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Tag: bible

  • Still on biblical interrogation, et al – By Francis Ewherido

    Still on biblical interrogation, et al – By Francis Ewherido

    For me, the critical issue is: “is it against the bible?” Once it is not against the bible, I run with it? For some other people, “is it in the bible” or where is it in the bible?” Once I hear that, I close the discussion with you because we can never have a meaningful discussion. Are cars, aeroplanes, phones and many other advancements in the bible? No, but are they against the bible? No, so we use them.

    As you grow older, you want to conserve your energy for useful purposes. It is the same reason I ignored one fellow on Facebook recently. I do not have time and strength for meaningless talk that will end in a cul-de-sac. We should face substance and leave peripherals alone. For instance, when the bible condemned adultery, it simply meant do not engage in sexual intercourse with another person except your spouse. This is what we now refer to it as an affair. Here the bible said sexual intercourse with someone other than your spouse. Using a euphemism of “affair” is just to reduce the enormity of what you did in your heart and make you feel less guilty; so because “having an affair” is not in the bible in those words, does it stop the act from being adultery? No!

    Young people in relationships and having pre-marital sex claim to be dating or courting. It is not dating, it is fornication, according to the bible. Courting, according to the Institute in Basic Life Principles, is “a relationship between a man and a woman in which they seek to determine if it is God’s will for them to marry each other, while dating can be described as a form of courtship and may include social activities undertaken by two persons (male and female) with the aim of assessing the other’s suitability as a life partner.”  None of the definitions includes sex, although young people argue that “assessing the other’s suitability as a life partner”   and “social activity” can be interpreted to include sex.

    How can God, who said fornication is a sin that leads to death, encourage premarital sex? The truth is young people’s blood is hot and they do engage in sex due to lust and lack of self-control. I was also involved in premarital sex before marriage, but I never deceived myself that I was doing the right thing. I am not judging anybody. How can a bloody sinner judge anybody? Let us just call a spade a spade and stop using euphemisms to reduce our guilt and sometimes mislead others.

    A well respected Christian leader once confessed to me privately that she had sex with her husband too be before they got married. She said she needed to be sure he could perform and he passed the test before she agreed to their marriage. As at the last time I met her, there was no child yet and the man was afflicted by one of the debilitating ailments that affects men. So what is the ultimate result of all the testing before marriage?

    It is your responsibility to live your life the way you want. But for young girls under 30 years, live responsibly if you intend to settle down with a man. The shelf life of a girl is short. It is like European seasons: winter, spring, autumn and summer. The summer clothes that were on display start disappearing from the front of the shop and showroom once winter begins to set in. These days, girls under 20 years look so mature. Use your time well while on the shelf and display at the front of the shop before you are moved to the back of the shop. I have seen this happen so often in the last 35 years. Be careful who you listen to in this era of influencers. People who are unhappy with their lives are busy spilling out falsehood and leading younger people astray.  A social media influencer whose marriage crashed under three years calls herself marriage counsellor! Can you give what you do not have?

    Bobrisky, Portable, Davido, Daddy GO Enoch Adeboye, Pastor Kumuyi and Pastor Tunde Bakare and many others are all influencers, but in a world of relativism, I dare not qualify anyone with adjective of good or bad influencer. For instance, if I call Pastor Adeboye a good influencer, someone can come and challenge me, because for him Adeboye is a bad influencer. Adeboye helped to spread Christianity and destroyed our African religion. That is the world of relativism that we currently live in. So I hold on to my beliefs firmly, but try to mind my business.

    It is this relativism that makes it difficult for me to contribute to discussions on other people’s Facebook pages. For me, your Facebook page is your sitting room. I will not come and argue with you. You arrange it the way you want. You put the content that reflect who you are. I also arrange my sitting room the way I want. I fill my Facebook page mainly with contents on family, people, marriage and insurance, which is my profession. Even if I get zero like or comment, it means nothing. I do not want to stir up unnecessary controversy to attract traffic. I stick to my values and what makes me happy. With political campaigns coming, I will soon add politics because I feel it is sacrilegious to sit on the fence at this critical time. I have travelled to all continents except South America and Australia. I have come to the conclusion that we must make Nigeria to function well. I have no intention of living elsewhere. You can call me a slave of the Nigerian nation. That is where my absolute loyalty lies. In the meantime, we should learn civility in the social media space. The social media space is a public space. We do not have to agree, but show restraint and respect in public.

