Lekan Oyapero Blog

7 things to know when buying land

2021-02-09T00:32:00.001-08:00

7 Things to consider when buying a land in Nigeria

Buying a land is considered one of the oldest forms used to determine how wealthy a person is in Nigeria. In times past, it is not unusual to see people measure a person’s wealth by the amount of land they own. Times have passed, and people now understand that there are a thousand and one more ways to determine this. However, the value placed on land cannot be undermined. For some, buying a land is one of those goals to achieve before a certain age or retirement.

At some point in life, you might consider yourself buoyant enough to be your own landlord. One option often considered by a lot of people is buying land to build a house i.e their dream home. Also, to the real estate beginner or pro, buying land for investment is considered one of the surest ways to make profits in the real estate industry. There are, however, different reasons why people decide on buying a land. Whether it is a plot of land or an acre, there are definitely, however, things to consider when buying a land.

A lot of consideration has to be in place because buying a land does not come at a penny cost. Either it is your life savings or spare cash, you would want to safeguard your money from fraudsters and at the same time make the best decision on your investment. It is not enough to bank on your relationship with whoever is selling the land, you should be concerned about if it is legit or not. It is in the same vein that you don’t just on buying a land because you like the area, there are certain things to consider also.

Therefore, the article is aimed at giving an expository on how to make the best decision and avoid being scammed.

1. Budget Is Important When Buying A Land

The budget is the first thing to be considered when buying a land. It does not matter if you have determined to buy a land in Lagos or any other part of the country, the most important thing is having a budget. It is not about just having the desire to buy a land, the real question is do you have the budget for it? No matter the amount you might have saved, it is always important to make research on the cost of buying a land and the extra expenses that are associated with it.

A budget serves as a guide, it allows you to make the best use of your funds. Examples of the extra expenses that you might want to consider when planning your budget are; legal fees: this is usually 5% of the cost of the land; Agency fees are also around 5% of the cost of the land; survey plan: depending on your choice of location, it is usually in the range of N100,000 to N300,000; the cost of putting up a fence in order to secure your land after purchase (you definitely don’t want to leave it bare); and also the cost of getting all the required documents such as Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), Governor’s consent etc. from the government. All these are some of the extra costs you definitely want to add to your budget from the onset to avoid a financial headache when buying a land.

2. Location Of The Land

Definitely, there is more to just buying a land. A lot of things are considered before making a purchase; one of which is choosing the perfect location for your land. Like many other real estate properties, the location plays a vital role in the overall value of the land. The amount a particular land might be sold for is dependant on many factors as earlier stated, however, one of those factors is the location of a land.

The price of a land in Lekki would definitely be different from that of a Land in Ikeja. Another thing to be considered when choosing the location of the land is the potential growth of the area. You would want to ask yourself what the growth of the particular area would be like in ten to twenty years time. Inasmuch as land does not depreciate, having a strategic location would increase your chances of making more value on future sales.

3. Land Sizes To Consider When Buying A Land

This is likely the first thing you want to know as a landowner to be. You might have come across various terms such as plots, acres, hectares etc. and probably don’t know the difference. They are different land sizes and also play vital roles in the prices of a land. It is the same as buying a unit product for let’s say N30, buying 6 units of the same product means N30 multiplied by 6. This means the total price for 6 units of the product is N180. You have to be aware of the appropriate size of the land, hence, familiarizing yourself with the definitions is a good way to start.

Plots

A plot is described as a marked piece of Land for the purpose of farming or building. A plot is an arbitrary term used to describe a land division set out for developmental purpose. Also, it is not unusual to see adverts like property for sale or plots of land for sale. It is, however, important to know the size of a full plot in order not to be duped. The size of a plot vary for different reasons but according to Nigeria’s land division, the recommended plot for a house construction is 50 x 100ft.

Acres

An acre is a bigger size compared to a plot. It is almost the equivalent of a standard football field – this is the standard unit of measurement used by most land sellers. It is one of the land sizes to consider when buying a land. Identifying an acre by its measurement is easy, it is the product of a rectangle plot of land that is about 4,046 square meter or 43,560 square feet. An acre usually consists of 6 plots, each measuring about 60 x 120ft. However, an acre is roughly 40% of a hectare.

Hectares (ha)

The hectare is the largest of the three sizes. A hectare measures about 100m x 100m or 328 feet x 328 feet or 10,000 square meters. A hectare is about two and a half acres which are usually about 15 plots. What the size of a hectare should be, has been a bone of contention between prospective buyers and real estate developers.

It is important to note that these measurements vary across Nigeria. Though the above measurements are standard, but due to factors like land location, possession, and circumstances leading to the transaction, there are different variations in measurements. Before now plots were approximately 1000 square meters but as the value and prices for land rose you get the same quote per plot but it can be 400 square meters or less in government reserved areas in cities like Lagos, Kano, Kaduna etc.

Other cities in Nigeria like new layouts in Calabar offer about 1,100 square meters for commercial plots. In places like Niger-Delta where issues of land are usually tensed it is always hard to get anything above 450 square meters. This does not in any way mean that there are no states that offer the standard measurements – 60’ x 120’, 60’ x 100’, 80’ x 120’ etc.

Lagos for example, the standard measurement for a plot of land is 60’ x 120’ – 18m x 18m i.e 648 square meters. Other cities in the country also offer 50’ x 100’ measurement for a plot of land. For instance, the standard measurement in Edo and Port Harcourt is 50’ x 100’. There are also other considerations to be put in place; while a 50’ x 100’ plot of land might fit a building in Benin, it might not be allowed in Delta or Lagos State. This is because of the longer setbacks needed for the road – 6 meters and 9 meters respectively.

It is very important to take notes of these variations in measurements as they affect each state. You should know whether a land seller is trying to dupe or not.

4. Land Appreciation

A land is arguably the only asset that does not depreciate over a given period of time. A plot of land in Lekki will always remain the same if not tampered with. It is nature’s gift to man and does not depreciate. Buying a land is one of the surest ways to invest in the real estate business. As rural areas develop into urban areas, those who have invested by buying lands in those areas tend to get five folds of their investment because the area is now developed.

This is why it is important to put enough consideration into the location in which you are buying a land in Lagos or any other part of Nigeria. The rate at which lands appreciate and never depreciate is what makes it one of the simple ways to invest in real estate.

5. Purpose Of Buying A Land

Before you decide to buy a land anywhere in Nigeria, it is essential to have a purpose for the land. When buying a land, you definitely want to make the best of values of your investment. The question you then need to ask is; “what purpose would the land serve?” This will help you decide on many things when the purpose of buying a land is defined already. We have divided the purposes into two and things to consider for each.

Commercial

As the name implies, the purpose of buying the land is for commercial purpose. This means you are buying land for investment. It is actually one of the smart ways to ensure quick returns of your investment. You can decide to build a structure and put it up for rentals. By doing this, you have ensured a steady flow of income. This is one of the many reasons people decide to invest by buying a land. In order to expand their sources of income.

Residential

Buying a land to build a house is another reason people buy lands. As mentioned earlier in the article, buying a land, for many people, is top of their must achieved goals before retirement. It is the guarantee of having a roof over your head after retirement. Then, there won’t be a reason to panic about when the next house rent would be due or not. For some, it is just the fulfilment of living in your dream home and being your own landlord. Whatever the purpose of buying a land is, there are still few things you would want to consider.

Proximity To Market

Whether the purpose of buying a land is solely residential or commercial, the proximity to the market is very essential. For instance, buying a land with the aim of turning it into a commercial property for sale or rent would need the consideration of many things; one of which is the market. The market in this case, if you are looking to build shops, for example, is the number of people around the area.

If you are building shops for people, there must be need by people for the shops and those ready to patronize them when they do. It is the same if you are buying land to build a house. Before buying a land, you should ask yourself how close you are to the market. This saves you from future problems long after you have moved in. It is not unusual to see people who have moved to their own house, buy all they need while they are coming from work or the bus stop.

This is because they didn’t consider the proximity to the market in the first place. It is one mistake you should avoid now, in order not to grumble when you need to get something very urgent.

Availability of Social Amenities

The importance of these can never be overstressed. No matter the purpose in which you are buying a land, i.e either commercial or residential, you want to ensure the basic amenities are available in the area. For instance, is there a regular power supply in the area? Whether you are buying to build for commercial or residential, nobody would want to move to a place with no power supply.

It is the same with roads, hospitals and other social amenities. The location of your land, is it well networked by road? It shouldn’t be an area where people have to park their cars miles away before getting to your area. If you are building for residential purpose, ask yourself how close you are to hospitals. This should also be the case with other social amenities.

Security

What is the news about the area? Is it safe now? What is the crime rate in the area? Is it somewhere you would still want to stay in 5 to 10 years? These are some of the questions you need to tackle before buying a land. It does not matter whether you are buying for a commercial or residential purpose.

It will be unwise to be aware that a particular area is experiencing unrest, and yet insist on buying a land in the area with the hopes of building your dream home there or not. The security of an area also adds value to your property. No one wants to leave in a neighbourhood that they would be able to sleep at night or a place whereby they are not sure if their businesses would still be there the next morning.

Serene

This is more focused on buying land to build a house. If you are thinking of building your dream home and becoming your own landlord, you probably want it to be in a conducive area. If it is your getaway place after retirement, you surely want to have rest of mind and peace. This is why it is important to consider the area’s serenity before buying a land there. Another thing about the environment is if it is conducive. Being close to an industrial area can be a potential health hazard in the future.

Lifestyle

Another thing to consider when buying a land for a commercial purpose or residential purpose is the lifestyle of the area. This is very important if you are considering to build for a residential purpose. You need to consider what the lifestyle is like. For instance, if you are looking to set up a family there, is it the kind of place you would want to raise your kids?

6. Get The Necessary Documents When Buying A Land

It might sound like the silliest of things to forget, but people still fail to get the necessary documents needed in order to claim ownership of the land they have purchased. It is one of the common mistakes or traps people tend to fall into from fraudsters or land grabbers. Buying a land without getting the necessary documents is a recipe for disaster. The reason why you would request for a certificate after the completion of a course is the same reason you need to get the necessary documents needed.

