'FOREVER' BY KARI JOBE

If there are words for Him, Then I don’t have them
You see my brain has not yet reached the point
Where it can form a thought
That could adequately describe the greatness of my God

And my lungs have not yet developed the ability to
Release a breath with enough agility to
Breathe out the greatness of His love

And my voice, you see my voice is so inhibited,
Restrained by human limits
That it’s hard to even sing the praise of….
You see if there words for Him, then I don’t have them

My God,
His Grace is Remarkable,
Mercies are Innumerable,
Strength is Impenetrable,
He is Honourable, Accountable, Favourable,
He is Unsearchable yet Knowable,
Indefinable yet Approachable,
Indescribable yet Personal,
He is beyond comprehension, further than imagination, constant through generations, king of every nation

But if there are words for Him, then I don’t have them
You see my words are few
And to try and capture the one true God using my vocabulary will never do,
But I use words as an expression, an expression of worship to a Saviour,
A Saviour who is both worthy and deserving of my praise, so I use words

My heart extols the Lord, Blesses his name forever,
He has won my heart, captured my mind and has bound them both together,
He has defeated me in my rebellion, conquered me in my sin,
He has welcomed me into His presence, completely invited me in,
He has made Himself the object of my sight.
Flooded me with Mercies in the morning, drowning me with Grace in the night
But if there are words for Him then I don’t have them

But what I do have is Good news, for my God knew that man-made words will never do,
For words are just tools
That we use to point to the truth,
So He sent His Son Jesus Christ as the Word, Living Proof,
He is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation, for by Him all things were created,
Giving nothingness formation and by His words He sustains by the power of His Name

For He is before all things
And over all things He reigns, Holy is His Name
So Praise Him for His Life
The way He persevered in strife,
The Humble Son of God becoming the Perfect Sacrifice,
Praise Him for His death

That He willingly stood in our place,
That He lovingly endured the grave,
That He bowed our enemy and on the third day rose in victory,


He is everything that was promised
Praise Him as the Risen King,
Lift your voice and sing,
For one day He will return for us and
We will finally be united with our Saviour for Eternity, Eternity

So it’s not just words that I proclaim
For my words quoted the Word
And The Word has a Name
Hope has a name
Joy has a name
Peace has a name
Love has a name and
That name is Jesus Christ
Praise His Name Forever

Credits to the Song 'Forever' by Kari Jobe

Lessons From an Election.

O Nigeria, My Nigeria.

When will you learn, when will you understand

When will you see, when will you hear

That there is Hope, that there is better

That there are men who can give us better than we have now.

That there is a better Nigeria, that there is a better nation

That we are all we have.

That we are first Nigerians before being called

Igbos, Hausas, Fulanis, Kanuris,Yorubas

That we are first men before our divisions

That we need to change how we think about ourselves

That Competence builds a nation

That equity and Justice builds a nation

That capacity building is the way

That every one of us especially our leaders should be held to the same standards

Our election results show that only few understand this.

Our elections show that only few can see this.

Our elections results show that we do not understand that a man should be judged by His performance and not His ethnic or religious divide.

Oh Nigeria, Let your eyes be opened

Let your ears hear,

Let the wind carry this news to the ears of every Nigerian.

Let the Few make this known in the ear of every Nigerian.

THE CHRISTIAN POLITICIAN

I often I'm lost between two worlds. Being part of the Church and being Nigerian. Because the church clearly points out the dirt in our politics and in our fallen world. The question then is what is our role? How can we change the world without being leaders?

We are the light of the world, the salt in the earth, we are the ‘Life’ of the world. So our thirst for things to be better wherever we find ourselves is what makes us Christians.We do know however, that we will never have the world that we want till Christ comes. But till He comes we have the responsibility to uphold righteousness, justice and equity.The church has often failed in this regard, till God intervenes again and again and shows us that we are only a shadow of the perfect world to come.

I’ll take my cue from Solomon, he said ‘The words of the Preacher, the son of David, King in Jerusalem’ some interpretations put it like this ‘I the Preacher, son of David, was King in Jerusalem’

In saying this He recognised that He was First and foremost a preacher, then the son of His Father and then King of Jerusalem.

How does this apply to us today? We Christians are First Preachers.

We Preach a Message, the Gospel.

The Gospel is the love of God for man. We preach Hope, Faith, Love. We preach Love, Joy, Peace, Long-suffering, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Meekness and Temperance. Our Gospel is that in the midst of a world with changing vanities, and that these virtues should and need to remain.