  • Muslim-Muslim ticket: ‘’Bible and Quran have always been in Tinubu’s house”

    Muslim-Muslim ticket: ‘’Bible and Quran have always been in Tinubu’s house”

    Ambassador Dare Owotomobi, the Global Coordinator of Bola Ahmed Tinubu Solidarity Vanguard (BATSV)  has rubbished the criticism surrounding Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kashim Shettima’s presidential ticket.

    He said God is neither a Muslim nor a Christian but a God of good living, efficient transportation, and security.

    Owotomobi spoke in Katsina during the inauguration of the North West wing of the vanguard at Old Government House Katsina.

    He said: ’’We are here to celebrate the impending electoral victory of Asiwaju bola Tinubu, victory is already knocking at the door.

    ‘’Please convey our message of hope from Tinubu who is a rewarder of every effort. God is not only for the Muslims or for the Christians but the God of everyone for those condemning Muslim-Muslim ticket, they are missing the point.

    ‘’Religion is a matter of environment, talking about issues, better living, security, efficient transportation and so on, all these are more than religious issues.”

    He added: ‘’Bible and Quran have always been in Tinubu’s house. His wife and some of hs children are Christians, so serving humanity remains uppermost in his mind with the fear of God.”

  • Do Christians really like Jesus? – By Femi Aribisala

    Do Christians really like Jesus? – By Femi Aribisala

    “Christians say we love the Lord, but the truth is we do not like him”.

    The bible is a book of prophecies. God says in the scriptures: “Don’t forget the many times I clearly told you what was going to happen in the future. For I am God- I only- and there is no other like me who can tell you what is going to happen. All I say will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.” (Isaiah 46:9-10).

    Even some of the historical situations presented in the scriptures are prophetic. Therefore, they are fulfilled again and again. For example, the persecution of Isaac by his brother Ishmael is re-enacted in the persecution of Joseph by his brothers and repeated in the persecution of David by his brothers, and again replicated in the persecution of Jesus by his brothers.

    Furthermore, the process continues today in the persecution of true believers by pretender Christians.

    Prophetic Christians

    Since the true believer is created in the image and likeness of Christ, our identity is in the word of God. All we need to do is search the scriptures to determine what manner of men we are and what the future holds. This is because the bible does not merely predict the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It also foretells the birth, growth, and development of believers and the church of Christ.

    It is the prophetic revelation about Christians that is of particular interest here. The scriptures indicate that Christians will not like Christ. The church in the wilderness rejected Moses. The Israelites rejected the prophets. The Jews rejected Jesus. Christians will reject the word of God.

    God says to Ezekiel: “I am sending you to the people of Israel with My messages. I am not sending you to some far-off foreign land where you can’t understand the language- no, not to tribes with strange, difficult tongues. (If I did, they would listen!). I am sending you to the people of Israel, and they won’t listen to you any more than they listen to Me! For the whole lot of them are hard, impudent, and stubborn.” (Ezekiel 3:4-7).

    Indeed, the scriptures detail not so much how Jesus is hated by men, as how He is hated by His own people. John says: “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” (John 1:11). That statement is prophetic. Today, Christians are supposedly the people of God; so, the scripture now applies to us. It means Christians will not receive Christ. Jesus Himself observes that: “A prophet is not without honour except in his own country and in his own house.” (Matthew 13:57).

    Christian animosity

    Most Christians do not like the Jesus of the bible. We may say we love the Lord because He is our Saviour, but the truth is we do not like Him.

    “Why don’t you like Me?” asks God? “What did I do to drive you away?” “What iniquity did you find in Me that turned you against Me?” (Jeremiah 2:5). “Hear, O you mountains, the LORD’S complaint, and you strong foundations of the earth; for the LORD has a complaint against His people, and He will contend with Israel. ‘O My people, what have I done to you? And how have I wearied you? Testify against Me.’” (Micah 6:2-3).

    Moses says God created man in His own image. However, George Bernard Shaw was right when he said: “We have decided to return the favor.” We have created God in our own image. God says again prophetically: “These things you have done, and I kept silent; you thought that I was altogether like you.” (Psalm 50:21).

    Christians do not really like the God that is revealed in Jesus Christ. Therefore, we contradict Him at every turn. We do not want the God who insists we should love our enemies. (Matthew 5:44-45). We prefer a God who sends the fire of the Holy Ghost to destroy our enemies. We do not want the God who says those who use the sword will be killed by the sword. (Matthew 26:52). We prefer a God who will be on our side when we go to war.