There are certain documents that are needed in order to claim complete ownership of a land. It is not just showcasing adverts of various lands in different parts of the country. The big question when buying a land is, does the land seller have the authority to sell the land? Are they the rightful owners? A fraudster can easily take pictures of land, tag it property for sale, and pose as the owner in order to dupe people.

It is essential you ask for the proof of ownership from the seller before carrying out any transaction. If a seller cannot provide enough proof, it is a red flag pull out from the transaction. There are chances that it is a fraudulent transaction you are getting into. This is possible because he/she does not have the right to transfer the property.

No matter what you do, do not go into a deal in which the seller cannot provide the proof of ownership. It is also in the same vein that you must ensure you have all the documents required after the transaction, in order to avoid unnecessary issues with the government or land grabbers.

7. Mode Of Payment When Buying A Land

The mode of payment when buying a land is vital and might just be the only reason you are duped or not. No matter what you do, DO NOT PAY IN CASH when buying a land. You must ensure everything is properly documented from the cost of the land to the receipt of survey fees. The only way you can save yourself from unnecessary stress in the future is by documenting all the payments.

No matter how small the payments you have made, it is important to document all of it. This is in order to avoid future hiccups as early mentioned. Instead of paying in cash, and possibly losing your hard earned money to fraudsters, it is advisable to pay through cheques or bank transfers. This way you can easily track your payments made when buying a land from any agent in case things go south.

It is also important to engage a lawyer in order to prepare a purchase receipt in which all parties can sign to acknowledge payments through any of the bank channels. This cancels the possibilities of a seller denying the exact the amount paid, when it was paid and for the purpose it was paid.

There are no templates to identify a potential fraudster by his/her skin colour or face. One of the common mistakes people make is believing or trusting their relationship with the land seller when buying a land. It is not unusual to see people in court with cases of the relatives or sisters duping them over a sale of land. It is important to consider this when buying land for investment or any other purpose in order to avoid any possibility of being duped.

When you pay through bank channels, you can track your payments when things go south. It also serves as a tiny piece of evidence that can be used in court. Unlike when you pay in cash an the land seller denies any knowledge of the transaction.

There you have it! The above are some of the things to consider when you decide to buy a land

NEVER GIVE UP (SAMPLE CHAPTERS)

2020-01-24T13:22:00.000-08:00

INTRODUCTION

One of my favorite movie scenes ever occurs in Rocky Balboa (2006). Rocky’s son confronts him about his decision to enter the ring after a few years of retirement. He accuses Rocky of trying to ruin his life by reentering the boxing ring again. The excerpt from Rocky’s response is below:

“But somewhere along the line you changed. You stopped being you. You let people stick a finger to you and tell you you’re no good. And when things got hard you started looking for someone to blame, like a big shadow. Let me tell you something you already know, the world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. It ain’t about how hard you hit but about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now, if you know what you are worth, then go out and get what you are worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers, saying you ain’t where you want to be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that, and that ain’t you. You are better than that!”

Rocky did a far better job describing what life is about than I ever could. Life is a tough journey that is filled with up and downs. Circumstances aren’t always going to turn out the way we hope and the sooner we accept it the better. There are times when everything would turn out the way we want and sometimes it won’t. We tend to look for whom to blame that failure on, whether it is our parents, friends, environment or the circumstances we find ourselves.

Challenges can be extremely intimidating leaving us feeling completely powerless as they are enough to make us question both our sanity and our ability to overcome them. We all handle challenges differently; some of us choose to embrace and face them head on while others cower at their presence. Whatever our positions, we all wish to conquer them and eradicate them from our lives altogether.

It is the challenges that we go through, that usually shape whom we become. How we react is what separates people who go on and achieve great things no matter what from people who just give up when obstacles come their way.

Life will always throw some obstacles in your way, but never let it keep you down. It is not easy but it can be achieved as long as you have a vision, if you persevere, are committed and willing to learn.

The reason these people are great is that they found their purpose and they used their unique talents to fulfil it. Our purpose is our destination, while success is the journey we embark on to reach that purpose. Every man must first find his purpose.

Life is sometimes like picking from a deck of cards; we don’t know what we are going to get but we have to decide what to do with it.

Most people focus on their lack of resources, such as money, time or connections, instead of focusing on their resourcefulness, like hard work, perseverance, courage or passion. You can use your resourcefulness to get resources but you can’t use your resources to get resourcefulness. We must learn to focus on the most important thing, which is our resourcefulness.

You determine your level of resourcefulness while you might not have control over your resources. This book is about developing the important one—our resourcefulness.

CHAPTER 1

DISPELLING THE MYTHS

There are some myths that people believe about success that sometimes hinder their ability to be successful. We will be discussing some of those myths and how they affect our lives and the lives of those around us in this chapter.

MYTH 1: BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY

After four years of working as a research analyst at Cashcraft Asset management, I decided it was my time to quit. I enjoyed my job because it offered me the opportunity to do what I did best; research and analyzing the Stock market. But I never felt fulfillment going to work everyday. It was at the height of the recession; many workers were being laid off and inflation was at an all-time high. A lot of businesses around the country were facing a lot of difficulties and the word on the street was that there was no money. I informed a close friend of my mine about the decision and he was shocked. His first response was, “Do you have another job?” to which I responded, “No, but I’m planning to start my own business.”

He cautioned me against resigning in that economic downturn, warning that I might regret it. He went on to lecture me about how there were a lot of people who would do anything to have my job. Why leave something that pays you money at the end of the month for something you won’t know when your next income will be available?

It’s a question that we either ask ourselves or others when they decide to leave the secure world of paid employment to start a business. People don’t like to get out of their comfort zone. My friend meant well, he was only looking out for my interest by making me aware of the risk I was taking. But we take risks every day. Leaving your house in the morning is a risk. Staying in your present job is a risk because you aren’t sure whether you are going to be fired today or not. Why take risks helping others and not take risks to help yourself?

A popular saying goes, ‘Better safe than sorry.’ I lived my life by that principle for so long only to realize later that by playing it safe most of my life I had settled for a mediocre kind of living. By playing safe and trying to avoid failure I had missed out on a lot of great opportunities that could have enhanced my life. As a new year began and I started to make New Year resolutions, I realized that my one goal since leaving college was to impact the world. The past few years had left me wondering what happened to that young college graduate who thought the world was in the palm of his hand, who was ready to leave his own footprints on it. He had now settled for an 8 – 5 job, doing the same thing almost every day and waiting for a pay check at the end of the month.

For almost four years I sat on the sidelines waiting for what I called the right time, only to realize there is no right time. The right time is to begin now if you want to make an impact on your world. And I thought to myself, what if I fail? It is okay to fail as long as you are not afraid to get up and keep fighting.

Author of Harry Potter book series, J.K. Rowling, in her 2008 commencement speech to Harvard University students said, “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you fail by default.” Playing it safe doesn’t protect you from failing. It might protect you from small failure but it ends up only exposing you to a bigger failure, which is not living the life you were meant to live. We were created for a purpose. And it is our duty to find that purpose and live it.

MYTH 2: FACTORS BEYOND ME

We can always make an excuse for our lack of success, whether it’s our environment, lack of capital or time, or family status. We are the ultimate deciders of our fate, not where we find ourselves. Our environment, capital, time and other factor can be a stumbling block to success but they can’t stop us. Our faith, courage and attitude are the important factors that help determine who we become. All of these have been deposited inside every one of us by God, so what we require to succeed is in us all.

Our environment, relatives and friends may disappoint us but that should never stop us. Pastor Myles Munroe once said that the wealthiest place on earth is the cemetery because it is full of many untapped potential. If you asked those dead people why they never fulfilled their potential, I am sure they could come up with many excuses that we can all relate to. They would give the excuses that we are giving right now. If we are looking for excuses as to why we are not living fulfilled lives, we can always find some.

I had a conversation some few months ago with a veteran Nigerian business man. I started by saying that what we need is not an agricultural revolution but an industrial revolution. Nigeria focusing on agricultural revolution means taking a 50-year step back. I went on to narrate how we need to build industries because it is the only way we can create substantial employment for our growing population. My friend responded that industries built in Nigeria cannot last due to factors such as lack of power and infrastructure. The infrastructural deficit is definitely a stumbling block to building a profitable business but it doesn’t make it impossible.

Many local companies, such as Dangote Group, House of Tara, Wakanow and Honeywell Group, are producing items every day and making profits. Multinational companies such as Shoprite, MTN, Etisalat, Total, and ExxonMobil have also come to Nigeria and made huge profits. It is our mindset that often limits us, not uncontrollable factors.

MYTH 3: I’M NOT SMART ENOUGH

A friend once approached me and said how he wished he was a computer geek. He would have become a billionaire by now, he said. He went on to name tech titans such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Jack Ma, and how their computer skills had turned them into billionaires. I have encountered many people who wished they had such skills and talked about how much their lives would have been so different if they did. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Jack Ma and other tech titans were able to change the world not because of their computer skills but their desire to change their world.

There are many computer geeks around the world but not all are billionaires. Steve Jobs had no idea how to build a computer when he co-founded Apple Inc. It was his business partner, Steve Wozniak, who had knowledge of building computers, but today Steve Jobs is synonymous with computer revolution. John D. Rockefeller knew nothing about the process involved in refining petroleum when he started his refinery business. He hired a bunch of scientist and engineers to help him build his refinery.

John D. Rockefeller only had a vision and a purpose and he hired people who could help him fulfill that vision and purpose. And he became the richest man to ever live. It is not your level of education or qualification that determines how successful you will become. It is your ability to convince people to create your dreams that matters. The richest people are the people who can hire the smartest people to fulfill their dreams. The Chinese billionaire, Jack Ma, once said, “that you must make sure you hire people who are smarter than you.”

