TheNewsGuru

Tag: bible

  • IWD: Emulate women in the Bible – NLC President to Nigerian women

    IWD: Emulate women in the Bible – NLC President to Nigerian women

    Mr Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), has called on women across the country to emulate prominent women in the Bible who lived virtuous lives and adopt them as role models.

    Ajaero made this appeal at a programme organised by the Good Tidings Bible Church International (GTBCI) Women of Honour Community Spotlight to commemorate the 2025 International Women’s Day (IWD) on Saturday in Abuja.

    IWD, celebrated globally on March 8 annually, has the 2025 theme: “Accelerate Action”.

    He cited biblical figures such as Esther and Ruth as exemplary role models, urging women to follow their virtues.

    Ajaero also stated the role of women in the Aba Women’s Riot of 1929, adding that today’s women must leave a lasting impact, just as Mrs Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti did in the early 1960s.

    He pointed to organisations such as the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, which is predominantly led by women, emphasising the importance of women supporting each other to succeed.

    “Women today must emulate great women as their role models and support one another. They must organise themselves.

    “We must recognise them as competent enough to take on leadership roles,” Ajaero stressed.

    Mr Obinna Aguocha, a member of the House of Representatives for Ikwuano/Umuahia North and South in Abia State, also urged Nigeria’s leadership to give women more prominent roles in governance.

    According to him, women’s participation in governance is crucial, and IWD has given global recognition to this cause.

    He further called for an end to Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and stressed the need for a nationwide platform to spread awareness at the grassroots level.

    Mrs Moji Makanjuola, Executive Director and Founder of the International Society of Media in Public Health and Development, noted that women make up half of Nigeria’s population, and their voices must be heard.

    She noted that as mothers and caregivers, women are naturally inclined towards justice and bear the burden of domestic and care responsibilities.

    Makanjuola warned that excluding women from decision-making processes amounts to wasting half of the country’s human capital and resources.

    She stressed the need for women to influence society, pointing out that many women face injustice in the workplace, at home, and in their communities.

    “We have the right to vote in universal suffrage as women. Taking it further is the right to exert greater influence and make the world a better place.

    “We have borne the scars of wars, child marriages, militancy, and insurgencies, where, unfortunately, women have been collateral damage. It is time to put an end to this by having women take a stand.

    “Throughout history, women have been commoditised. It is time to stand against being used as bargaining chips,” she stated.

    Makanjuola also acknowledged influential female leaders across the world, including Indira Gandhi of India, Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, and Joyce Banda of Malawi.

    She stressed that Nigerian women must be given their rightful place in leadership and governance.

    She further outlined the role of religious organisations in promoting and advancing women’s empowerment.

    Dr Tophia Gupar, Chairperson of the event, stated that this was the first time Good Tidings Bible Church International was celebrating IWD at the church level.

    She explained that the event was organised to acknowledge the contributions of women in the church, including engineers, artisans, doctors, and politicians.

    Gupar added that a platform had been created within the church to enable women from various professions to come together and contribute to community development.

  • Catholic Priest flays Christians using phones to read Bible

    Catholic Priest flays Christians using phones to read Bible

    Rev. Fr. Anthony Okereke, the Catholic Priest in charge of St Thomas Aquinas Church, Okokomaiko, Lagos, has admonished faithful not to replace the Bible with smart devices that contain the scriptures.

    Okereke, known for his unabridged preaching of the good news, gave the advice at the Church’s youth Lenten retreat, held at the church on Monday.

    The theme of the one day retreat to reform people was, “Hearing and Heeding God’s Voice”.

    According to the priest, the Bible is one of the essential paraphernalia of the Christian worship and should be part of it always.

    Okereke, newly posted to the parish, frowned at the use of phones and other devices to read verses of the scriptures by people.

    “Your smart devices can’t take the position of the Bible in the Christian worship and lifestyle.

    “Clutching your Bible to Church portrays you in good light before others in the public as it gives you heaven identity in the public.

    “Reading the word of God from the Bible instead of your devices draws you closer to God and helps you to hear from Him.

    “The practice of having and reading from your Holy Book makes you distinct and compels one to doing what is in the book.

    “The Bible has a spiritual aura and fragrance that poses threats to evil spirits and persons thereby act as shield to the holder,” he said.

    He warned that if the trending tradition of using devices instead of the Holy Bible should be allowed, the Bible in years to come may go into extinction.

