GOD IS THE POTTER AND DESIGNER : NOTHING COMES EASY

 Let us speak on the subject "nothing good comes easy". Every good thing has a price. I will illustrate this with a story I heard. 

One day, some guys saw a beautiful tea cup and everyone commented that the tea cup was very beautiful. Suddenly the tea cup spoke. " I have not always been this beautiful. One day, the potter took me and started pushing me, pounding me, pressing me. I screamed and screamed that it was painful. I told him to let me go and be free, for I did not enjoy what he was doing. He shook his head and with a smile said, not yet. Suddenly, he put me on a wheel and started spinning me around. I was dazed and feeling dizzy. I told him to stop and that I was feeling nauseated.  I told him I wanted to throw up and he should stop. He smiled again, shook his head and said, not yet. I thought that was all. He again put me in an oven to heat up.  I felt like I was going to die. I had never seen or felt this kind of heat ever in my life. I was sure I will not make it. Just before giving up, the door opened and I was left to cool. I enjoyed this moment. I wished I would be left alone here but suddenly he took me and stared brushing me with a terrible paint that was choking me. The brush was painful and the paint smelt really bad. I wanted to throw up and I screamed to be left alone. At the top of my voice I was  screaming to be left alone. The potter again smiled and gently said, not yet. I thought this whole exercise was over; again, he tossed me into another oven to get heated up. The pains of the brush, the smell of the paint and again this heat all got to me. I was sure I was going to die. How can I come out of this alive. I was shouting and crying that I should be left alone. The potter smiled once more and with a gentle voice said, not yet"

"Just as I was to give up, the doors opened and the potter gently brought me out and put me on a stand to cool down. I enjoyed this, after passing through all that pounding, heating, brushing and painting, heating again, wow, I enjoyed this. The potter now brought a mirror and told me to look. I saw a very beautiful chinaware that was so lovely. I screamed,  this cannot be me. It is very beautiful."

"The potter smiled reassuringly and said, if I had left you at every stage of your screams and shouts,  you would have been one ugly clay and if I did not heat you up nicely, you would not have been this beautiful and would have cracked apart. Also, if I did not apply the brush and the paint nicely,  you would not last and would fall apart with every little pressure. Your patience to go through it all has brought out the beauty in you"

The story above summarizes my submission this week. Nothing good comes easy and that there is a price to pay for every growth and advancement. 

Have a great week.

Kingsley Odoh is a worship leader,  musician and entrepreneur. He is a member of New Dawn Baptist Church, Victoria Island, Lagos. Nigeria 

SMALL CAN BECOME GREAT - Samuel Babarinde

Small Can Become Great

A man can rise  from the lowest ebb to the highest and the zenith of his dream. One can move from the status of having  nothing to possessing abundance.This may seem to many like magical realism; However,  it is  the outcome of the grace of God through Jesus Christ. He (GOD) bestows grace upon his own. 

This is the true work of God and not sure realism. Every season of opportunity  is an example of the greatness of him that uses the foolish things of this world to showcase his glory in the life of true believer in Christ Jesus

 

Considering the saviour -Jesus Christ, he was born in a lowly manger. God shielded him from danger. He stayed in manger  because there was no room in the inn.  This didn't stop his greatness or cause his glory to go down. 

The process of transformation may be irksome and rough. We must stay strong and tough. A journey of a thousand miles starts with a step.And subsequently giant strides on the road map to greatness. Each person has the potential to excel.   

Little drops of water make a mighty ocean. A vivid expression of this saying is that of the mustard seed which grows to become a large tree. If we let the Master work in us, through us and walk with us; then, we will experience the fullness of the exponential effect of his blessings. 

Natural laws and agricultural expectation is that in every seed of a fruit, there is tendency of a mighty tree. God can do exceedingly more abundantly than we can think or imagine. 

There is greatness in everyone.

Samuel Babarinde : Regenerate believer and a passionate Christian in the things of the Kingdom. He is driven by corporate and professional excellence.

SPEAKING ON GENUINE DEMOCRACY

The challenge to all Nigerians is to choose leaders  who must they themselves must  be educated and be willing to promote  quality education. 