MYTH 4: GIVE UP WHEN YOU FAIL

Just because we fail at something doesn’t mean we should give up. We should view failure as a way to learn how to do it better. It is said that Thomas Edison conducted a total of 10,000 failed experiments. He must have been tempted to quit but he persevered instead. Thomas Edison had about 10,000 reasons to give up but he didn’t. Instead, he saw it as 10,000 ways to make it better. That is why Thomas Edison is today considered one of the greatest inventors the world has ever known. He invented the incandescent light bulb, the photograph and about 1091 other inventions for which he either single handedly or jointly filed patent for.

We might not be able to determine what fate throws at us but we can determine how we react to it. Just because we fail at something the first time doesn’t mean we can’t succeed at it later. When we encounter multiple failures, we should not let ourselves be discouraged. We will never know if the next try is when we will get a breakthrough. Perseverance is a trait that we must all imbibe in order for us to succeed. Giving up is taking the easy way out when we fail; persevering is taking the hard way. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy, so we must learn to persevere.

President Muhammad Buhari of Nigeria won the Nigerian presidential election in 2015 on his fourth try. He first contested on the platform of All Nigeria Peoples Party in 2003 and 2007, and Congress for Progressive Change in 2011, before finally gaining a victory on the platform of All Progressives Congress in 2015.

President Buhari spoke about how he never wanted to run for the office of the president after failing thrice but was cajoled by stalwarts of the APC led by Governor Tinubu to contest the fourth time. On his fourth try, he defeated the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan. No incumbent had ever lost a Nigerian presidential election, and President Buhari not only won on his fourth try, but he made history as the first person to defeat an incumbent.

When we encounter multiple failures, we tend to retreat to our comfort zone. We must learn to persevere and not give up. Life is like being in a boxing ring and you will get knocked down a couple of times. But it doesn’t mean you’ve lost. You only lose when you decide not to stand up.

MYTH 5: I DON’T HAVE EXPERIENCE

Experience is not the most important factor that determines how successful you are. Having no experience doesn’t automatically mean you will fail, as long as you have vision and courage, a vision of what you want to accomplish in life and the courage to see it through. Experience without courage and vision will lead to fruitless effort. But you can accomplish so much if you have vision and courage, even without experience. Experience does give you better hindsight but it is not a prerequisite for success.

During the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, 17 candidates entered the race for the Republican nomination. Nine were past and serving governors, five were senators, and three had never held a political office. Out of the three newbies, one had run for office before but lost. Her name is Carly Fiorina. Only Donald Trump and Ben Carson had never run for office.

The pool of candidates boasted veteran Republican politicians such as Governors Jeb Bush and Mike Huckabee, Senators Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio and many more. Majority of the people, including me, never expected Trump to win. I thought to myself, he is a newbie so there is no way he can muscle his way through the shark-infested water that is the party primaries. Donald Trump won by surpassing the 1237 delegate count required for nomination on May 26, 2016 and he was formally nominated at the Republican convention in July.

The victory came as a surprise to most as very few people thought he had a chance to win the November 8 presidential election. His Democratic opponent was Hilary Clinton; she had served as first lady for eight years, a senator for another eight years, and four years as secretary of state. She was a household name in US politics and people expected an easy path to victory for her.

Donald Trump predicted his own victory but he was mocked by the major news media and politicians on both side of the aisle. Throughout his campaign he never wavered but displayed himself to be a man with vision and courage.

Donald Trump proved the critics wrong again by defeating Hilary Clinton at the November 8 US presidential election. The victory came as a surprise to everyone except Donald Trump. President Donald Trump never had the experience but he had a vision, a plan and courage. These three factors were good enough to help him reach the White House.

Experience is not the key to success as long as you have courage and vision. Fifteen of the seventeen Republican candidates had experience but they failed to clinch the nomination. You could have experience and still fail so why let the lack of it stop you from accomplishing your dream? Bill Gates never had any experience in programming when he created Microsoft. Today he is the richest man in the world. He only had a vision, a plan and courage which enabled him fulfil his dream.

MYTH 6: FAILING MEANS SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH MY FAITH

I had a friend named John who had a booming business for about three years. Then all of a sudden the business started to experience problems. The business began to have issues during a period when the country was experiencing an economic downturn. And most other businesses were facing problems in one form or the other. John was a devout Christian; he went to church at least twice a week, served as a worker in church, and he was one of the most upright people I knew.

As his business began to experience issues, he started to question his personal faith. He wondered if somehow he had offended God and God was using this problem to punish him. I couldn’t really understand why John was afraid of the state of his spirituality. God is love and He cares about us so much more than we can fathom. God isn’t like man. He isn’t monitoring every one of our moves in order to catch us in a transgression so He can punish us. I told him that the issue his business was facing was mostly due to the economic downturn of the nation and it would pass.

But he replied, “I am a Christian so I should be exempted from recession.” My response was, “You are correct to an extent, but that exemption depends more on God’s grace than our own action. Sometimes God might punish us for a wrong deed, but just because something goes wrong doesn’t necessarily mean that He is unhappy with us.”

There are many Christians like my friend John who think being a believer should shield you from all life’s dangers. Jesus said, “Carry your cross and follow me.” The cross represents a burden, so following Christ doesn’t shield you from problems in the world.

In fact, it was only one out of Jesus’s twelve disciples that did not die a violent death: Peter was crucified upside down, Paul was beheaded, and the other disciples, except John, died in gruesome ways. We have been called to take up our crosses and follow Christ. Yet most of us want to follow Christ without carrying our crosses.

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12: 8–10 (NKJV), “Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul was an apostle of Christ and he went through many tough times, but he did not take them to mean that his relationship with Christ had diminished. He went on to say that he took pleasure in reproaches, infirmities, persecution, needs and distresses because going through them was for the glory of Christ. Life couldn’t have been tougher for Paul, but he wasn’t comparing himself to others. God has a purpose for everything that occurs in our lives and our goal should be to see that purpose. When things aren’t going our way and we pray but there seems to be no answer, it doesn’t mean God has deserted us. It also doesn’t necessarily mean God is angry at us.

Paul said he prayed thrice for all his troubles to disappear but God replied that His grace was sufficient for him. What problem are you going through wherein you have prayed but there seems to be no answer? It doesn’t mean you are worse than those Christians who seem better off than you. The hardest part of being a Christian and going through issues is being surrounded by fellow Christians who appear to be better off.

Your breakthrough might not come today but it doesn’t mean it won’t come tomorrow. All you need to do is to keep your eyes on the author and finisher of our faith and He will lead you through.

If we are looking for excuses as to why we are not where we want to be, we could always find one. Never let anything stop you from achieving your dreams whether it’s your lack of experience, previous mistakes or fear of the unknown. You can achieve whatever you choose to pursue as long as you have faith in yourself, you are committed and are consistent. Our dreams are within our reach if we are willing to let go of our fears. We must master our thought process in order to achieve great things.

I remembered the first time I went skiing. It was about 10 years ago. I and about sixteen of my college buddies had spent our weeklong spring break volunteering in three different states—Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina. It was a trip shrouded in secrecy because we used MTV’s Road Rules as our theme. This meant we had no idea where we were going until a few hours before takeoff. We had to take part in a scavenger hunt to figure out our next destination. It was exciting and adventurous for me. During our trip to Boone, North Carolina, which is located up in the Great Smoky Mountains, the group leader, Ben, suggested that we all go skiing the next day. I didn’t know what skiing was so I didn’t have much of a reaction. Everyone else in my group seemed excited about the suggestion so I thought to myself that it couldn’t be that bad and so pretended to be excited.

Ben asked us to pray for a heavy snowfall that night so they wouldn’t have to use artificial snow at the ski resort. I had never seen snow before that day so I was pretty excited. I had grown up most of my life in Nigeria, which is a country that has a tropical climate. I had moved to the USA two years earlier but I lived in a small town called Milledgeville that was in Georgia and not a single inch of snow had ever fallen there. There was snowfall that night but it was just about an inch and a half of snow. I thought of asking my buddies what skiing was but I didn’t because of pride. What would they have thought of me if I asked them?

I called a friend of mine named Demetrius the next day just to chat. During our discussion, I informed him about the skiing trip that was to take place later in the day. I heard his hysterical laughter over the phone.

Demetrius asked, “Do you know how to ski or have you ever gone skiing?”

I replied, “No.”

He went on to say, “You are in for a surprise, but let me know how it goes.” After some silence, he remarked “I’m sure you are going with your white friends because most black people don’t ski.”

Demetrius is an African American so his hysterical laughter which had greeted my announcement fell into proper perspective. Maybe he was right after all, there were was one other black person in my team while the rest were white.

Around three o’clock, my buddies and I left for the ski lodge. The trip took us about twenty minutes. We got down from the bus and headed straight for the rental section. We rented equipment and went straight to the ski slope. At the ski slope, everyone on my team put on their ski gear while I struggled with mine. A friend came over and asked if he could help but I told him not to worry. All my friends started going down the slope and skiing except Ashley.

She removed her gear and dropped her pole and walked towards me.

Ashley asked, “Can I help you with your gear?”

I answered “Yes” and she proceeded to show me how to put them on.

She asked with a smile, “Do you know how to ski?”

I replied that I didn’t and she said, “I guess I was right. I had been watching you and thought you might need help.” Ashley proceeded to put on her gear and pick her ski poles. She asked me to watch and follow her lead. As I tried to move down the slope I fell down.

With each fall, Ashley encouraged me to try again. I tried five more times but fell on each occasion. I thought it was time to quit. I began to think to myself, Ashley is as patient and encouraging as she could and I can’t do it. I guess Demetrius was right about the race issue. I could hardly find a black person on the slope, too, so maybe this was not meant for me.

So I turned to Ashley and said, “I am no longer interested. Skiing is not meant for me. I have tried so many times and have failed. Go and have your fun, don’t let me stop you.”

She frowned and replied, “I’m not leaving you until you learn how to ski. I know you can do it if you would just try harder.”