    We do not like the God who says we should turn the other cheek. (Luke 6:29). We prefer the God who gives an eye for an eye. We do not want the God who desires mercy. (Matthew 9:13). We prefer a God who exacts eternal punishment on sinners.

    The God revealed in Christ is far too demanding for us. He wants everything we have. (Luke 14:33). But Christians prefer a God that only requires a tithe. We do not like the God in Christ who regards men and women as equals. We prefer the God who legislates women must not wear trousers. We do not like the God in Christ who says we should bless those who curse us. (Matthew 5:44). We prefer the God who allows us to abuse our opponents.

    Christians do not like the Jesus who was born in poor and humble circumstances. We prefer the Jesus of our mega-pastors who fly around in jet planes and even establish their own airlines. We do not like the Jesus who did not go to school and get a formal education. (John 7:15-16). We prefer would prefer the Jesus who boasts of his Ph.D. We prefer the God who establishes church universities where money is made by collecting high school fees.

    New improved Jesus

    Indeed, the real Jesus of Nazareth has become so offensive to Christians that we have created a new improved Jesus more to our liking. This new Jesus is no longer poor, meek, and lowly. But according to some, He is a rich man who wears “designer clothes.” Some Christians even claim the donkey Jesus rode in humility into Jerusalem was a brand-new “Continental Donkey;” thereby ascribing to it the same status as today’s Cadillac.

    Christians have given Jesus a spiritual makeover. He is no longer physically ugly according to prophecy: “He has no form or comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.” (Isaiah 53:2). The modern-day Jesus preferred by Christians is very handsome. He is not even Middle Eastern any longer: he is European and blue-eyed.

    In effect, we have fulfilled the prophecy which says of the true Jesus: “He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” (Isaiah 53:3).

    But even more than the fact that we do not like Jesus personally, we certainly do not like His doctrine. We do not like His insistence that we must deny ourselves and take up our cross in order to follow Him. (Matthew 16:24). We don’t like His requirement that we have to lose our life in order to save it. (Mark 8:35).

    We do not heed His warning that we should not be worldly but should be hated by the world. (John 15:18-20). We do not obey His injunction not to have any other father but God. (Matthew 23:9). We do not agree with Him that it is impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. (Matthew 19:24).

  • The Bible is inaccurate and unreliable – Cynthia Morgan

    The Bible is inaccurate and unreliable – Cynthia Morgan

    Nigerian female rapper, Cynthia Morgan has shared her view that the Bible is inaccurate and unreliable.

    The singer took to her Instastories to share her thoughts on the Bible.

    According to her, ‘The Bible is inaccurate and unreliable and it baffles me that most of these pastors that claim they’ve read this book from Genesis to Revelation in different occasions are yet to highlight these discrepancies to their followers..’

  • God did it (2) – By Femi Aribisala

    God did it (2) – By Femi Aribisala

    By Femi Aribisala

    “God not only makes us do the evil we want to do”.

    Let me first address the contrarian who says if God is the author of everything, how can man be held responsible for his actions? Such a dilemma arises from knowing neither the scriptures nor the power of God. (Matthew 22:29).

    The God of the Bible is the uncaused cause of everything. The power of God ensures that God’s determinism never contradicts man’s responsibility. God not only makes us do the evil we want to do, He also makes us do the good we do not want to do.

    In this equation, the devil is merely a servant of God. He only does what God purposes. God says: “I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil; I, the Lord, do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7). Amos echoes this: “If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it?” (Amos 3:6).

    Nothing good or bad happens outside of the will of God. “Who can speak, and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come? (Lamentations 3:37-38). Thus, Job asks his wife: “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” (Job 2:10).

    Indeed, God takes issues with those inclined to make Him one-dimensional: “I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and punish the men who are settled in complacency, who say in their heart, ‘The LORD will not do good, nor will He do evil.’” (Zephaniah 1:12).

    Jesus maintains evil is a necessary feature of life: “Each day has enough evil of its own.” (Matthew 6:34). We need trouble so the power of Christ in deliverance and salvation may be revealed in us. (John 9:1-3). We need evil, in order to partake of God’s divine nature in overcoming it.

    However, believers have this assurance: “The Lord will deliver (us) from every evil work and preserve (us) for His heavenly kingdom. (2 Timothy 4:18).

    Self-denial

    God has already done this. Jesus says: “I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” (John 14:20). This means the believer no longer exists. Jesus says: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself.” (Matthew 16:24). Let him understand that he no longer exists.

    Accordingly, Paul says: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20).