    “God forbid,” he said.

    The use of new technologies should be to advance mankind but not to be used  to discourage the worship of God.

    He advised that people should not allow this “satanic manipulation” to blur the solemnity of the holy book.

    The reading and preaching of the Gospel by people and pastors respectively from smart devices are gaining popularity in the contemporary times.

  • Morning devotion held at ATM stand amidst new currency scarcity

    Morning devotion held at ATM stand amidst new currency scarcity

    As Nigerians continue to react in various ways to the scarcity of naira notes across the country, a man has been seen, in a video making the rounds, holding a Bible and leading praise and worship at a bank’s Automated Teller Machine (ATM).

    Disgruntled Nigerians held their morning devotion in the queue while waiting for their turn at the ATM.

    Following the introduction of the new note and the former deadline imposed on the old one, a scarcity of the new currency has hit hard as banks witness a staggering number of customers waiting to withdraw.

    Nigerians have reacted in various ways to the scarcity, some ingenuous while others were downright violent.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) recalls that the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered a suspension of the deadline for the swapping of old to new Naira notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    The Supreme Court issued an interim injunction restraining the Federal Government from suspending the acceptance of the old Naira notes on the Friday February 10, 2023 deadline.

    Kaduna, Zamfara, and Kogi State on Monday instituted a suit against the Federal Government at the Supreme Court over the scarcity of old and new Naira notes due to the CBN naira redesign policy.

    The state governments said they are worried about the effects the CBN naira redesign policy is having on the residents of their states.

    Consequently, they are seeking a restraining order by the Supreme Court to compel the government and CBN from implementing the policy.

    The states filed an ex-parte motion through their lawyer, AbdulHakeem Uthman Mustapha (SAN), and are urging the Supreme Court to grant them an interim injunction stopping the Federal Government either by itself or acting through the CBN, the commercial banks or its agents from carrying out its plan of ending the timeframe within which the now older versions of the 200, 500 and 1000 denominations of the Naira may no longer be legal tender on February 10, 2023.

    “Unless this Honourable Court intervenes, the Government and people of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara State will continue to go through a lot of hardship and would ultimately suffer great loss as a result of the insufficient and unreasonable time within which the Federal Government is embarking on the ongoing currency redesign policy,” Mustapha said.

    Morning devotion held at ATM stand amidst new currency scarcity

    The states said there has been a shortage in the supply of the new naira notes in Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara States and that citizens who have dutifully deposited their old naira notes have increasingly found it difficult and sometimes next to impossible to access new naira notes to go about their daily activities.

    The states said the CBN policy is imposing a lot of hardship on Nigerians and insisted that the ten-day extension by the Federal Government is still insufficient to address the challenges of Nigerians swapping their old Naira notes for new ones.

    The case has been adjourned to Wednesday, February 15, 2023.

  • [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: Women in the Bible: Jael, the Silent Warrior

    [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: Women in the Bible: Jael, the Silent Warrior

    By Oke Chinye

    Read: Judges 4:17-23

    Meditation verse:

    “Then Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and  went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the  ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So, he died” (Judges 4:21).

    The children of Israel had sinned again against God, and He delivered them into  the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. He had nine hundred  chariots of iron, and for twenty years he had harshly oppressed the children of  Israel. When the children of Israel cried out to the Lord; He delivered them, and  all the army fell by the sword. But Sisera who was the commander of Jabin’s  army, fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite. And  she went out to meet him and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to  me; do not fear.” And when he had turned aside with her into the tent, she  covered him with a blanket and gave him milk to drink. Whilst he slept, she took  a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand and went softly to him and drove the  peg into his temple, and he died. 

    There are important life lessons to be gleaned from this story. Firstly, God can  use anyone for His purpose and location is not a barrier. Jael was not in the  battleground; she was in her home and the enemy of the children of Israel was  delivered right into her hands. Also, Jael was a wise, discerning, and well 

    informed woman, even though she was a stay-at-home mother. She knew that  Israel was at war. She knew that Sisera was a wanted man, was she saw him at  her doorstep, and she immediately decided her strategy. And when she saw  Barak the King, she knew who he was looking for and said, “come and I will show  you the man whom you seek”.  