After realizing how determined she was I told her I was willing to learn as long as she was willing to teach. I stood up and tried to ski as she had been teaching me…………

Buy the Book on Amazon kindle to find out the rest of the story.

The link to the book is............ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FMCVGM7

How to get a salary increase

2018-07-30T21:35:00.002-07:00

Many of of us believe we deserve a pay raise but most of us do not know how to go about it. Asking for an increase in salary is sometimes an akward conversation, so most of us shy away from it. People spend about five or six or more years at a particular company without a pay raise. I had a friend who worked for a particular company for seven years without a salary increase. Shecomplained about how she was being snubbed while those she felt were close to the company's management were getting an increase. She wanted a wage increase abut she wasnt sure about how to go about it. Here are some tips that could help you achieve the pay raise.
Have a career plan
You need to have a written down career plan. The plan should include your goals, time period to achieve those goals and how you can achieve those goals. Lots of people do not have a career plan and tend not to know when to ask for a raise. If you want to achieve something, you need to have a well thought out plan. Have a twenth year career plan that includes your promotion goals and salary increasegoals.

Know your value
You need to know your worth to the company as in how much you contribute to the company. You cant ask for a pay raise if you cant provide evidence that would justify the raise. It is important for you to evaluate your contribution to the company to determine this. Here are some questions to ask yourself to determine your worth to the company.

How are you performing in comparison with your colleagues at work
If you were the supervisor, would you be satisfied with your work.
Have you been surpasing underperforming in terms of the company target.
Have you acquired new skills or undergone any new training that would make you more valuable as an employee.

If your answer is yes to atleast three of these question then you should go ahead to ask for a pay raise.

Do your research
Do your research about what your peers earn, i mean other people in your position. It is important to know what others earn in order to use it to booster your arguement during the salary negotiation. Make sure you ask a family, friend or colleagues for advise when such information is not readily available.
It is important to know what the market is paying for someone with your credentials and level of experience. It is advsable that you use atkeast two or more sources.

Timing your request
The timing of your request is also another important factor that you must consider. Find out when your company promotes its workers, wether its during the year or eork anniversary. Most people tend to ask for pay raise after their evaluation and it is usually late by then. For big companies who operate on budget, you need to ask atleast three months before the evaluation or two months before the end of the year. This timing is important in large companies because salary increase must be included in the budget before it can be approved.
It is advisable not to ask for a pay raise when your company is going through a downturn or trying to cut cost.
Let people know your value
Make sure that other people in the company know your value. Hardwork is not sometimes enough to get the salary increase you desire. Advancing your career in today's workplace requires taking an aproach that is less about you and more about others. One of such approach is doing more than your job description. Just doing alone what you are rewuired to do would not get you noticed. The most effective way to be noticed is being efficient at helping others become efficient in doing their jobs. It involves being a leader. It involves placing yourself in a such a position that when people are looking for help, they automatically seek you. These doesnt mean that you should be a pushiver. But whenever you come across a colleague in geniune need of help, please offer one.
Practise
Look a friend, relative or coworker to practise salary negotiation with. Salary negotiation can be an award conversation, having a practise session would let you know how well prepared you are for it. It would also boost your confidence when taking part in the real negotiation.
Ask for the pay raise
The final and most important step in getting a salary increase is to ask for one. Many workers are usually too scared to ask for raise due to fear of rejection or termination of employment. You would never know whether you would get it or not until you asked. So just take the bull by the horn and ask for what you deserve. Tips about asking:

Schedule a meeting with you boss/ supervisor
Start the conversation on positive note
Be specific in your denand
Present your facts/data
Dont be arrogant
Dont threaten
Thank your supervisor even if he rejects
Ask for the reason when rejected

Tips to getting Job without Experience

2018-07-27T01:44:00.000-07:00

The most common complaints among new entrants into the workforce is that most jobs require one form of experience or the other. From my conversations with new job entrants, lack of experience is one of the reasons for their inability to secure a job. They wonder how can I get a job without experiece when most job vacancy requires it. This article is about how to get a job with little or no expeeience.

1. Positive Atitude and self confidence:

The most important step to take when seeking employment is to have a positive atitude and self confidence. You must believe that you would get a job and you are qualified enough to get one. What we think is what we become, so be mindful of your thoughts. Employers like to hire people with posituve atitude and self confidence.

2. Identify your skills

Identify and list the skills that you posses which you know would be useful in the workplace. Skills such as microsoft office expertise, data analysis, programming, writing and other basic skills. Highlight tthis skills when writing your resume. Most employers dont expect you to have experience as a graduate: so they would focus on your skills which shows your potential.
3. Don't try to oversell yourself
Many people in a bid to impress their potential employers would lie on their resume. Many employers tend to see through the deceit during the interview section and usually outrightly reject the applicant. Avoid deceit when composing your resume.
4. Volunteer
A way to gain experience is to volunteer. You could list your volunter experience as experience in your resume. A friend at church had spent two years volunteering to lead different projects at my church. A vacancy for the position project maager at an oil firm became available, he applied and the only experience he highlighted were the work he had done at the church. He got the job. Volunteering is a great way to gain experience.
5. Networking
Networking is important, so please expand your network. Attend different events at your area and network with people. I met my my first employer at an end of the year party being held by a family friend. Go out and meet people, you never know whom might help you.
6. Rejections shouldn't discourage you.
Many people get discouraged after they've experienced lots of rejected job applications. They tend to become discouraged and lose hope. We must learn to not take the rejections personal. There are so many reasons why you could be rejected, its not neccessarily because you are not good enugh. Former British Prime minister Winston Churchill once said "success is moving from failure to failure with ethusiasm." Don't give up no matter the number of rejected job applications you get.
7. Don't be too picky
It is good not to settle for any kind of job but you must make sure you are not too picky either. Salary is an important factor to consider when accepting a job offer but it shouldnt be the only measuring stick to be used. Consider other factors such as personal growth potential, work culture and your vision for your life
8. Keep learning
Learning is an important, the more you learn the greater your chances of being employed. Learn skills that you lack but are important in your potential industry, study your industry and learn about your enviroment. A popular saying states"no knowledge is lost. The more you learn the more you grow, which usually increases your chances of being hired.
9. Emphasize your soft skills
Place emphasis on your soft skills such as organizational skills, communication, leadership and other skills, when writing your resume. Potential employers do consider this skills when making a decision to hire you or not.
10. Professionalize your resume
Your resume is the most important tool when seeking a job. Many job applications have being rejected because of not well written resume. Your resume is the first thing your potential employer uses to eevaluate you. Please ask a professional to reviw your resume or ask them to help you write one. They might charge some fees but it would be worth it.

10 Tips to Ace your Job interview

2018-07-26T05:55:00.000-07:00

The moment someone gets the call or email informing you that you've been selected for the job interview, they tend to become nervous and spend time agonising about how to pass the interview. This article would give you some tips on how you could ace your job interview.
1. Dress Properly:
You need to plan your wardrobe ahead of the interview. Make sure you wear an outfit that fits into the company dress code or culture. Take time to research what the company's dress code is and dress appropriately. If you dont know the company's dress code, wear something formal such as wearing a trouser, shirt and a tie. It is better to be over dressed than under dressed. First impression matters a lot: your attire influences your potential employer's first impression of you. Stay away from outfit that reveals too much and make sure your clothes are properly washed and pressed.
2. Arrive Early
Make sure you arrive at the venue of the interview. Plan to arrive atleast 30minutes before the set time. Put in cognisance factors such as traffic and other factors you have no control over when deciding what time to leave. No employer wants to hire someone who is not time conscious, so make sure you arrive early.
3. Be Prepared
Some companies would require you to come along withsome documents such as your resume, passport, a form of ID and other things. Make sure you have this documents ready and put them in a file or whatever you are taking to the interview venue. If you do not know what would be required of you, please do not hesitate to ask the contact person.
4. Conduct a mock interview
Find a friend or relation and ask them to serve as your mock interviewer. You could find potential questions that you might be asked during the interview on the internet, download these questions. Hand those questions to the person that would be acting as your mock interviewer and ask them to ask you. Ask them for their candid opinion on your performance during the mock interview. You can conduct the mock interview as much as you like till you feel comfortable with your performance. This mock interview would provide you with confidence when you are going for your real interview.
5. Be courteous
Please be courteous to everyone you meet at the venue of the job interview. Greet and make eye contact with everyone you come across from the gateman, receptionist, customers, staff members and the interviewers. Greeting everyone shows that you respect people and you never know who might help you. I once went for an interview, greeted and made small with a man i met on the elevator, to only later find out he was the executive director at the company I was applying to. You never know whom you might run into, so be couteous to everyone.
6. Body Language
Your body language is very important during the interview process. Make eye contacts with the interviewers, have a good sitting posture and speak with confidence when answering questions. You do not want to sound nervous during an interview process, it gives a negative impression of you. I advised to conduct a mock iterview earlier in order to bost your self cofidence.
7. Research the company and position
It is important that you research about the company that you are applying. Findout about its management, social reputation, market share, policies and culture. Most employers expect that you would have done your research on the company. Find out asbout the position you are applying for, such as the requirement, responsibilities and what makes you best qualified for it.
8. Memorize two stories that sums up your strength and weaknesses.
The question about your strength and weaknesses are one of the most common interview questions. Think of two stories that shows your stregth and weaknesses some days before the interview and have them memorized.
9. Ask questions
The interviewer usually ends the iterview with "do you have any questions?" Please ask questions about the company and position you are applyig for. It shows that you are prepared. Think f questions you want to ask days before the interview. The mock interview is a chance think about the questions you would ask.
10. Follow up
If you dont get a response a few days after the interview, you do a follow up to find out if you passed or not. Getting no feedback doesnt neccessarily mean you failed the interview. It might be that the person who ought to call you forgot to do so. I have forgotten to call people who had passed the job interview on a few occassion especially when am swaped with so many activities

Mastering your mindset

2018-03-04T11:07:00.000-08:00

Mastering your mindset
To be successful you must be able to control your thoughts. You become what you think. Your mind is the key to your success, health and happiness. The Bible said as a man thinkenth within, so he is. Your thoughts are very powerful because they control your action. And we can all agree that your actions define whom we are. We can’t escape our thoughts but we can control them. Our thoughts are pictures created in our minds by influence of our parents, friends, environment and past personal experiences. It is the window through which we use to see life, and we use it to frame everything
We have control over our thoughts and we must learn to use that control to our benefits. We must stop focusing on the negatives thought and begin to focus on the positive. People who tend to focus on the negatives can’t achieve much. I know some few friends and family members whom at the moment you share a business ideas, their first response is to tell you why it won’t work. It isn’t that they don’t mean well; I guess they are only trying to be cautious. But if you spend your life only looking at the negatives side of an opportunity you would never go far. It is good to be cautious when taking a business decision, but do not become over cautious. There is no reward without taking a risk. We must learn to program our minds to be optimistic.
We are bombarded with negative things everyday that pulls us down.
Love yourself
The first step towards mastering your mind is to love yourself. Loving yourself means knowing your self worth. You need to have a high sense of self worth in order for people not to diminish your self worth. It also helps you accomplish many things. When you have a high sense of self worth, you would believe that there is nothing that you can’t accomplish. Even when a few obstacles come your way, you wouldn’t back down from pursuing your goals. Successful people have a high sense of self worth.

