skull and bones

The fear of death

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We are living in strange times when the world is under siege by a viral pandemic. Naturally, people are afraid. However, I wonder if it is ‘natural’ for a follower of Christ to be afraid or perhaps, better put, if we are meant to respond like natural (mere) men. I understand being initially afraid when something scary suddenly happens but as we sit back and process the events, surely the truths that we have believed should cause faith to arise and fear to leave.

I realize that for some people, there is the fear of economic hardship following this pandemic but I think the greater fear pervading the entire world is the fear of death. For as many as have not acknowledged their sinful state and accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross as payment for their forgiveness and who therefore do not have eternal life, they sure do have a reason to fear death. For those who have eternal life, the question remains: Why are you afraid to die?

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images

Why so serious?

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This morning, a common phrase came to mind: “Don’t take life too seriously.”

I thought about it for a bit and found that I don’t agree with that statement. My conclusions after pondering over it a bit are as follows:

1. Take life seriously

Life is serious business indeed. We are constantly planting seeds in our thoughts, words, and actions that yield fruit that we have to consume, good or bad. We are constantly making choices and, as the cliché goes, our choices then make us. In other words, we have to face the consequences of our choices. Does any of this sound like fun and games to you? Read more →

worthy

Thou Art Worthy

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I found myself wondering during the Christmas season why we praise and worship God. This question arose because I have heard so, so many times at prayer meetings or during praise sessions the charge to praise/worship the Lord because of x, y and z He has done for us. Being the end of the year, there was the usual emphasis on having stayed alive and ‘made it’….for which God is worthy of our praise. This implies to me, then, that if God didn’t do x, y or z for me, He is not worthy to be praised. In fact, this conclusion is driven home by how so many have modified the original lyrics of Wale Adenuga’s song ‘Today o’. In the original song, the lyrics are: Read more →

baby in a manger

What kind of King?

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We live in an age when Christians have moved from one extreme of being looked at as nonentities and fanatics to the other extreme of behaving like celebrities. Some pastors move around with security and convoys, completely inaccessible to the flock they are to shepherd. For many, it is an abomination to do menial jobs and to serve (apart from within the four walls of the church and in the view of the pastor, of course). We have allowed one thing which our God hates to take us over – pride.

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self assessment

Self-assessment

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As another year begins to wind down, different folks approach the last few weeks and days differently. Some focus on the expectations they had at the start of the year and launch a feverish attempt to ‘wrestle’ the things yet to be actualized from God’s hands before December 31st (regardless of whether or not He actually promised them these things or whether or not He gave them a timeline for their actualization). Some enter into a season of thanksgiving, focusing instead on the things God has done for them in the course of the year. Yet still, some take stock of the year to assess what they achieved in the year with a view to charting the course for the coming year.

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3d king's throne, royal chair with golden crown on white background 3d illustration

Lord, Lord

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“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
(Acts 2:36 NIV)

God, our Father, draws us to Himself by introducing us to Jesus – the Way, the Truth and the Life. We are invited to two levels of relationship with Jesus – that with Him as our Saviour and then as our Lord.

We come to Him initially as our Saviour when we realize that we are sinners condemned to life both now and for eternity in enmity with a holy God who loves us and has made a way for us to be forgiven of our sins and made acceptable to Him. As sinners, we come to our Saviour, Jesus, to be saved both from the bondage to sin and from the effects of sin in our lives. Read more →

hope

Our hope

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Yesterday, I was reminded about the enormity of God’s love for us….for me.

As we sang and cried out, “Holy, holy”, I marvelled at how such a holy God who dwells in unapproachable light and who clothes Himself with light loves us so much that He did all He could to make it possible for us to come close to Him. What indescribable love!

That wasn’t enough, apparently. The Holy Spirit wanted to make it really sink in so an old song by Amy Grant was sung – ‘In a little while’. The chorus goes thus:

In a little while, we’ll be with the Father
Can’t you see Him smile?
In a little while we’ll be home forever
In a while
We’re just here to learn to love Him
We’ll be home in just a little while

“Can’t you see Him smile?”….. Read more →