When leaders who are elected by crook or hook are themselves not well educated, the future of the country is better imagined than anticipated.  Education is a panacea for any group of people who will elect the right kind of people who will run a government for the good of the people. A person suffering from knowledge deficiency and deficit in skills  is  not fit for political leadership. Education is the solution 

VALENTINE :THE ORIGIN, ESSENCE AND SPIRITUAL IMPLICATIONS OF VALENTINE DAY:*

*THE ORIGIN, ESSENCE AND SPIRITUAL IMPLICATIONS OF VALENTINE DAY:*

During the third century, an oppressive Roman Emperor called Emperor Claudius II had made it a capital punishment (death) to worship and serve Christ.

He had decreed the Romans to serve and worship his gods, and deprived the young Roman soldiers of getting married.

But an elderly Christian had stood his ground for his faith and had insisted on serving Jesus Christ and preaching the love of God to the young soldiers.

This was considered treason against the government.

He was arrested, sentenced to death and jailed. In the last weeks of his life in the prison, the jailer (prison commander) who observed that he was very learned and possessed very good Christian character, brought his blind daughter to him to be giving her lessons.

He taught her about God and told her many Roman histories and stories from the Bible. He taught her the love of God. The blind girl got so used to the elderly Christian prisoner. On his last night he left a note for Julia, the blind girl, encouraging her to love God and serve Him. And in ending the note, he wrote: "From your Valentine".

His death sentence was carried out the next day, February 14, 270 A.D.

*The name of this martyr was Valentinus*, a man who died for standing for the Preaching of the Christ and teaching people about the love of God.

So, for his love for God, he was regarded as 'Saint'.

Archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb; an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine. During 496 AD, the Pope marked February 14 as celebration in honor of his martyrdom.

*February 14, is known as Valentine Day. But the essence of Valentine Day historically was a celebration in honor of the martyrdom of a devoted preacher, Valentinus, who stood on his faith in Christ against the devilish idolatry decrees of a Godless Emperor.*

*He preached Christ to the Roman soldiers and spread the love for God and humanity when it was a crime to do so. The day he was martyred was declared "Valentine Day". February 14, 270 AD.*

However, the devil has rewritten history today. All over the world, the history has successfully been erased and rewritten the way the devil wanted. The reason for the DAY has been blotted out from people's memory and a minor aspect of the whole story had been blown beyond proportion. The little card note Valentinus had left behind for Julia, her young beloved convert, whom she taught, preached to and prayed for, had ended with: "From Your Valentine".

*On February 14, in the year 270.AD, somebody died for Christ and is now in Heaven, but on February 14, 2017, several people will die spiritual death.*

The Destinies of several young men and girls will be aborted that day, because the devil had changed the reason for the Valentine Day celebrations. He had rubbed off living and dying for Christ and replaced it with living and dying on the bed of immorality.

That day, many young girls and ladies will give their virginity away for a gift of phones, ipads, bags, clothes, and even valueless gifts as little as chocolate, sweet, fried chickens and plates of pepper-soup and salad.

By the evening of this year Feb 14, demons of fornication and adultery will invade our streets and storm our night clubs and hotels to take register of those who are dying soon of STDs, including new candidates who are going to contact HIV and AIDS.

On Feb 14 this year, forces of evil are coming down on adulterated Valentine Day to possess people with the spirit of Rape and drug abuse. Imagine the amount of pregnancy preventive drugs and materials that shall be sold. Harlots will sell that day. There will be Christian backsliders that day....BECAUSE SOME GLORIOUS DESTINIES WILL BE ABORTED ON VALENTINE DAY.

*The story of Reuben, Genesis 35:21-22a:*

21. Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

22. And it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine; and Israel heard about it.

A strange spirit came upon Reuben, the first born of Jacob, and he went and slept with his father's young wife. Israel heard about it and said nothing. Nothing was heard about it again for many years, and we never heard that Reuben asked for forgiveness or repented or became sober about it and the matter died just like that. Really?

So many events came over it, nobody mentioned it again. He went with the rest of Jacob's children to Egypt; he saw the glories of Egypt. He was welcomed into the palace of Joseph and ate with him in the royal palace. He grew and had many children and everything was going fine for him till the day their father would say the last prayers for them and give them his final decree.

At the point of death, whatever he said was final for life.

He gathered them together for the final blessing and began to bless them all. But he began with Reuben, the first son, who was to be the heir who should carry the highest blessings among the children.