    If you are a believer then, concerning you: “the works were finished from the foundation of the world.” (Hebrews 4:3). The books on you are closed. In that book is every word you will speak in your lifetime and every step you will take.

    “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30).

    Observe that everything about you is expressed in the past tense. It is all already accomplished: “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).

    It is finished

    This means nothing can be added or subtracted from the works and purposes of God in your life. You can now enter into God’s rest. Perfect calmness and peace of mind is achieved once we recognise not only that our times are in God’s hand (Psalm 31:15), but also that “God has done it.”

    He has done all the needful. He has perfected everything that concerns you. (Psalm 138:8). Therefore, nobody can do anything for you. Only God. Nobody can help you. Only God. Do not ask God to make somebody do something for you. Ask God to do it Himself.

    Remember this: “All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; (God) does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, “What have You done?’” (Daniel 4:35).

    All your actions are going to originate from God. Therefore, determine what you want God to do, then do it. “Use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.” (Romans 6:13).

    Recognise this: if you are praying about something, then God is working on it. Before you even started praying, He already had the answer. (Isaiah 65:24). In any case, God is the One who makes you pray. The psalmist says to God: “Quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.” (Psalm 80:18). Without God’s enablement, we can do nothing. (John 15:5).

    New creatures

    Because of Jesus’ atonement, we are new creations who can no longer sin. John says: “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.: (1 John 3:9).

    Here is how you know this applies to you. When you sin, you are remorseful. When you sin, your heart condemns you: “By this we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.” (1 John 3:19-20).

    God knows you are no longer a sinner, but that the sins that are still in you have nothing to do with you any longer. They are only in your good-for-nothing flesh and not in your newly created spirit. These sins are now in you as outlaws. They are in you as strangers and foreigners.

    But rest assured: “The foreigners (shall) fade away and come frightened from their hideouts.” (2 Samuel 22:46).

    That is why Paul says: “I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.” (Romans 7:17-20).

    Here is wisdom. If you want God to use you for His good purposes, be good. If you want Him to use you for His evil purposes, be evil. Whatever you do is what God has purposed for you. That is the power of God.

    “In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honour and some for dishonour. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honour, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” (2 Timothy 2:20-21).

  • [Devotional] In His Presence: Enhance your mental wellbeing

    ENHANCE YOUR MENTAL WELLBEING (1)

    Read: PROVERBS 4:20–27

    Meditation verse:
    “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

    Today is World Mental Health Day. Here are some ways to enhance your mental wellbeing:
    Be very selective of who you permit into your personal space. Avoid people who dispense negativism. They will drain your internal power —your hope, self-belief, resilience, and optimism.

    Do not let people’s actions determine your emotions and actions. People do not make you angry, they just do what they do, and you react as you will. Since your action determines your outcomes, you are letting others determine the outcomes you get out of life.

    Do not wait for apologies before forgiving an offence. You may be waiting for a long time. Suppose they never apologise?

    Be responsible for your life and actions. Own your experiences. Cherish the good, change the bad, accept what you cannot change. Strive to become financially independent and avoid depending on others for your existence, otherwise they will control your life.

    Assert yourself when you should. It is wise to know when to speak and when to be silent. The bible says do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him, in the next verse it says answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his conceit (Proverbs 26:4–5). When people mistreat you, let them know. We teach others how to treat us.

    Never compare yourself with anybody. Be unapologetically who you are.

    Lastly, guard your heart with all diligence. The battle is always first lost in the mind. Feed your mind with the word of God and avoid unwholesome content. As a man thinketh in his heart so is he (Proverbs 23:7).

    IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Dcns Oke Chinye , Founder, The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM)
    For Prayers and Counseling email rockteachingministry@gmail.com
    or call +2348155525555
    For more enquiries, visit: www.rockteachingministry.org

  • Enduring to the end – Femi Aribisala

    Femi Aribisala

    One day, as I was reading Jesus’ Sermon of the Mount yet again, I suddenly heard the Lord say to me, deep within my spirit-man: “Femi, the end justifies the means.”

    What does this have to do with the beatitudes? Can we, should we, justify the end by the means? Is it godly to do so? I decided to search the scriptures for the answer.

    Immediately, the whole thing opened to me like a book. I discovered that, in the kingdom of God, the end always justifies the means.

    Does this mean it is okay to rob a bank, as long as you succeed? Yes; that is precisely what it means. But there is a catch-22. It is impossible to rob a bank successfully. No matter who we are; we are all going to answer to God for our actions and inactions. Therefore, if we were to rob a bank we might escape the detection of men; but we cannot escape the judgment of God.