    Lastly, do not be risk averse. And be willing to step out of your comfort zone. We  may sometimes need to take some risks to get what we want out of life. Ecclesiastes 11:1-4 says, “cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it  after many days. Give a serving to seven, and to eight, for you do not know what  evil will be on the earth. If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves  upon the earth; and if a tree falls to the south or the north, in the place where  the tree falls, there it shall lie. He who observes the wind will not sow, and he  who regards the clouds will not reap”.

     

    IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Pst (Mrs) Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

    For Prayers and Counseling email rockteachingministry@gmail.com

    or call +2348155525555

    For more enquiries, visit: www.rockteachingministry.org.

  • Buchi counters Daddy Freeze, says sex before marriage is sin

    Buchi counters Daddy Freeze, says sex before marriage is sin

    Solomon Buchi, a life coach expert has countered Daddy Freeze’s position on sex before marriage, noting that sex before marriage was tacitly and explicitly referred to as a sin in the Bible.

    Recall that, Daddy Freeze in a piece shared on his Instagram page, argued that the scripture never considered it sexual immorality for a couple who are betrothed to have sex before marriage. He used several verses in the bible to back up his claim.

    He made the claim in reaction to model Fancy Acholonu’s disclosure that her ex-fiance, actor Alex Ekubo, was never intimate with her for five years. According to Fancy, Alex hinged his decision not to have sex with her on the grounds of religious beliefs.

    In countering Daddy Freeze’s claim, Solomon Buchi argued on his Twitter page that Sex before marriage is a sin.

    His Tweets reads; “Dear Daddyfreeze, you made a post stating that sex before marriage isn’t a sin. My rejoinder: – Sex before marriage was tacitly and explicitly refered as a sin in the Bible. The first marriage in the scriptures was between Adam and Eve. Let’s critically look this.”

    “And Paul states in the preceding chapter that a man who sleeps with a whore is united and becomes one with her because “the two shall become one flesh.” Isn’t it clear? Sex before marriage is a sin. Simple. If sex must happen, it should consummate marriage.”

    “You also said in your piece that there’s nothing wrong in sampling who you wanna marry as a Christian. No. Sex was created for marriage, and sin is abuse of order. Once sex happens out of marriage, many repercussions abound. Shalom.”

  • [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: Lessons from women in the Bible: “Naomi, the broken-hearted woman”

    [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: Lessons from women in the Bible: “Naomi, the broken-hearted woman”

    By Oke Chinye

    Read: Ruth Chapters 1-4

    Meditation verse:

    “But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty  has dealt very bitterly with me” (Ruth 1:20).

    Naomi had suffered so much pain in the land of Moab. She had left Judah, her  home country with her husband, Elimelech and two sons Mahlon and Chilion to  the Country of Moab, due to famine that was ravaging the land. Whilst there, her journey of pain began. Her husband died. Her 2 sons married women of  Moab (Orpah and Ruth), then her two sons died. She was left with two Moab  women in a strange land. Then she decided to return to Judah and one of her  daughter in-laws, Ruth insisted on going with her. 

    Life happened to Naomi without warning and life can happen to us when we  least expect. We must be prepared for change. Another lesson from this story is  that certain adversities are a set up for a greater glory in our lives. If hard times  had not befallen Naomi in Moab, she probably would not have returned to the  land of Judah, where Ruth would become a link in the messianic lineage of Jesus.  After gleaning in the fields to provide food for herself and her mother-in-law,  Ruth ended up as the wife of a wealthy field owner, Boaz and gave birth to a  son, Obed. Obed became the father of Jesse, who became the father of King  David, the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.  

    Not every adversity is meant to undermine you. Your light affliction, which is but  for a moment, is working for you a far more exceeding and eternal weight of  glory (2 Corinthians 4:17). James 1:2-4, says, “consider it pure joy, my brothers, and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the  testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so  that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything”.  

    There can be purpose in pain if you are willing to learn from it and grow. Pain  reveals your authentic self to you. Pain can build you up, strengthen you, give you clarity and position you for your next level. God knows what you are going  through, and He knows how to get you to the other side. Nothing takes Him by  surprise. He always has a redemption plan in place. When man fell, He already 

    had a redemption plan in place which was manifested in the fulness of time in  the person of Jesus Christ. He already had a plan for Naomi and Ruth back then  and He already has a plan of restoration now for whatever life has thrown at  you. So, cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares. Keep your eyes on Him.  You are being perfected; all things are working together for your good.