The record was opened to his long forgotten atrocity. He thought it had been swept under the carpet. He thought he was smart and he had had a simple fun. But his father opened his mouth for his final blessing and said:

● Gen. 49:3-4 (NKJV)

3. "Reuben, you are my firstborn,

My might and the beginning of my strength,

The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.

4. Unstable as water, you shall not excel,

Because you went up to your father's bed;

Then you defiled it—He went up to my couch.

Though he was the beginning of Jacob's strength, he was supposed to be an epitome of Excellency of dignity and power. He was to be naturally blessed and was born to be a man of natural dignity and power, but....HIS DESTINY WAS ABORTED the day he had "fun" with his father's young wife. So, his own verdict was: *"You shall not Excel"* from a man who was anointed to proclaim a final verdict on the Sons of Israel. Reuben was destined to be a royal dignified personality above his siblings, but for that single night of 'fun' with that woman.

Many people will have a lot of lustful funs on Feb 14, and wake up Feb 15 morning as normal, but the truth is: long after a very hot pressing iron had been disconnected from the power source; it would still be hot for a while, until it begins to grow cold. Some power cable would be disconnected from the power source of some people on Feb 14.

Some young men and women will place their entire life virtues and destinies in the hand of marine agents that night.

Feb 14 evening is a 'Night of Fun', when many men and ladies will slaughter their destinies on the bed of lustful pleasure. By Feb 15 morning it is done!

Destiny Auctioned to a young man or a lady whose future has been mortgaged to the devil.

If Joseph had had a fun with Potiphar's wife, he would never have got to the palace to see the type of Glory he saw. He escaped that trap which would have aborted his destiny on which so many lives in Egypt and Canaan land, including the lives of his generation unborn depended upon.

There is a great story in

 ●*Proverbs 7:6-27*. It is a sad story of a young man on his own "Valentine Night".

He had thought he wanted to have a fun that night, he had thought he wanted to enjoy himself, but crashed his future in a night of fun.

*●Proverbs 7:21-23*

21. With her enticing speech she caused him to yield,

With her flattering lips she seduced him.

22. Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter,

Or as a fool to the correction of the stocks,

23. Till an arrow struck his liver.

As a bird hastens to the snare,

He did not know it would cost his life.

I beg every child of God reading this post to send it to their loved ones especially all those whom they know have not known the true meaning of Valentine Day so that their destinies could be preserved for their glorious future.

Dear brethren, Please let's post this write up to our young ones to guide them in escaping the devil's traps on Valentine's Day and pray that the power of God will prevail against the desires of the devil.

May The Lord bless us as we preach the true meaning of the DAY

SAVING IS INVESTMENT

Just Drops!

Recently, when I was going to bed after using my bathroom, I started hearing sound of drops of water from the tap in slow successions, but since it was dropping into an empty bucket, I decided to let it be.

But, alas! When I woke up the next morning, around 5am, the bucket was almost full! I was surprised that just drops even in such slow successions could produce that much. I couldn't help it, 'Just drops?!' I questioned rhetorically.

But the following night, I made sure that the tap in my bathroom was locked completely and I checked the bucket and saw that it was empty, though wet. Then I went to sleep.

I guess you already know what I saw the next morning. The bucket was not wet as I had left it, but it was now dry!

Then I realized the importance of a drop and how much difference it can make in all ramifications of one's life compared to a dry tap.

Imagine letting the drops be for a year, I would be scooping with drums at the end of the year!

So, how about that drop of savings?

How about a drop of reading useful books today and every day?

How about that drop of a verse of the scripture today and every day?

How about that drop of prayer today and every day?

How about that drop of a soul won for Christ today and every day?

How about a drop of worship today and every day?

How about a drop of step towards your God-given dream today and every day?

How about a drop of giving into your heavenly account?

What virtue and discipline will you start today in little drops?

Never neglect the importance of a drop, for when the harvest time comes, you would have made a big difference. May God Bless Us! Have a wonderful day! Start something good even though small now please Jesus cares you are lifted

By Samuel Adesina Aworinde

HARD TRUTH FROM FOUNTAIN OF WISDOM : ENOCH ADEBOYE PERSPECTIVE

Angry Letter To The Nigerian Youth (4): Please Marry A Lazy Woman By Bayo Adeyinka

Dear Nigerian Youth,

Twice this week, God spoke to you but you were deaf. You missed the message totally. Not only did you miss the message, you put up the twin messengers on the cross and you are dealing them with the worst kind of blows. In your follow-the-herd mentality that has afflicted your generation, you have only succeeded in demonstrating your crass ignorance and the reason why you may never be taken seriously. Coincidentally, both messengers are old men but you mock them. You may have new clothes even more than the aged but you can never have rags like them. Their ragged experience is by far better than your new age wisdom.