So to any Christian who preaches doom for the world, we are missing our message because the truth is this world will get better, Christ will reign in this world for 1000 years.

Our message is that God will however reign His wrath on those who will go against the principles of Christ that make the world a better place, Our message is that men should repent from their evil ways and turn to Righteousness, Justice and Equity. Our message is that we cannot rule ourselves that we need our creator to be able to make the world the better place we want and will find.

However, we must first become citizens of that world by becoming a people saved, sanctified and consecrated to Righteousness, Justice and Equity. A World with peace and Joy cannot have attitudes that are contrary to the teachings and dictates of Christ.

So our political stance is that we will not reward corruption, we will not pardon the enrichment of one to the detriment of many, that we will continue to work to make Nigeria and the world a better place, that we will work towards having a world where we can all be at peace, a world that Christ will inhabit.

Now, there are many who will not agree with our creed, who will take a stand against righteousness, peace, equity, justice and joy. Yes, there are many of them, who for their selfish interest will not believe our message, who will call our Christ a Fraud, who will say that there can be no better world, who will say it is not possible for a man to be perfect, holy and uphold all these things that I talk about, there are many who will say they are a part of us but will not chase after righteousness, holiness and purity, they are the ones we must convince and if they will not bulge, they will face the wrath of our God in the world to come because the world to come cannot have and will not have the injustices of this world.

So however, we try to fulfil this creed, by running for political offices or not. Our message remains simple.

That God is our creator and it is only in Him through Christ that we can have the world that every man wishes for. He makes us better men so that we can build and inhabit a better world.

No religion, no philosophy can offer this. This is what we call all men to. Our Hope.

DEEP AND SHALLOW MEN

Men, the creatures of logic and reason. Creatures whose code is honour and respect. Men, we have lived the world for many years and our desires remain the same. Men, not “pomo” men. Men to whom is given power on earth. What makes a man a man?

In my many short years in life, I have lived with men, sat down with men, dined with men, been friends with men and there are several kinds of men.

If you want to know a man, meet him at the place where he is with other men and see the words that pour out of Him, notice his expression to every comment, the way he smiles or frowns at them, in that place you would know if “He is a Man” or just a boy not ready to grow up.

There are men whose score is to get under the pants of a woman. The heads and tails of it for them is the virtue of a woman, they are always seeking the next score. Their pride is stored up in there, their pride rises and falls on this.

Then there are men whose pride is their success. The measure of them is how much money they are able to make, how much material they are able to acquire. Cars, bugattis, benz, bmws, houses, mansions, planes, lands and so on. Without any achievements to brag about they are quiet, solemn and sober.

Also there is the man who measures his pride by how many bottles of that alcohol bottle is he able to take into his bowels right there in the midst of the guys. The bottle is their life and their life is the bottle.

We also meet the men whose life worth rest on how much respect they are able to command, they pride themselves on the salutation of other men, so long as other men are in respect of them, their ego rises.

However, there is that man which is difficult to find today. The deep man, the man whose pride rest on the things that cannot be quantified. His allegiance goes to whatsoever is true, honest, just and of good report. His score is to find the one He will love forever and be always loyal too, His success is measured by how much he is able to enrich the lives of others around him, His success lays in the smile on the face of the kid on the street, His success is measured by how much of himself he can give not how much he gives, his prides does not lay at the drinking table, His life worth is not measured by the respect he gets from men but from the number of smiles He gathers from His creator. The deep man is not easily swayed or carried away by today’s pleasures.

He wakes up in the morning, prays to his creator to provide for him the things he needs to touch the lives of others. He goes out to work not because of what he can get for himself but because of what he can provide for the family, he drinks not to drown his sorrows but to share the joys of life with his friends, He loves his wife because it’s a vow he made to God, not only because of the pleasure she will give Him, His code is Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Goodness, Faithfulness, Meekness and Self-control. He is poured forth as a cup of wine for the blessing of all that come his way.

Shallow and deep men.

We all have one thing in common, we all want and need respect, achievement and pleasure. But what makes us different is the manner in which we seek to find them and in whose face we find satisfaction. God, Other men or Materials.

Deep men chose God. And you can only wonder why.

A letter to the Feminist

Dear Feminist,

A few years ago I heard you speak about how the world is so unfair to women and the need for more roles for women in the corporate world, you spoke of how women are used as foot-mats by men and how science shows that women are better managers than men.

I listened to you say that men are equal to women in the society and you even go on to insinuate that the women do more than the men in today's world because they are mothers and career women at the same time.