     

    IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Pst (Mrs) Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

    For Prayers and Counseling email rockteachingministry@gmail.com

    or call +2348155525555

    For more enquiries, visit: www.rockteachingministry.org.

  • [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: Lessons from women in the Bible: “Gomer, the redeemed woman”

    [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: Lessons from women in the Bible: “Gomer, the redeemed woman”

    By Oke Chinye

    Read: Hosea chapters 1-6

    Meditation verse:

    “Come and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has  stricken, but He will bind us up” (Hosea 6:1).

    Gomer was a harlot; even The Almighty referred to her as such, so she was well  known. Yet, God offered her a candle of light to enable her to begin her journey  of redemption from being a harlot to being a wife and mother. Gomer became  the wife of God’s prophet, Hosea but she returned to prostitution; she messed  up her God given opportunity, disappointed her husband and disgraced her family, but Hosea kept going back to her, referring to her as Gomer (my  beloved). Hosea emptied his pockets to keep buying Gomer back from the arms  of other men. God chose her as an illustration of His relationship with the nation  of Israel.  

    Perhaps you have strayed from God’s love many times, messed up your chances,  and returned to a life of sin; now you feel lost and beyond restoration. Like  Gomer, God will not give up on you. He is calling you by your name and saying “I want you back. I already paid the price for your redemption, come back to Me,  come back home”. That voice of condemnation that whispers ‘it is too late’, belongs to the devil, God does not condemn you.  

    Why not heed His call today. Return to the arms of your Father; focus on what  Jesus Christ did for you on the cross of calvary. Just as Gomer emptied his  pockets, Jesus emptied His life to buy you back from Satan’s grip. There remains no more sacrifice. Jesus paid in full. It is finished.

     

    IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Pst (Mrs) Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

    For Prayers and Counseling email rockteachingministry@gmail.com

    or call +2348155525555

    For more enquiries, visit: www.rockteachingministry.org.

  • [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: Lessons from women in the Bible: “Elizabeth, the aged bloomer”

    [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: Lessons from women in the Bible: “Elizabeth, the aged bloomer”

    By Oke Chinye

    Read: Luke 1:1-24

    Meditation verse:

    “Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five  months, saying, “thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked  on me, to take away my reproach among people.” (Luke 1:24-25).

    “My best years are over” “I’m now too old”, “I have wasted my life”. Do any of  these words sound like you? Who says you are too old? Too old for what? Where  is the evidence? Elizabeth whom the bible described as “well advanced in age,  conceived and bore the fore runner of the saviour of mankind. Sarah gave birth  to Isaac, the promise child in her nineties. Grandma Moses, an American folk  artist, successfully began a painting career in her seventies. Her paintings  became very famous. Who says your best years are behind you? 

    Isaiah 66:9 says, “shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says  the Lord. Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God”. Whatever it is that you are desirous of birthing; be it a natural baby or destiny  baby, your time of conception and delivery will come. God’s promise over your  life will be fulfilled at the appointed time. There is a set time in God’s calendar  for every promise; His calendar is different from that of man. He has time in His  hands. With the Lord, one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as  one day” (2 Peter 3:8). In His time, He makes all things beautiful, with God  nothing will be impossible.  

    Hold on to your dreams, do not give up. You are not too old; you still have plenty  of time. Your life is not wasted, your best years are ahead. Get excited at what  lies ahead of you. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the  Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” 

    (Jeremiah 29:11). He is the same yesterday, today and forever. If He did it for  Elizabeth, He can still do it again. All things are working together for your good.

     

    IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Pst (Mrs) Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

    For Prayers and Counseling email rockteachingministry@gmail.com

    or call +2348155525555

    For more enquiries, visit: www.rockteachingministry.org.

  • [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: Lessons from women in the Bible: “Michal: “The critical wife”

    [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: Lessons from women in the Bible: “Michal: “The critical wife”

    By Oke Chinye

    Read: 2 Samuel 6:1-23

    Meditation verse:

    “Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul  came out to meet David, and said, “How glorious was the king of Israel today,  uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of the  base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!” (2 Samuel 6:20).