Learn your strength and weakness
It is important for us to know how strength and weaknesses in order to achieve great things. When you know your strength, you know the things you can accomplish. And you channel your strength to achieve your goals. Knowing your strengths gives you confidence in your ability and helps you decide where to focus on. Knowing your weaknesses could be seen as an advantage; it gives you an idea of what to work on or what kind of partner to choose.

Gain new knowledge
It is said the average CEO's read about 70-80 books a year. Many CEO's love to read in order to gain new knowledge. Gaining new knowledge gives you confidence. If you aren’t learning, you aren’t growing. What new knowledge are you gaining that could help you achieve your dream. Don’t be satisfied with what you know no matter how much you think you know. With the resources available to us such as Google, you tube and books; we have no excuse as to why we can’t learn something new. Gaining new knowledge gives you confidence in yourself and helps you build a positive mind set.

Stepping out of your comfort zone
What have you always wanted to try but failed to do so due to your fear of failure. Set a challenge for yourself and face this fear. To build a winner's mindset you must be willing to step out of your comfort zone. Most of us are stuck to our comfort zone and fear what might happen if we dare to step out. We need to challenge ourselves from time to time in order to build our self confidence. Getting out of your comfort zone doesn’t mean you won’t fail, but each time you fail try it again. With each try, you build your self confidence.

Spend less time worrying
Every human worries about one thing or the other, and that is okay. It would even be better if the worry leads us to take effective action. But worrying becomes a problem when we spend majority of our time just thinking without taking any action to ease our worries. Worrying never solves any problem, it could only create more problems that could affect your health such as hypertension or depression. To master your thoughts process, you must spend less time worrying.

Find something worth fighting for
We all need something to keep pushing us even when we want to give up. I remember the reason why I started to write my book was I had found the girl I wanted to spend the rest of my life and my goal was to be able to provide whatever she wanted. I had an income but it was an average income and I wanted to provide the best things for her. There were moments I would tell myself that I couldn’t write the book anymore, but was motivated to go on by the life I had dreamt for us. Find something to push you whether it’s providing a better life for your immediate family or extended family or some other cause.

Learn to remove impossible
To have a winner’s mindset, you must learn to remove the word impossible from your dictionary. The word impossible mostly exist in our state if mind. Almost every great modern invention were viewed as impossible before they were made. No one thought cars that we’re affordable to the average worker could be built before Henry Ford built them. No one thought affordable PCs could be built before the mid 70s. With our of advancement, it has been proven that nothing is impossible to accomplish as long as you have the will. Never think you can’t achieve something because it seems hard to achieve or people tell you it’s impossible. Program your mind to believe you can achieve anything.

Never let other people thought become your reality
Do not let what others say or think about you become your reality. People’s words or thought does not have any power over you unless you let them. It is your personal view of yourself that matters. There are people who would think you are not good enough, smart enough or tough enough. Don’t listen to them, what they think doesn’t matter, it is what you think that matters. I can’t count how many times have been told you are not made for this or you are too soft for this, I have learned to ignore such comments. I decide to give it a try, and have never regretted it. I fail sometimes like they predicted but I view those failure as an opportunity to learn.

Forgive yourself for past mistakes
Lots of people are indecisive because they are hunted by their past mistakes. They are e afraid to take risks because each time they try to, the ghost of their past rare it’s ugly head. We all mistakes, even the best of us. We can learn from past mistakes but we must never let it define us. Just because you failed in the past doesn’t mean you can’t successful in your next try. There are people in your life who are try remind of your past, don't let that discourage you.

Baroness Thatcher and Apartheid Regime in South Africa

2013-04-21T09:52:00.003-07:00

Margaret Thatcher was United Kingdom’s prime minister from 1979 to 1990. She was the first and only female prime minister in the UK. I have a lot of admiration for her because of what she accomplished during her tenure as prime minister. I am a conservative, so I would describe her and late U.S. President Ronald Reagan as my role models. Some foreign policies of Baroness Thatcher have been reviewed following the announcement of her death, but the one that caught my attention was the apartheid policy. The current U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron who belongs to the conservative party (same as Baroness Thatcher) apologized for her apartheid policies and voiced his disagreement. I am an African, the word apartheid only bring back bad memories of fellow Africans being discriminated against in their own homeland. Anyone who supported such a regime must be racist and doesn’t deserve to be admired or respected by me. But I admire and respect the late Baroness, so I had to find out myself what her true position was on apartheid.

The claim that Baroness Thatcher supported the apartheid regime isn’t completely true; she made it clear in several speeches that the discrimination policies of apartheid regime should stop. She also voiced her belief that everyone should be treated equal no matter the color of their skin while criticizing the apartheid regime. When Botha, the apartheid South African leader visited her in Chequers, she advised him to change his discrimination policy. Some asked why she received Botha while other world leaders were rejecting him; I don’t think it was a show of support for the regime but her belief that talking to him might help the situation. Let’s not forget, it was the late Baroness who convinced Ronald Reagan to talk to Gorbachev during times when tensions were high between the Soviets and the U.S. She received ANC leaders such as Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela after he was freed while she served as prime minister

The failure to support the enforcement of economic sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa has also been raised as evidence of Thatcher’s support for apartheid. I disagree with her on this issue because if Britain had supported the sanctions, apartheid might have ended earlier. But I might also be wrong and she might be right. She was against sanctions because she believed sanctions would only harden the heart of apartheid leaders of South Africa and the people who would suffer most are poor blacks. We have seen many sanctions implemented against countries such as Iran, North Korea, Iraq, Syria and Zimbabwe. How effective have these sanctions being? They did not change the policies of these governments; we could say they have only hardened their hearts. The people who are bearing the brunt of these sanctions are the poor people in these countries. We conclude that Margaret could have been right about her position on economic sanctions. She might have also done it to

The branding of African national congress (‘ANC’) as a terrorist organization by her administration has been pointed as an evidence of her support for the apartheid regime. The major reason why she branded ANC as a terrorist organization was because they carried out attacks on both military and civilians and their families. Some of ANC’ victims were also blacks. A lot of innocent people suffered during this attacks and this led Thatcher to brand ACN as a terrorist organization. Baroness Thatcher opposed people who killed other innocent people no matter the cause they were fighting for. Her treatment of Northern Ireland and Iran hostage crisis are evidence of hatred of political violence no matter the purpose. And I agreed with her that bloodshed wasn’t the right way, no one has the right to shed innocent blood in the name of liberation. I totally disagree with her decision to brand ANC as a terrorist organization because they were an organization seeking the liberation of the black people in South Africa.

Baroness Thatcher wasn't a racist, but a woman who believed that dialogue was the way forward in South Africa. She demanded the release of Mandela and promised she would not visit South Africa unless he was released. In 1989, she paid a six day visit to different countries in Southern Africa but did not visit South Africa because Mandela wasn't released. She also demanded the release of of other 'ANC' leaders such as Walter Sisulu and Oscar Mpetha before any dialogue could take place. Baroness Thatcher was slow to act in South Africa; not because she was racist but because she thought the best approach was dialogue. The end of the apartheid came about through dialogue just like she had proposed. Margaret Thatcher might not have been as aggressive as she should have been with the apartheid regime but it doesnt mean she supported it.

Richt deserves Better

2012-01-10T12:17:00.000-08:00

This is a blog I wrote about two months ago before the sec game. Even though the UGA Dawgs didnt win the SEC title, this blog needs to be published.

I couldn’t help think of the irony when I saw people write the praise of Mark Richt on facebook and twitter a week ago. They seem to have forgotten last year when they seemed to be clamoring for Mark Richt’s resignation. UGA has won its fifth trip to an SEC Game under Richt’s tenure to play LSU, so all is forgotten. I couldn’t personally forget some of the most angering message for Richt’s resignation after the losing season and 0-2 start this year.

UGA had won only six games last year and managed to make it to a bowl game and lost. The UGA bulldogs ended last season with the losing record of 6-7 and I began to hear for the clamor of firing Mark Richt. Words couldn’t really describe how shocked I was to hear that some UGA fans thought Mark Richt should go. This was a man who had coached for 10 years, taken it to four sec title games, won two sec titles and three bcs bowl appearance with two wins. UGA has also ended on the final top ten CFB ranking three times, twice in the top 5. It was the first time UGA had ever ended up with a losing season under his tenure. With a losing season he still had an average of 9.6 wins during his tenure his ten years. There were very few coaches would boast of such a resume and the first bad season we have, they want his resignation. I thought then that everyone who was suggesting his resignation should be ashamed because his resume is good enough to tell the story of what a great coach he is. I was glad when Mark Richt kept his job, and realized maybe some people at UGA’s athletic Dept. are smart enough to know how valuable he is.