You spoke of how women are more faithful than men and often times in decision making have a better judgement. You spoke of how the present man’s world have failed us and how the women should be given the chance to fix what we the men have changed. You gave classic quotes like

What a man can do, a woman can do better.

Behind every successful man, there is a woman

A woman is the home builder.

And the likes.

I agree with lots of your words and for a fact, I have great regard for the leading women in today's world. However, I must point out some flaws in your statement.

1. The man is not equal to the woman.

2. A woman alone is not the home builder

3. Women do not need more roles in the corporate world and the men do not as well

4. like it or not it’s a man’s world (that’s just the male chauvinist in me talking)

If you believe in God or you’re an atheist, He created mankind male and female and called the woman a help to the man. If there was no need for the man he'll have created them female and female or vice versa.  But because, the man is different from the woman he created it so and made them think differently, react differently and speak differently. In the scheme of things therefore, we need each other.

An organisation with two leaders is usually soon to divide, that's why every organisation always needs a leader. Someone needs to be responsible for the family and I dear say it's the man based on biblical principles and several other reasons. I say this because he is stronger than the woman, he is the one who is called to die for his wife and children. He is what I call a servant leader.  Not the male chauvinist ruler leader presented by those on the other side. If he leads, he does so not out of a need to fill his ego, it's out of the sense that he wants to protect,serve,take care of and love you. So respect Him for that and you'll see just how much he will love you.

Statistics have shown that kids without a father figure are more prone to domestic violence and other criminal vices. He or she needs a father, a father that shows him that just because he is stronger doesn't mean he has to lord it over or bully whoever is weaker, a father that shows that to be head is to love and to provide for his own. He or she also needs a mother that will show that doing a lot of work in the house doesn't translate to being a slave, but that a king and a Queens role is to serve her subjects not the other way round.

Today's world places a lot of economic demands on families.  The man and woman have to work to keep it together.  However, if we are all out there working what happens to our children, how can we show them what it means to be a father and husband as well as wife and mother. We can't leave them to social media, TV and the likes. The world is not all economics and today, we seem to be growing in the economic front but are losing it at the social front.

We need to live balanced lives. A balanced life is one that sees the need for  the man and the woman to be at home. A balanced life is one that sees that being in charge gives me the responsibility to love more and being the woman gives me the responsibility of showing respect and submitting and does not make me any less of a being.

My dear feminist. We all need each other. And that's the message we need to pass across to our kids who someday will be in our shoes.

With the deepest love

Your Male Chauvinist. 

LOVE,FREEDOM AND DISCIPLINE

‘The love of Christ disciplines us………………………….’ (2 Corinthians 5:14)

‘Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not Love, I am Like an empty barrel………………………Love never fails……………………… and there are faith, hope and Love but the greatest of this is Love’ (1 Corinthians 13:1-13)

'Do not let your freedom become a stumbling block to those who are weak' (1 Corinthians 8:9)

'…………where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom' (2 Corinthians 3:17)

'As free and not using your freedom as an excuse to harm others' (1 Peter 2:16)

I'm drawing on the wisdom of age today. My Father reminded me today how the love we have for something or someone causes us to act in certain ways. An example is how the love of a man for his wife makes him do the things that pleases her, disciplines him to steer clear of others and gives him freedom with her.

Love, Freedom and discipline.

These three things are connected and often misconstrued.

Love is made to look like it is simply an emotion. It is also made to look like the preceding factor before sex, Love is painted as an action of only kindness. These are only a part of it.

Freedom is regarded as the power to do what we want rather than the power to do what we ought to. Freedom as preached by human rights activist today has become a form of slavery because the very humans become slaves to that which they are fighting for.

Discipline is seen in the light of a stern, frown-faced man who will crucify you for even a smile.

All of these are wrong notions of these three things.

As humans, we need love to treat other men like we ought to, freedom to be able to do the things we ought to and discipline to stay clear of the things we want to do but are not supposed to.

Love, Freedom and Discipline.

The only freedom and discipline that is worth a man’s while is that which is born out of Love.

Love in its purest form, not the love that is preached in the streets. Love that births the smallest acts of Kindness as shown in ‘ordinary people’ by Cobhams, Love that sacrifices, and Love that lifts a person up. A love for God in Christ.

That is the connection. Our love for something ought to make us free and prevent us from doing the things that will harm us or others.

Jesus said the summary of all the law is to Love God and Love your neighbour as yourself and the wisest man, Solomon said, the conclusion of everything is to love God and Keep His commandments.