The first messenger brought a series of messages. He gave some pieces of advice to a generation that is wise in its own sight. A harmless advice has now been turned over its head. How come this generation always end up making simple things complex? How come this generation always major on minors and minor on majors? Don't marry a lazy woman, he said. Don't marry a woman who cannot pray for one hour. Most of you are products of prayer but you come online to mock because it feels right to do so. Instead of lending your ears, you say the mouth of an elder is smelling. Just how did you think the elderly got their sunken eyes? It's because of what they have seen and experienced. As for you, you're like a dog destined to be lost and you're deaf to the whistle of the hunter.

You know what? Go ahead with your schemes. Marry a lazy woman. It is within your rights. Go for a couch potato. We are in the modern world. As long as she can apply good make-up, wear designer shoes and sun-glasses and update her status on Facebook while twerking regularly, that's all the qualifications she needs to get Mr Right. Who cares if she can do the dishes when there's a dish-washer? Who cares if she can make her own bed when she can hire a domestic help? Who cares if she can cook when Domino Pizza is still selling their franchise all over the nation? As for you modern lady, young men care more about how good you look than how well you cook! They will rather discuss your Peruvian and Malaysian weave-on than Italian cuisine. If they are hungry, they can go to their mothers- or help themselves. Whoever said the way to a man's heart is through his stomach has never met the 21st Century man.

And as for prayers, marry a lady that will take your problems to Agony Aunt. Taking them to the Lord in prayers is so old-school we don't even sing the song in church again. Your knees are so delicate you shouldn't even kneel down before God. Marry a woman who will rush to update your situation on Instagram instead of updating God instantly. Don't be bothered that she can't pray for one hour- as long as she can watch the whole series of Lekki Wives in one fell swoop, you're good to go. Prayer is so outdated. Making long prayers is so so outdated. What will she do when challenges of life come? So easy- she will twerk at them. The devil hates twerking and can't stand it. A family that twerks together stays together. Marry a woman who has tweeter handles but handles nothing else. We are trying to save your chicken from impending death but it's still hell bent on going to the refuse dump for its meal. What an elder sees while sitting, a young man can never see even if he stands. Bae, you can spend one hour applying concealer, mascara and lipstick on your face that you can't carry for twenty four hours but you can't spend one hour praying for a home that you hope to sustain as long as you live. In the voice of Lagbaja, "mo sorry fun gbogbo yin o, mo sorry fun gbogbo yin lo kokan".

Hey girl, marry a man that is jobless. Marry a man who can take off his shirt but can't take out the thrash. A perfectly toned man is better than a perfectly toned wallet. A man with six packs is better than a man with six figures. Romance is better than finance. Marry a man who has no ambition and has no clue about where he is going in life. Marry a man who lives on you and feeds off you. Marry a man whose only property is what is within his trousers. As you lay your bed, so you will lie on it. Silly working girl, hear me: love is blind but marriage is an eye-opener. Your eyes 'will soon clear'. No one tells a blind man that the market is over. If he cannot see, at least he is not deaf. Marriage is hard work, if you don't know. Too much of Kim Kardashian has robbed you of reality. Marriage is not Indian film.

You think the guy loves you when all he loves is your wallet. In the words of the elder who should know, "Even if he says he's a contractor, ask him to show you evidence of the contracts he has done because you may just be the contract". When you cry eventually, no one will be there to comfort you. I trust your fellow ladies: they will even laugh at your misfortune. You know women are the enemies of women. You will think you are trending but all they do is to help you trend your misfortune on social media. Is it any wonder your parents could hold a marriage together for 50 years but you can't even hold yourself together? The values they hold so dear have been devalued by you. Now, you're of no value.

By the way, what's your own issue with the dressing instruction a man gives to his employees? If I tell my staff I don't want tattoos, how come that is now your headache? He said his employees should not wear beards- how has that become your concern? Your joblessness is a major cause of worry.