This season began on a sore note as the bulldogs lost their first two games. The idea of Coach Richt resigning began to rear itself again. Losing the first two games is not the best way to start a season but I believed that Richt’s accomplishment in the past ten seasons should earn him our respect. UGA has won ten straight games, the SEC East title and a trip to the SEC title game. I am very sure few people expected such an accomplishment after such a poor start but I wasn’t surprised. Since the year 2002; I start every year expecting the bulldogs would the cfb national title, no matter what the preseason polls states. I have been disappointed over and over again but I have never lost faith in them. This expectation is mostly due to my confidence in Mark Richt coaching ability. We might not make it to the national title or win the SEC title tomorrow, though am hoping we do. Everyone who were clamoring for his resignation should apologize to Richt and admit how wrong they were because he deserves better fans.

There is God in every human

2011-11-11T08:45:00.000-08:00

A tweet by a friend (Katie) some few weeks ago inspired me to write this. She tweeted "you cant love someone if you don't see God in them," but I cant remember the second and last part of the tweet. I completely agreed with Katie's tweet. It was a tweet that got me thinking and it reminded of a scene in a classic movie called strange Cargo (1945). In the scene, A prisoner named Verne (clark gable) tries to mock Cambreau belief in the bible by telling him that some things in the bible didn't make sense. He said for example, the quote "God created man in his own image." Verne went on to say "look at me do I look like a god to you?" "And this forsaken place is full of gods I suppose (referring to fellow prisoners). Cambreau replied "the answer is simple, it means that each man has the some qualities of God inside him." Camnreau later said there is good in every man and the good in man is God.

Genesis 1:27 states "So God created man in his own image." The meaning of the word image in "we created in God's image" doesn't only refer to only physical form but his qualities. Colossians 1:15 states "He is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation." Colossians 1 was referring to Christ as the image of God, which meant Jesus had all of God's qualities. Christ showed all of God's qualities while he was on earth. We are all created in God's image and some of God's qualities are in us all. We must learn to approach people like God created them; in his image. It is the only that way, we could learn to truly love others. We cant love others if we don't see the qualities of God in them. Everyone had some of God's qualities in them, but need the Holy Spirit to bring it out.. I have wondered why sometimes God hasn't given up on humans including me because I have failed him many times. God sees the best in us because he knows we have some of his qualities is us but we only need the Holy Spirit. The next time you find it hard to love someone, remember they are created in God's image and approach them that way.

I would like to read your opinion on this, or your own interpretation.

Strength in forgiveness

2011-10-27T14:20:00.000-07:00

Strength in forgiveness

It is Halloween and it’s time for everyone to dress up. My favorite costume would be a superhero costume. I am a big comic geek and my favorite superhero is superman. Superman is my favorite hero because he has lots of powers such as flying, shooting fire from his eyes, super-speed, super-hearing, huge lung capacity and super strength. I am yet to find any superhero or villain who could match superman's strength except doomsday. But as much as I respect Superman's character I always sometimes view him as weak. I always thought he was weak because he never liked to use his power to hurt people even they deserve it, even if they are a threat to his life. I just couldn't understand how someone with so much power seems so linient. In our culture, a man's strength seems to be judged based on how many of his enemies he could defeat. I have come to realize how backward we have it.

A quote from one of my favorite movies "Schindler's list" says "power is when we have every justification to kill, and we don't". Oskar Schindler went to tell a story of a man who was caught stealing and was taken to the emperor. The man knew he was going to die so he begged the emperor for mercy, and the emperor pardoned him. He concluded by saying "that's power." Schindler was trying to tell the German officer that power is not killing people because you can but pardoning them when you could kill them. Our true strength doesn't lie in punishing people who have hurt us when we get a chance to them, but forgiving them when we have a chance to hurt them. This is because it is easy to seek revenge when we get a chance to hurt someone that has hurt us, anyone can be vengeful. But it takes a lot of heart, courage and character to forgive people when you have a chance to get even.
It is hard to forgive someone who has hurt you especially if they hurt you real bad. When someone hurts you, you seek revenge because you want them to feel the pain you felt. But that never solves anything, it would only lead to more pain for someone else. It wouldn't undo what has already happened and might lead to causing you more pain in the future.

Superman is still my favorite superhero because his true strength doesn't lie in all those amazing powers but in his ability to give people second chance even to people who don't seem to deserve. Let us not forget our true strength lies in our ability to forgive, not in our ability to be vengeful.

Things to do before 30

2011-10-25T00:54:00.000-07:00

If you know me well, you would know am not a planner. I detest making list because I think life is more adventurous when you don't plan. I have had my own share of adventures but as I turn a year older today, I realize that there are some few adventures have missed. I realize that making a list would help me realize which goals I ha've met and haven't met, and it doesn't remove the adventure from it. Maybe I have old age to thank for that or maybe all those lessons on the importance of planning by friends is finally yielding fruits. This is the list of things I haven't done that I would like to do before 30.

Go Bungee jumping
Learn to Swim well (Am really ashamed of this one)
Take part in triathlon after accomplishing the second
Live in a boat house for at least a week
Visit Russia
Learn to Surf
Own a Mustang convertible or Jeep Cherokee
Hike the smoky mountain trail
Go to a Brad Paisley/ George Strait/ Kenny Chesney Concert or all three would be awesome.
Go to a UGA football game
Go to a Duke Basketball game
Take a long road trip without a destination in mind
Go to a Yankee- Red Sox game
Visit a shooting range
Ride an Helicopter
Go para-surfing
Visit at least 10 of the remaining 20 states have never been to.
Visit NYC
Get married

Its All about Him: Second chapter

2011-10-23T18:11:00.001-07:00

2: Where is He?

During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake they were terrified. “It’s a ghost” they said and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them “take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.”

Matthew 14:25-27

The disciples must have gotten really scared when they saw Jesus walking on water. They didn’t recognize him and thought that he was a ghost. They must have been scared because they had never experienced such a thing and couldn’t understand it. They must have felt things were getting worse; first it was the ship being buffeted by the waves and now a ghost was walking on water. I am sure they began to wonder where Jesus was so that He could save them.

There had never been any problem Jesus didn’t solve- from stilling the storm, feeding four thousand people, driving out demons, healing the sick, making the lame walk and many other miracles. Some of the thoughts that might have gone through their minds were maybe if Jesus was here; he could still the storm and done something about the ghost! “They might have had one very important question on their mind, where was Jesus?”

I talked about a story in the earlier chapter of a question that a friend asked me; “Where is your God now?” I was shocked and couldn’t answer that question immediately because I had asked myself that question personally before. The truth was I felt alone during that time because I couldn’t believe it was all happening to me at once. I considered myself a strong Christian and somehow thought that it meant everything was going to be smooth, and if it wasn’t then something is wrong. I am sure we have all asked ourselves this question when things are going really bad especially if there aren’t signs it will get better. Where is God? Why is this happening to me if he is here? I found part of the answer to the question when I read a poem by Mary Stevenson called

“Footprints in the Sand.”

Footprints in the Sand

One night I dreamed I was walking

On the beach with the lord

Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky

In each scene I noticed footprints in the sky

Sometimes there were two sets of footprints

Other times there was one set of footprint

This bothered me because I noticed

That during the low periods of my life

When I was suffering from anguish sorrows or defeat

I could only see one set of footprints

So I said to the Lord,

You promised me Lord, that if I followed you

You would walk with me always

But I have noticed during the most trying

periods of my life there have only been one set of footprints in the sand

Why, when I needed you most

you have not been there for me?

The Lord replied, ‘the time when you have

seen only one set of footprints, is when I carried you.

The poem describes how a lot of Christians feel when we are going through some form of adversary. We believe that God is with us when everything is going well and wonder if he has abandoned us when we face adversaries. It is a common fact that most people only spend a few moments to pray when things are going well and seem to become prayer warriors when things are going bad. Some say it is because they don’t have much to pray about when everything is fine. I partly disagree because we believe that everything going great is a sign that God is with us and the opposite is a sign that God has abandoned us. We assume this because we tend cling to the idea that God would not allow any bad thing to happen to us if he is with us. You don’t spend hours writing emails, calling or texting someone who is always with you, because you don’t need a lot of effort to talk to them. You tend to make effort such as email, calls and texting to communicate with someone who is far away. We pray more or study our bible more often in troubled times because we believe that God has abandoned us.

The poem, “footprints in the sand” talked about Jesus response to the accusation that he/she was abandoned during their trial periods. Christ responded “the times when you have only seen one sets of footprints is when I carried you.” The response by Christ best describes what happens when Christians are going through trials. God is always with us and he is always there to guide us through those tough times. The author didn’t realize that there was no way he could have made through those troubled times on his own without God’s help. God loves us and is always with us no matter what happens even when we think he has abandoned us.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Deuteronomy 31:16

David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished.

1 Chronicle 28:20

Deuteronomy 31 reminds us that we should never be terrified or afraid because God is always with us. God also said He will never forsake nor abandon us. It should serve as an assurance to us because we have a God who never goes back on his promises. David said in psalm 23 that “though I walk through the darkest valley. I shall fear no evil, for you are with me. David had confidence that God was always with him even the time of trials. He knew that he served a God that would never leave him nor forsake him. David also said he would fear no evil, to show how much trust he has in God. We must have more confidence in the God we serve just like David did because He would never abandon us. Romans 8:31 states “If God is for us, who can be against us.” We serve a God who created heaven and earth. He can provide, heal, comfort and protect us. His is above all powers in heaven and on earth. We must learn to trust him and cling to the hope that he would always be there for us.

It is a general consensus that people including unbelievers seek God most during their time of troubles because they tend to pray, study their Bible and fast more but I disagree. They are mostly seeking solution to their problem instead of Him. The problem is we tend to seek a solution to our problems instead of seeking him, so we don’t see him. God doesn't need our prayer, fasting or bible study to rescue us; but he has asked us to do this because he wants a relationship with us. We are usually too distracted by the problem for us to notice his presence just like the disciples were too distracted to do the same in the boat. Jesus was walking towards them but none of them realized he was the one. The strong waves might have caused a fog which might have impaired their vision. It is easy for the problems in our life to cloud our judgments but it doesn't mean that God has deserted us.