I have to reiterate the fact that a discipline and freedom that comes out of Love for anything else other than God is Unbalanced and will lead to the harm of some part of us. We are created in the image of God and we are unable to love the way we ought to outside of God, without God what is left is our ability to destroy ourselves because we are unable to live a balanced life. A balanced life is one which prospers the body, soul and spirit of a man not leaving one at the expense of another. When we love like God wants us to, we love like Christ. He is the example of what it means to love.

Love, Discipline and Freedom.

Why is it that in churches today, we say that where the spirit of God is there is freedom and we forget that the Love of God should discipline us to do the things that we ought to which is to live righteous and holy lives.

Or why is it that human rights activist fight for the rights of every man while forgetting that there are certain rights that are not to be fought for?

The Love of God constrains us.

No man is whole without God. It is only in God through Christ that we are able to find the balance of Love, Freedom and Discipline.

In Christ, we find Love for God, we find the freedom to do the things that are good for ourselves and for the people around us and the discipline to steer of the things that we ought not to.

As we prepare for His coming, let’s pray for the grace to Love God and men, the freedom not to be slaves to any of our desires and the discipline to stay clear of the things that will destroy mankind.

The Love of Christ frees us and disciplines us. Love is the beginning and the ending of it all.

LEADERSHIP 101 FOR FOLLOWERS

Righteousness Exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people (Proverbs 14:34)

This is leadership 101, the first lesson of leadership that should be taught to leaders and followers alike, ‘everything rises and falls on leadership’.

I always base my discussions on the Bible, because there is no other book that sheds light on how man ought to walk like the Bible does, it indeed is true that it is ‘Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth’. The book itself says that ‘all scripture is written for our learning that we through it might have hope’.

Recently, I had a discussion about Nigeria about its plight with my Dad and a Friend of the Family, it shed so much light that I decided that every Nigerian should here this, if you can as you read this copy it and paste it till it can reach as many as it should.

Everything Rises and Falls on Leadership. Leadership is what can change a corrupt people to right ways.

We are approaching Elections and we are once again having to vote a leader for the next few years, some for the first time are asking for our votes, some for the second time are coming to ask for our votes. The answer to the question of who to vote is in one word ‘RIGHTEOUSNESS’. The success of nation hinges on righteousness, when righteousness prevails, the nation grows and when sin prevails, the nation continues in doom or dives towards doom. The rich get richer and the poor poorer no matter how much work they put in or how many ideas they create or invent.

Look at the great nations of the world, they were built on righteous principles. Their laws where built to protect the least of men, women and children in their societies.

At the moment in Nigeria, we’ve got a leader who rewards righteousness and criminality alike, anything goes with Him, He speaks pleasing words to everyone so long as they are in support of Himself, and please what else do you think He will offer in a second term. I voted President Jonathan in but now I must say, it’s time for Him to pack His bags and go because He has shown that He will not fight for what is righteous. Let Him go and if we get another who is less righteous, we throw Him out too. The people need to show the politicians that we need better leaders not the same recycled people since 1999 who have shown incompetence in times of democracy. A leader who can rule His own House and community by example. A leader who acts in the right, whether Muslim or Christian or traditionalist.

Someone said, that if Nigeria prospers the way it is now, He will stop going to church. Because if it does with the way it is now, we can say God is partial, unjust and a liar. Nigeria prospering in the evil tells evil people that they can continue in their evil. Without righteousness, the people suffer and the dividends of democracy will never get to the common man on the streets. Where is justice, is evil being punished?

In Bible days, the nation of Israel Prospered when their Kings where Righteous Kings and when they had a King who eschewed righteousness, the nation fell back into a state of doom and despair. Every Israelite speaks of the time of David with Delight because He is a King who pursued Righteousness.

Leadership built on righteous principles have been shown to work in Nigeria, the late Akinyuli turned NAFDAC around on this principle, Fashola changed the Face of Lagos on this principle, and all governors who have succeeded did so on righteous principles. But there is very little they can do when the 'oga at the top' is shady in his dealings.

Righteousness is Key, because a development brought to the people without it is sure to fail.

Righteousness Pays, So when next you are going to vote, look at that leader and ask yourself if He is righteous or not because His or her righteousness is what transfers to the people and makes an exalted nation that we can call our home.

And when next you are saying a prayer to God for Nigeria, Pray that God will exalt the Righteous People in this nation and that God will give us a Righteous Leader who will fight for what is good and right. Who will speak against what is wrong and do what is right.

Go out There, make your votes count.

God Bless Nigeria.