    David thought he had killed Uriah, married his wife, Bathsheba, and gone scot-free. But nine months later, Prophet Nathan showed up to inform him God saw it all. All evil is done in the sight of God. There is no escape for the wicked.

    Wisdom of serpents

    Jesus says: “The sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.” (Luke 16:8).

    When the sons of this world have an objective, they go to any lengths to achieve it. Tell them to bury five hundred cows and they will do it. Tell them to bring the foreskins of one hundred Philistines and, like David, they are likely to bring two hundred in order to make assurance doubly sure. Tell them to sleep with ten prostitutes possessed by legions of demons and they will obey.

    Paradoxically, God likes this kind of people. They have the raw materials the Holy Spirit can readily work with. They are the ones likely to remove the roof of a building in order to get to Jesus. They are the riffraff, like blind Bartimaeus, who refuse to keep quiet until they get Jesus’ attention.

    Jesus says: “The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” (Matthew 11:12). In the kingdom of God, the last become first, and the first become last. The last go all the way, but the first are usually complacent.

    Have you never wondered why God loved Jacob so much? Jacob was a master practitioner of the kingdom dynamic whereby the end justifies the means. He knew what he wanted, and he went for it by all means. He refused to be denied.

    If you refused to give Jacob something, he would steal it. If you refused to give him money, he would pick your pocket. If you refused to tell him the time, he would steal your wristwatch. Jacob would climb any mountain and cross any ocean to get what he wants.

    God loves this kind of person. He is the kind of sinner Jesus is looking for in his kingdom. Once converted, he will not be lukewarm but will suffer violence and take the kingdom by force. If you can get this kind of sinner to fall in love with God, you can be sure he will be a man after God’s heart.

    What about the sons of light?

    We are a bunch of jokers. We say we want to go to heaven but tell us to sell all we have and give the proceeds to the poor, and we are likely to have a change of mind. Tell us to fast, and we will not. Tell us to pray, and we come up with excuses. Tell us to read the bible, and we would rather read “Mills and Boons.”

    But do we really want to go to heaven? Yes, we do. But we do not want to pay the price. Jesus says: “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we mourned to you, and you did not weep.” (Luke 7:32).

    Make no mistake about it; the sons of this world give up a lot for success. They give up joy, peace, and love. They murder sleep. Some even mortgage their souls in order to make it. The end justifies their means. In the end, they realise their dreams and become ministers, commissioners, ambassadors, and managing-directors.

    But the sons of light have been deceived. We have been sedated into slumber. We have been churched into believing Jesus has done it all and we need to do nothing. Yes, it is the good pleasure of the Father to give us the kingdom. Nevertheless, there are giants on the way to the Promised Land. That means we must go through the wilderness and fight spiritual battles upon battles. But we fight, knowing we will win in the end.

    The End

    You watch a film and, after about ninety minutes of twists and turns, the hero finally marries the princess, and then “THE END” appears on the screen. But it is a lie. The story did not end there. In fact, at that point, the marriage just began.

    Only Jesus can declare THE END. It is the end that justifies the means. But remember, Jesus is the beginning and the ending. You rigged the election and became President of the Republic. Who told you that is the end of the story? What shall it profit a man if he becomes the President and loses his own soul?

    It does not end with this world. It ends with Christ. It ends with the Lord in heaven and the means to the end is the choice we make whether to follow God’s narrow road that leads to life.

    Way of suffering

    A Christian wants to go to heaven, so he goes to the motor-park church. He asks which vehicle is going to heaven. They tell him Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. (John 14:6).

    He asks which vehicle is Jesus? They show him a terrible ramshackle old mammy-wagon. It has neither form nor comeliness. There is no beauty in it that he should desire it. (Isaiah 53:2). On the vehicle is written boldly the caption: “Life of Suffering.”

    But beside it is a Rolls Royce. “Where is that one going?” he asks. “That one is going to Abuja.” The man decides he would rather travel in a Rolls Royce than in a battered mammy-wagon. As a result, he ends up in Abuja where he gets a lot of government contracts and makes a lot of money. But heaven, and not Abuja, is the final destination.

    The beatitudes are all unpleasant. There is nothing nice about being poor or mournful. Neither does it feel good to hunger and thirst. The meek are often taken advantage of, and it is not wonderful to be persecuted and reviled.

    Nobody likes it when all kinds of evil things are said falsely against us. But if that is what it takes to confirm our status in the kingdom of God, then the glorious end certainly justifies the suffering means.