Is God Real?

A question people ask apart from “Where is God?” is “Is God real? “When people are going through tough times, they don’t only question where God is but if He is real. One of my favorite verses to answer this question is:

Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that

Romans 1:19-20

God created heaven and earth in such a way that every person from every nation would know that there is a God. Scientist and atheist can deny God as much they want, but science can’t explain everything and they don’t realize that’s God’s way of telling us that he truly exists. The Bible said God has made himself known through his eternal power since the creation of the world so that no one would have an excuse for denying God’s existence. Scientists have claimed that the creation theory can’t be proved or disproved through a scientific method so they can’t scientifically prove it’s wrong. Evolution has questions that needs to be answered such as why is there only limited evidence of transitional fossils; which is what usually shows how species evolve and why elementary particles have masses and other traits that they do. Most scientists would admit that evolution doesn’t explain everything and they can’t tell you why, but the answer could be found in Roman 1:19-20; God created the universe in such a way that men won’t have excuse for denying his existence.

When I look at creation; I just can’t phantom how it could only come about by mistake. I know that my God is the one who created heaven earth to show how great his glory is. One of my favorite quotes from the TV series Smallville is “Do you ever think there is a reason why we were never given all the answers? To challenge us? No, to humble us.” I believe this quote summarizes why scientists can’t find all the answers.

The work of the Holy Spirit

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

John 14:16-18

We are not alone because we have God living in us in form of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is meant to guide, strengthen and teach so that we could be equipped for the work we are called to. Jesus knew we were going to face trials and also understood that we couldn’t overcome them on our own, so he sent us the Holy Spirit. Jesus describes him as the helper, counselor and spirit of truth. The Holy Spirit is all we need to guide us through life because he is God’s spirit. Jesus describes him as the one who knows God’s will and he will show us if we listen to him. The Holy Spirit is the one who differentiates us from the world because he is the only one who calls us and gives us the strength to follow Christ. A lot of Christians underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit by underestimating what God can do through them.

I remember the first time I thought of serving as summer missionary; I wasn’t sure I should go. I thought I would be a bad missionary because I was stubborn and didn’t like taking orders. I was willing to do anything except speak in public because I was an introvert. Since I was young, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do but there two jobs I never wanted to do and they were being a teacher and a pastor (this was after I gave my life to Christ). I knew in my heart that God wanted me to serve that summer. One night while I was praying, God showed me a vision of a huge house with a door and when I entered it was full of everything I could ever imagine. God said the house represents the Holy Spirit because there was nothing He couldn’t provide, all I need to do is knock on the door, ask with faith and I will receive it. The summer was tough at first because I began to rely on my own strength, but God reminded me that I have forgotten to knock and ask. God did transform me in amazing ways that summer and thought me a lot of lesson that summer.

The Holy Spirit first thought me the importance of quiet time. During the first few weeks, I was focused on trying to serve people while I ignored my personal time with God. I began to feel discouraged, but the Holy Spirit began to remind me that I have been ignoring my personal quiet time. I began to cultivate the habit of spending a personal quiet time with God every morning. I began to see the fruit such as I became more enthusiastic about my assignment every day and was able to serve others better. The Holy Spirit reminded me that Christians were like an electric lamp; it can’t light up a room if it is not plugged to its power source. God is our power source and we have no light to shine if we aren't plugged to him. The Holy Spirit also helped me to overcome my fear of public speaking that summer. I didn't how it happened but I learnt that letting him speak through me was the key.

I don’t think most Christians realize how lucky we are to have the Holy Spirit living in us. It is the spirit that was in all the great prophets such as Elijah, Elisha, Moses, Samuel; that was also in great kings such as David, Solomon and Saul (before he disobeyed God). This is also the Spirit of Christ and the spirit that was in every one of the apostles as they did may great things. Romans 8:11 states “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. This is the Spirit of God living in us. There is nothing impossible for God to do, so there is nothing impossible for the Holy Spirit to do through us.

I remember talking to a friend about the topic of healing a few years ago; he said there wasn’t healing any longer. I asked how come the people the apostles prayed for got healed; he answered because they saw Jesus. I told him that the apostles were only able to heal people because they had the Holy Spirit. The prophets in the Old Testament were only able to do marvelous things because of the Holy Spirit. Moses said in Numbers 11, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” He knew made him different from the rest of the people was the Spirit of God. We now have this Spirit given to us freely when we accept Christ as our savior because Christ died for us. The gift of the Holy Spirit is the greatest gift after salvation that God has given to man.

He is what differentiates us from the rest world and there are many great things he could do through us. We must accept the Holy Spirit and not try to hinder His power.

Is Religion to blame?

2011-10-20T13:37:00.000-07:00

I was having a discussion with an atheist friend of mine on religion about a week ago. A point that he made that stuck to me most was when he asked. "isn't it ironic that religion seems to be behind every major conflict?" It wasn't the first time I had heard such a statement, but the sad part is it seems partly true on the surface. From the crusaders, Spanish inquisition, Schmaldalic wars and thirty years war in the past to present day conflict such as Israel-Palestine conflict, religious riot in Nigeria, Sunni-Shiite conflict in Iraq, 9/11, Sudan, Uganda and other conflicts not mentioned here.

A look at the Qur'an and the Bible
I grew up as Muslim but am now a born again christian, so I have some idea about what each religion says. Muslims have used the word Jihad to justify most of the conflict they have been involved in. Most people both Muslims and Christians associate the word Jihad with the word Holy War. Christians have also used the bible to justify acts of wickedness.

What does the Qur'an say about Jihad?
The Qur'an divides Jihad into two, the higher jihad and lesser jihad. The higher jihad is the struggle within one's self to remain holy while the lesser jihad involves the spread of Islam. Isn't it funny that the lesser jihad is what is used to justify conflicts. The word higher jihad shows how important it is for every Muslim to make himself pure. If the Muslims who are involved in jihad conflict paid more attention to the higher jihad, I don't think there would be a lot of war. This is because I believe focusing on the higher jihad would help them carry out the lesser jihad without bloodshed.

What does the Bible say?

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:36-40

A man came to Jesus and asked him what is the greatest commandment, and he said "Love your God with all your heart and soul is the greatest commandment and the second is love your neighbor as yourself." Loving God means spending time with him and his word. It is the greatest commandment because it is only through it we could become the Christian God has called us to be. We cant truly love others if we don't have a great relationship with him. If all Christians follow the second commandment, there would be a lot less religious conflict. We cant obey the second if we don't concentrate on the first. We must first love God before we can have the strength to love others, because he is the only one who can give us the strength to love others. Christians who have caused religious conflict have ignored the greatest commandment given by Jesus, which is why it is hard for them to obey the second. There is no way you can obey one commandment and ignore the other because they are alike, just like Jesus said in Matthew 22.

I believe the world would be a different place if followers of both religion practiced what is written in their Holy books. The problem with the world isn't religion but people who use religion as an excuse to justify their selfish acts.

Classical Movie Tribute: Victor Fleming

2011-10-19T14:42:00.000-07:00

Wizard of OZ (1939) and Gone with the wind (1939) were both directed by one man named Victor Fleming in the same year. These two movies are always mentioned in different top 10 ranking of the greatest movies of all time. For example, these two movies are ranked in the top 10 of AFI's 100 greatest America's greatest films; the only director to have achieved such a feat. How do you direct two of the greatest movie ever in the same year? Victor Fleming was a Hollywood movie director during the golden era. He worked at MGM most of his career but died in 1949 at the age of 59. He had also directed some of my other personal favorite classical movies such as test pilot (1938), captain courageous (1937), Joan of Arc (1949), Red dust (1932), Tortilla flat (1942), Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1941) and the Virginian (1929). I have read about other great classical movie directors such as Orson Welles, Frank Capra, William Wyler, Erin Lubitsch, George Cukor, John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock and their influence on modern day directors. But few have talked about the greatness of Victor Fleming.
Victor was a great director because he enjoyed a challenge. He wasn't the original director for two of his most two popular movies; gone with the wind and wizard of oz. The moment the producers of both movies realized that their movie wasn't going in the right direction, they asked Fleming to fix it which he did well. Wizard of oz was the first in line, when Producer Leroy realized his film was about to fail, he brought in Fleming to fix it. They started production on wizard of oz all over again and Victor Fleming directed about 85 percent of it before he was called to rescue gone with the wind. David Selznick had originally hired George Cukor to direct GWTW, but he wasn't happy with the direction of the movie. He called Victor Fleming to fix it. Fleming advised him to cancel the original and write a new script; Selznick heeded and wrote a new script. Fleming directed with the new script, and the result was the classical GWTW that we have all watched over the years.
We can thank Fleming for the characters of Rhett Butler and Scarlet because he was a master at bringing out characters in actors and actresses that worked with him. Hatie Mc Daniel also has him to thank for the character of mammy in GWTW. Gary Cooper and Clark Gable are considered some of the greatest actors to have ever graced the movie screen. Most people would say that Gary Cooper and Clark Gable were great because they played themselves, but none realize how instrumental Fleming was in bringing out those characters in those two actors. Gary Cooper became Gary Cooper after he made the film; the Virginian in 1929 with Victor Fleming. If you study that film carefully, the characters Gary Cooper plays in most of his other films in later years mirror his character in that film. The same goes for Clark Gable in Red Dust, the first of five films he made with Fleming as director. Gary Cooper was insecure in his acting abilities before the Virginian. but Fleming gave him some macho advice and helped him create a lasting character. Gable also dealt with insecurity before Red dust and Fleming did what he did to Cooper. Spencer Tracy whom with Gable and Cooper are on my list of 10 actors also talked about how influential Fleming was on his acting abilities. Tracy made four films with Fleming and won an academy award for one of them. These three actors remained close friends with Fleming until his death.
Fleming was considered a manly man so most people tend to understand why he had much influence on the persona of these great actors such as Cooper, Tracy and Gable. What about his influence on actresses? I have talked about how Vivien Leigh has him to thank for the character of Scarlett, he is also responsible for McDaniel's portrayal of mamy and both won an Oscar. My most favorite film of Fleming is test pilot (1939) which stars Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy and Myrna Loy. Myrna Loy is famous her portrayal of Nora Charles in the thin man series and her role as a loyal wife in the "Best Years of our Lives" but those aren't her best. Loy is great at comedy and I have watched her play her comedic roles with such brilliance. Her role in the test pilot was different because she mixed in comedy and drama in such a way that I thought she deserved at least an academic award nomination for her performance. Her performance was perfect from playing a single girl stuck in a small town to the loyal wife. Ingrid Bergman is my most favorite actress of all times, no pun intended to those Katherine Hepburn fans. Bergman performance in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1941) movie directed by Fleming, was awesome and it gave Bergman a role different from the traditional roles she had played in most of her Hollywood movies. Bergman was new to Hollywood but was restricted to playing the good heroine but this role was different. Bergman was brilliant and it opened the door for her to get some of the memorable roles she is remembered for today. As usual, Fleming brought out the best in her just like he does with the other actors and actresses that have worked with him.
Fleming like all human beings wasn't perfect in his directing method or personal lives but he made great movies. Two of the greatest movie ever made can be credited to him because he did most of the directing, even if he wasn't the original director chosen. I do have a lot of respect for Martin Scorsese, John Ford, Clint Eastwood, David Lean, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and many other great directors. Victor Fleming is my most favorite director because he makes all his movies exciting and they rarely have dull moments.. And he brings out the best in the actors/ actresses that work with him. I am yet to find any movie Fleming directed during the sound era that is below par.

