Forgive me, I’m human!

Greetings from my lodgings in Earls Court, where I am holed up for a few days, trying to collect my thoughts, sleep uninterrupted (by my thoughts) for a few days, and just breathe air that isn’t disturbed by fuel scarcity, PHCN, or expensive data.

I went to church on Sunday, and guess who the Minister for the day was? Pastor Brian Houston! The man himself! No way! I was ecstatic! The title of his message is the title of this post (centered on temptation), and I hope it brings hope, light, and encouragement to you like it did for me!

James 1: 12-15 (and we read The Message version)

¹² Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.

^13-15 Don’t let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, “God is trying to trip me up.” God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one’s way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.

There is no shortage of ways we can or are tempted for the sole reason that we are human. For every temptation, there is a pain/pleasure route that presents as options and determines if we have pleasure or pain at the end.

1 John 2: 16

Hebrews 4:5

12 things about temptation

1. Temptation is a control freak and a manipulator. Romans 7: 18 – 20
2. Temptation targets our weaknesses and our most vulnerable seasons
3. Temptation reasons like a seasoned academic or an articulate debater. That’s why there will always be a ‘justification’ for sin. 2 Corinthians 3. Our thoughts lead to Imaginations, which lead to High things (or arguments in favor of the sin) which lead to it taking a Stronghold.
4. Temptation rationalizes the irrational and defends the indefensible
5. Temptation’s seduction is as masterful as its abandonment is stunning.
6. Temptation promises like a friend and disappoints like an enemy.
7. It is overwhelmingly self-indulgent and has no regard/thought for the people you love and respect
8. Temptation is a mocker – mocking God’s plans and desires for us
9. Temptation will inevitably come round for another round

• Temptation magnifies the immediate and clouds the permanent or the eternal.
• Temptation blinds you to wisdom and opens us up to folly. Proverbs chapters 1 through 9.

James 1:5

Here’s the thing though – we cannot beat temptation through fear but by the love of Christ. Understanding God’s love for us and His sacrifice on our behalf and living our lives to show Him our love is a great tool to triumph over temptations.

1 John 5:2

Temptations are rooted in our desires or passions but the truth is not all desires/passions are bad. So how about not killing them but repurposing/refocusing them? How about consciously focusing on God and things of God? There won’t be much room for anything else.

So, a few things

1. Don’t go there in your mind.
2. Don’t underestimate the power of our friends on us – sometimes we need to cut some people out of our lives because they help create a conducive environment for sin to thrive.

I was thoroughly blessed by that word, and it is my hope that this has encouraged you. Another thing during the service that touched me was the encouragement we got before we gave our offerings and I will attempt to share that with you.

The pastor read from Luke 15 (the story of the prodigal son) and talked through how sometimes it is our sacrifices in church that pave the way for others. So, the Prodigal Son had stuff to come back to because others continuously labored. So, when next you’re putting an offering in church, cleaning, or serving in some unit or the other, have it at the back of your mind that your service is preparing the way for someone else to come to Jesus.

 

Have a fabulous rest of the week (fuel, electricity scarcity notwithstanding)!

Light, love, and God’s many blessings!

*Written on the 10th of May.

Asu Ekiye was in church! And I miss her so much…

I was at House on the Rock The Refuge today the 31st of August, a few hours before the ’ember months’ broadcasts start flying around on Blackberry, Twitter, and Facebook. Miss me with that nonsense please. God bless you.

I digressed; church was many shades of amazing! To be honest, the only church that compares to HOTR for me is my home church, Hillsong. There’s something about the amount of care and preparation that goes into readying their services that makes it super exciting for me.

I was blessed by the testimonies, especially the lady whose sister God snatched from death, and the guy who now has two flexible, well-paying jobs. There was the single mom whose son has now come to Christ and is now in university and away from his rough friends, and yes, there was the guy who heard a word from Pastor Goodheart in 2001, ‘ran’ with it and has now received a mandate letter from the Federal Government to bring his 9-year-old dream to life! Exciting stuff, God is truly amazing!

And then Asu Ekiye took to the stage, and I couldn’t sit down! Yes! Yes! Yes! From the first song till his team left the stage, I was catapulted to several times in 2013 when my darling aunty Pat and I would play loud music on the days before she fell ill, and then days when she didn’t feel a lot of pain.

