad stuff that need no license. Grace is a solution – Grace is a Person. Grace is an embodiment of Heaven brought to us by one man, Jesus. If you want to enjoy Christianity, then you need to know the extent to which you are forgiven.

God himself said that He no longer holds sin against us – As far as the east is from the west, so far as he removed our transgression from us. Colossians talks about how in him we were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Our whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ.

We are His beloved and He finds no fault in us just as Pilate found no fault in Jesus. It’s not by our doing but it’s by the doing of Jesus. We stand perfect before the father and the whole of heaven screams in love at humanity saying “YOU ARE FORGIVEN FOREVER”. God’s Love is UNCONDITIONAL but the paradox is that the church has placed a lot of conditions on the Love of God. We complicate forgiveness that even God wonders how we even got about it. Beloved, one thing should stand out from this post and that is the fact that no matter what you do, Jesus delights in you and would never stop smiling at you, The Apple of His eyes.

“There is Truth outside your theological archive. Be open to God and embrace change”