And then there's the second 83-year old elder who was sent as a message of sorts to you. In my side of the country there is something called 'aroko'. Aroko is a form of communication which is usually non-verbal. The 83-year old man that you derided so much for being made the Chairman of a parastatal was a message sent to you. Instead of burying your heads in shame and covering yourselves in sack clothes and ashes, you are demonstrating the only thing you excel at doing- internet hooliganism. You should be worried that very few people in your generation have been found worthy of holding such a position on trust. The few times you have been given this kind of opportunity, you have proven to be worse than the geriatrics you complained about. Your generation inspires no confidence and engenders no trust. The stealing appetite of a man supposedly at the departure lounge is restrained while your own is uncontrolled. Generations before you stole in millions but you steal in billions. Generations before you kept stolen money in Swiss accounts but you keep yours in Panama. Your generation only knows how to wear t-shirts and carry placards. Your generation only knows how to hurl insults on Facebook. Your generation has no fresh ideas. The best of your generation is one Dino who may soon become your President. You laugh? While you're wasting your time using your scarce resources to buy internet data to fight over him, he's making himself relevant. Hardly does a day go by without a discussion about him. While you remain anonymous, he is always in the limelight.

Sit down and think. Stop in your tracks for a while and have a time of deep reflection. Consider these two messengers and their messages. Life does not discriminate. You need to face it fair and square. You have a lot of growing up to do. You are way behind in the scheme of things. Life has left you behind. There is a lot of catching up to do.

I'm afraid for you.

BEHOLD THE NEW C.A.N PRESIDENT

REV. DR. AYOKUNLE
PROFILE OF Samson Olasupo Ayokunle, new President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN

Samson Olasupo Ayokunle, a pastor, teacher and sociologist, was born in Oyo town in Oyo State Nigeria on January 25, 1957.
Mr. Ayokunle attended the Oniyanrin Baptist Central Day School, Iware Road, Oyo State, graduating in 1971. Six years later, he completed secondary education, earning a West African School Leaving Certificate, Ordinary Level.
Thirsty for more education,  the young Mr. Ayokunle studied further and obtained a  Higher School Certificate in1979/80.
He then proceeded to the University of Ibadan in 1980 where he enrolled for undergraduate studies in sociology. He graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor of Science degree.
Three years later, in 1986, he enrolled for a post graduate diploma in Education. He then went on to study for a Masters of divinity degree in Theology in 1992 at the Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary, Ogbomosho.
He got married on September 5, 1987 at Aatan Baptist Church, Oyo to his heartthrob, Deborah Olutoyin Abosede Ayokunle (Nee Adesipo) and the marriage is bless with wonderful children and a grand child.
Not done with acquiring degrees, Mr. Ayokunle went back to the University of Ibadan for another Masters degree, this time in Guidance and Counselling.
On graduation in 2000, he headed to Liverpool Hope University,  Liverpool,  England for a third Masters degree in Theology and Religious Studies in 2003.
On completion of that programme, he immediately commenced his PhD at the University of Liverpool in 2004,  earning a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) degree in Theology in 2008.
Work Experience
During his National Youth Service between 1983 and 1984, Mr. Ayokunle worked as a teacher at Ekan Community Secondary School, Kwala, Plateau State.
After youth service, he continued work as a teacher at Baptist Secondary Grammar School, Ago Are, Oyo State, between 1985 and 1987. He then left for Fasola Grammar School, near Oyo, in 1987 where he served for two years.
Mr. Ayokunle later spent three years (1989-1992) as a public administrator at the Federal Civil Service Commission.
In 1992, he followed his life calling: to work in God's vineyard. He was Pastor, Estate Baptist Church, Oyo State, between 1992 and 1995.
He was moderator, Ibadan East Baptist Association, from 2000 to 2003. He was equally the Treasurer  of Ibadan and Environs Ministers' Fellowship during the same period.
While studying in the United Kingdom, he was health care assistant and  support worker at various health institutions between 2003 and 2007. He was also co-pastor, Pentecost Baptist Church, Kensington, Liverpool, England within the same period.
While he was Pastor, Jubilee Life Baptist Church, Ibadan, he became President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention in 2011, a position he still holds.
He is also visitor to Bowen University, Iwo, Nigeria. The University is owned by the Nigerian Baptist Convention.
He was elected President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), on Tuesday, June 14, 2016.