Sometimes, I would wake up to Yinka Ayefele, some other times it would be Kefee (of blessed memory), and then of course it would be Asu Ekiye blasting through the roof. How no one ever reported us for disturbance I don’t know, and you know how paper-thin walls can be in England.

It always annoyed me when she did that (because I have the craziest sleep patterns); she’d leave the music on (at its highest), and then open my door just so I’d hear her sing along to it. When I opened my eyes she’d say, “eye no go rotten” or “sleep no be death”. If I frowned, she’d say, “I just came to visit you o, you don’t know if I’m an angel”, and that would make me smile. I miss her to pieces.

And so when Asu Ekiye started to minister, I danced my heart out in honor of God, and in honor of my aunty. I flashed back to the times we’d play these Nigerian traditional tunes, and then I’d dance to show her the steps I’d put on during my traditional marriage (even when I wasn’t dating anyone). I remember asking to check if my bum was shaking or not. Lol!

I miss her. I miss her. Kai.

P:S – At this point I shut my moleskine and concentrated on the service. So I wouldn’t cry too much. 🙂

And @RobertMadu came to church! Hillsongs rocks!

First off, growing up I always felt like I only needed to attend only one service per Sunday. Growing up as a pastor’s child? Not too easy. According to my father’s gospel, every living soul in his house was supposed to leave the house in the same car for the first service, and return in the car after the last service. When we were younger, there’d be a snack between services but that disappeared sooner than I hoped!

So, by the time I could stay for just one service, I took it. I made it a point of duty to stay for just one. Even as a church worker, somehow I would get some unique satisfaction from being able to skip a service.

Didn’t have that problem while I was in Birmingham and serving in the choir and children’s ministry of RCCG CRA Perry Barr because we had just one service. And even though the service and all my work in church meant I would be in church for as much as 5 hours in a day, I didn’t mind! It wasn’t labeled, ‘two services’.

Anyway!! Today’s all about the first service of the year at my super fabulous church, Hillsongs London! Attended first late in 2012, and the thing I’ve done most since then? I keep going back, and each service is such a blessing I know I’ve found my home! Next step is joining a unit but before then, whip out your Bibles, and let’s run through my notes from Sunday!

Pastor Robert Madu (pronounced by everyone as ‘ma-doo’ even though his father is Nigerian) was in church, his first time ever in England, and is an incredible speaker. He taught on “The formula for a great year”, and I hope these notes bless you as much as they blessed me!

He started by talking a bit about the power of the intro, referencing social scientists who talk about Estimated Relationship Potential (ERP). ERP dictates that the first five minutes determine if your audience will lean in and follow your conversation, or become distracted. How do you introduce yourself? Do you smile? Do you invite people by the way you speak, or do you chase them away?

Matthew 6:31-34

John 16:33

Genesis 1:14. How we begin things matter, not just how we end them. Martin Luther King said “he who starts late in a race must run faster to overtake or forever remain behind.

We fail at our resolutions year in year out because we run them on willpower.What we need, is real power, the same thing God used to create everything we see today. We need, ‘Word Power’.

When we’re in places where nothing seems to be working, it’s not the time to complain, but the time to praise God onto the scene because He is the only one who can make something from nothing! For His glory!

We need to come to a point where we implicitly believe that everything God has said concerning us must come to pass.

Genesis 1:3-5 = God said let there be light, and there was light.

Genesis 1:16-19 = Three days after he created the sun, moon, and stars. Have you wondered what had been shining for three days though?

Genesis 1:14b = So why did God bother with making the sun, moon, et al? Because He wanted us to see signs of seasons, days, and years.

The formula for success this year is trusting God regardless of the season I’m in. Living beings have seasons, we all have days in our years, but the constant is God, and ‘His Word’. Everything else changes.

Old people want to be young, young people want to be old, but the art of living life well is to trust God through and through.

I put this up on Facebook a couple days ago… The seasons will not dictate my faith!

Everyday is a gift from God; what I do with that day is my gift back to Him. And I am determined that I will spoil my God with a wonderful gift every day of this year!

P:S – I love my church! And I’m mega grateful for Pastor Madu!