    Michal, David’s wife, had been married to another man before ending up in  David’s house. David had sent messengers to Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, saying,  “Give me my wife Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred foreskins  of the Philistines. And Ishbosheth sent and took her from her husband, Paltiel  the son of Laish. Then her husband went along with her to Bahurim, weeping  behind her. Abner said to him, “Go, return!” And he returned” (2 Samuel 3:14- 16). Perhaps this was the reason why she harboured a grudge in her heart for  David or perhaps it was simply because she was King Saul’s daughter; there was  no love lost between her father and David. Whatever was responsible for her  resentment, it cost her dearly. After criticizing her husband for dancing before  God in an “undignified manner”, God shut her womb and she had no children  up till the day of her death.  

    Bitterness, anger, resentment, and envy are like cancers tearing at the fabrics of  our lives. If you remain bitter, critical, resentful or harbour a grudge towards your spouse, with whom you are supposed to be one, you are endangering your  destiny. When a woman’s heart is bitter towards her husband, her eyes are  blind, and she is incapable of seeing anything good about him and would end up  resenting even the things that are right about him. How could anyone be  criticized for dancing and praising God? Who determines the way God should be  praised? 

    If you are currently harbouring a grudge towards your spouse, due to a past  wrongdoing settle it before it undermines your future. If you are currently a  bitter, angry, and critical woman because of your past, ask God to heal your  heart and give you a new beginning. Shake off the dust of your past. Every day is a fresh opportunity to start anew. Take hold of today’s opportunity.

     

    IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Pst (Mrs) Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

    For Prayers and Counseling email rockteachingministry@gmail.com

    or call +2348155525555

    For more enquiries, visit: www.rockteachingministry.org.

  • [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: Lessons from women in the Bible: “Abigail: The wise wife”

    [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: Lessons from women in the Bible: “Abigail: The wise wife”

    By Oke Chinye

    Read: 1 Samuel 25:1-44

    Meditation verse:

    “Then David said to Abigail: “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this  day to meet me!” (1 Samuel 25:32).

    In the next few days, we will be highlighting lessons we can learn from some  women in the bible. Their lives will teach us powerful lessons as we identify with  their trails, battles, mistakes, and triumphs. There’s something for the older  woman, the bitter, the broken hearted, the desperate and the lost. We will gain  insights, strength, encouragement, and motivation to forge ahead on our own  paths.  

    We begin with Abigail, whom the bible describes as intelligent and beautiful in  appearance. She was also a very humble woman. Her husband Nabal was  wealthy, but he was harsh, insensitive, and unwise. When king David sent his  men to Nabal to give them some of his supply, Nabal treated the men with  disdain, saying “who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? There are many  servants nowadays who break away each one from his master. Shall I then take  my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give  it to men when I do not know where they are from?” David was infuriated when  the matter was reported to him, and he determined to kill every male connected  to Nabal. His men had provided security for Nabal’s shearers and sheep in  Carmel, and he had expected Nabal to be more gracious. 

    When the matter was reported to Abigail, Nabal’s wife, she made haste and took  two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already dressed, five  seahs of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes  of figs, and loaded them on donkeys and set off to meet David. “She fell at his  feet and said: “On me, my lord, on me let this iniquity be! And please let your  maidservant speak in your ears and hear the words of your maidservant. Please,  let not my lord regard this scoundrel Nabal. For as his name is, so is he: Nabal is  his name, and folly is with him! But I, your maidservant, did not see the young  men of my lord whom you sent. Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord lives and  as your soul lives, since the Lord has held you back from coming to bloodshed 

    and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now then, let your enemies  and those who seek harm for my lord be as Nabal. And now this present which  your maidservant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who  follow my lord. Please forgive the trespass of your maidservant…” 

    Through her wisdom, discernment, and ability to act quickly, Abigail prevented  the wiping out of every male linked to her husband. She could have said “that’s  his business”, when the matter was reported to her, but she knew her husband’s  weakness and how to make up for it. She was also not willing to let his  shortcomings undermine her entire household. She also knew her own strength  and how to deploy them to her advantage. Through her persuasive words, she  won King David over. Sadly, her wisdom did not rub off on her husband.  

    At the end of the day, we are all responsible for our own actions; and life does  not always spare us the consequences of our acts of indiscretion. Whilst Abigail was making up for her husband’s errors, he was busy making merry and getting  drunk, oblivious of what was going on. In the morning, when the wine had gone  from him, she told him all that happened. His heart died within him, and he  became like a stone; and died after about ten days.

     

    IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Pst (Mrs) Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

    For Prayers and Counseling email rockteachingministry@gmail.com

    or call +2348155525555

    For more enquiries, visit: www.rockteachingministry.org.