    Jesus says: “He who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 10:22).

  • APC quotes Bible; threatens to report Father Mbaka to Pope, Vatican for asking Buhari to resign

    APC quotes Bible; threatens to report Father Mbaka to Pope, Vatican for asking Buhari to resign

    The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has quoted some biblical passages to fault the spiritual director of Adoration Ministry, Rev Fr. Ejike Mbaka for asking President Muhammadu Buhari to either resign or be impeached.

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that the popular Catholic Priest who was instrumental to President Buhari’s election in 2015 and 2019 in a viral video on Thursday asked the president to either resign or be impeached because of the current security challenges.

    However, in a swift reaction, the APC’s Deputy National publicity secretary, Yekini Nabena in a statement argued that Mbaka’s call constitutes a threat to democratic rule in the country.

    The statement said it was unfortunate that Mbaka who is expected to deploy all known spiritual means of ensuring peaceful coexistence among Nigerians went out of his ways to make such pronouncement in pursuit of his selfish desires.

    While making reference to the book of Mark 4: 35-40 where Jesus Christ calm the storm when a wild storm came up and the waves crashed over the boat, Nabena said Jesus did not blame anyone but prayed and calm the storm.

    He said: “One will wonder whom Father Mbaka is emulating because the Lord Jesus Christ did not threaten to bring down the government during his own time, in fact, Jesus Christ obeyed and honoured constituted authority. That’s why he paid his tax.

    “We are calling on Father Mbaka to concentrate on his spiritual calling and stop speaking like politicians who it is obvious he (Mbaka) has been dining and wining with. If Mbaka has found another political ally, it is better to leave political message for politicians.

    “Calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to either resign or be impeached because of the current challenges is ungodly. Father Mbaka should not, however, take his luck too far because there are lot to tell the Vatican and the Pope about his person and his sources of inspiration.”

    Nabena also called on other clerics to emulate the likes of Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) and Pastor WF Kumuyi of the Deeper Life Bible Ministry and many other men of God who will rather fast and pray to avert a crisis in the country instead of threatening the government of the day.

    Stating that Mbaka’s utterances were capable of breaching the peace in the country, he threatened to drag Mbaka to the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope if he (Mbaka) does not repent from his alleged divisive role in the country.

  • COVID-19: Don’t share Bible, hymn books in church – FG tells Christians

    COVID-19: Don’t share Bible, hymn books in church – FG tells Christians

    The federal government has warned Christians against sharing personal items in church, including Bible and hymn books.

    The Federal Ministry of Health stated this as part of efforts to sensitize the general public to prevent the spread of the dreaded Coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

    “All worshippers should continue to limit the use of shared items in places of worship to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria.

    “Adhere to all non pharmaceutical measures on COVID-19 prevention. Don’t share personal items. Limit or avoid the use of shared items for now. Such items include but not limited to Bible, hymn books, microphones etc,” the Ministry stated.

    The Ministry also distinguished between the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and malaria, saying they are two different diseases.

    According to the Ministry, although COVID19 and malaria share similar symptoms like fever, headache and fatigue, they must not be mistaken for the same disease.

    “COVID19 and malaria are two different diseases that share similar symptoms like fever, headache and fatigue. It takes 2-14 days for COVID19 symptoms to appear, while that of malaria appears within 10-15 days.

    “COVID-19 is not malaria. Though COVID-19 presents with symptoms similar to malaria, for example, fever, both diseases are caused by different organisms and differ in mode of transmission,” the Ministry emphasized.

  • The Bible saved me when I was frustrated-Bolanle Ninalowo

    The Bible saved me when I was frustrated-Bolanle Ninalowo

    Popular Nollywood actor, Bolanle Ninalowo, has opened up on why and how he converted from Islam to Christianity.

    Ninalowo who has played diverse roles made this known in a recent instagram live chat.

    “Although I have only gone to church once in my entire life, I read the bible a lot. My name is Azeez; I was born into a staunch Muslim family. When I was troubled and frustrated, it was the bible that saved me, as my parents and family members couldn’t. So, I picked up the bible and it became my life manual.”

     

    Reacting to the rate at which Nollywood veterans go suddenly sick and broke, Ninalowo says the actors are to blame and not the government or lack of structure in the industry. “The blame should not be on Nollywood because it doesn’t have structure, it should be on the individual. You are not a victim of circumstances; you are a victim of the choices you made. A lot of them are carried away. They don’t have retirement plans.”