Did I just call my God a tyrant?

2011-10-17T19:06:00.000-07:00

I wrote a book called "it’s all about him" this past summer that was just published a week ago. A few weeks ago, a friend challenged me about the title of my book; he asked "what does the title of my book mean?" I replied that it means whatever we do, we do it for him. He said he agreed with me but he wasn't sure about the title. He suggested the title seem to paint God as a tyrant and Christians as mere pawns that are meant to do his will. He said he used to think that way but not anymore, because he knows God has given us all free will. I replied, yes we are given free will but he wants us to make our life about him. My friend later said the book's title could be interpreted as we aren't supposed to have any personal desire and the only thing that matters were God's desire. He hadn't read the book, so I asked him to buy a copy and read it when it is published. I thought it would help him understand the title better. I decided to write about what I thought about the title and our relationship with God relating to our discussion. I believe we should forget our personal desire and pursue God's desire only, when we become Christians. WHY?

The moment we accept Christ as our Lord and savior, our personal desire should die and must be replaced by God's desire. Why do I believe this? Our personal desires must die because it is usually contrary to God's desire. Galatians 5:19-22 states "The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

Our personal desire is the same as our flesh's desire; it is usually selfish, self-pleasing, self-seeking and self-glorifying. This is because self only seek to please itself. Galatians 19 tells us there is no place for such people in Heaven. We must learn to let go of all those desires because we are new creatures when we become Christians. 2 Corinthians 5:17 "states therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new." The moment we accept Christ as our Lord and savior, we must let go of our own former desire to please self and embrace the desire to please God.

The desire of the Holy Spirit is the same as God's desire. It is important that we follow it because it is for our own good. God's desire can be summed in the two greatest commandments Jesus talked about in Matthew 22. God doesn't gain anything if we follow his commandments and he doesn't lose anything if we don't. If we search deeper, we would realize those commandments are for our own good. Jesus said the two most important commandment are love the Lord your God with all your heart with all soul and all your mind and love thy neighbor as thy self (Matthew 22:37-39). Following the first commandment would give us strength to obey the second one because it is only through loving God that we could truly love our neighbors. I don't need to discuss about the importance of the second commandment. If everyone loved their neighbor, the world be a completely different place.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

God desire for us is to prosper, give us hope and a future. His desires for us are good, so we must learn to trust him by completely surrendering to him. When we accept Christ as our Lord, we are giving him total control of everything in our life including our desires. It isn't going to be easy to follow God's desire because it goes against our human nature, but that's why we have his grace. Most people try to make our personal desire God's desire and that is just wrong. We should make God's desire our own personal desire.

What are your views/ thoughts on this?

Its All about Him: First chapter

2011-10-13T20:15:00.000-07:00

1: The wind is coming

But the boat was already a considerable distance from land buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

Matthew 14:24 (NIV)

In Matthew 14:24, the disciples were in the boat going to the other side; and their boat was buffeted by the waves. There were twelve disciples and some few other people in the boat so it means the boat was big. It is only a strong wind that can cause such a boat to buffet because buffet means to be shaken violently. And I am sure that the people in the boat were concerned about the wind and hoping it would go away, but it did not. The strong wind shaking the boat must have been a problem for the disciples, not knowing whether the boat would capsize or not.

One of my favorite quotes is “The only man who has no trouble left in his life is a dead one.” It’s a quote that describes the fact that every human being is bound to face some form of adversary or the other throughout their lifetime. Whether we are rich or poor, young or old, we all have something that bothers us. I have heard different opinions about whether Christians should still be facing adversaries after accepting Christ. Many years ago, I was going through a hard time. I had fractured my leg, school grades were lower than I expected and I had just broken up with my girlfriend in an expanse of two weeks. It was shocking and devastating and I had a hard time dealing with it all. One day, a friend of mine who wasn't a Christian but knew what I was going through asked me “where is your God now?” It was a question that shocked me and I couldn't reply at first but I later said ”what do you mean by that?”

He replied “I mean where is your God, if he was true why would he let this happen to you?” I wish I could tell you that I quoted some bible verses and set him straight on, but the truth is I didn’t. I stood there in silence wondering what the right answer to the question was till he left. I am sure some of you have had someone ask you this question or you’ve asked it yourself. There are different opinions on the issue of Christians facing adversaries. There are those who think you shouldn't have any more problems when you become a Christian, they believe that when Jesus Christ died he took away all our adversaries. Others believe that we will always face adversaries no matter what. I agree with the latter because we will always face one form of adversary or the other, being a Christian doesn't give us immunity. I am yet to meet anyone who can claim they haven’t faced one form of adversary or other since they became a Christian.

Jesus faced adversaries throughout his time on earth whether it was in the form of temptation by the devil or mistreatment by the elders. The apostles and many prophets in the Bible faced many adversaries throughout their lifetime; so I don’t think we would be an exception.

In John 16:31-33, Jesus answered “but a time is coming and in fact has come when you would be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my father is with me. I have told you all these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Jesus was talking about the adversity he would soon be facing and how he would be abandoned by his disciples due to it. He said even though they would abandon him, his Father would not. Jesus seemed to have taken solace in the fact that God was going to be with him throughout the trials he was about to face, and asked his disciples to do the same when they face such trials.

Jesus informed his disciples that they would soon be facing their own adversaries but it shouldn’t bother them because He had overcome the world, and as long as they put their trust in him they had nothing to worry about. The disciples should take solace in the fact that He has overcome it, so that means they would be able to overcome their trials when it comes because he is with them. These verses remind us that we will always face trouble on this earth but we should be at peace because our Lord Jesus Christ has faced it and overcome it all. He faced temptation, death, and rejection, but He overcame it all, and as long as we put our trust in Him we can do the same. We should never be discouraged or afraid because we have a God who understands what we are going through. Isn’t it amazing that we have a God that understands our problems?

Hope

James 1:2-4 states “consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you maybe mature and complete; not lacking anything.”

Facing trials is part of our Christian life and this is confirmed when James said “whenever we face trails,” he didn’t say “if” or “whether.” Trials are part of our Christian life and we must learn to accept them. Trials will test our faith, which will help us develop perseverance and perseverance helps us to mature in Christ. James also talked about how important trials are for our Christian growth, so we should be joyful when we face them. It is hard to be joyful when you are facing trials because all you want to do is overcome it as soon as possible. The opposite of joy is likely what’s going through our hearts when we face trials, but the joy James is talking about is the joy in the Lord. A joy that is found in the hope we have in Him and not human joy. We have that hope because Jesus cares for us and we can always cling to the promise that He would always be with us until the end.

How do I find hope when everything seems to be hopeless? It is hard to find hope when everything is going wrong, but if we could just take our eyes off our problems and focus on Jesus, you will find that hope. The hope we have in Christ will help through those trials. Jesus said come to me all you that heavy burden and I will give you rest. It doesn’t matter how heavy the burden seems, Christ is the only one who can relieve you of it. We must put our trust in Him. A friend once told me “you crack me up because no matter how bad things get, you are always smiling.” I still struggle with staying positive sometimes but I have learnt to stay positive over the years no matter how tough things get because I realize that worrying about a problem wouldn’t solve it. You can’t change what has happened; you can only learn from it and try to find a solution. Christ doesn’t want us to worry, and one of the bible verses that remind me of that is Matthew 6:33-34:

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

This verse reminds that if I put my hope in hope in Christ and live for him, he will take care of the rest. We must seek him and he would take care of the rest. Jesus said in Matthew 6:27, “who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life.” Worrying doesn’t change or make things better; it could only lead to adverse health effect such as stress. Christ doesn’t want us to worry but put our faith in him. You can’t change your problems, why don’t you put your hope in the one that can. Let us learn to cling to the hope we have in Christ. He would never leave or forsake us. I have also learnt to remain positive during trying periods because of stories I have witnessed of friends and family members who remained strong during troubled times. One of such stories is Jessica’s story some few years ago.

A few years ago, I was talking to a Christian friend named Jessica who had just lost her job. She had learned a week earlier that her dad had stopped responding to chemo. Her dad was the closest person to her because her mom had died while she was young. I remember trying to comfort her a week earlier and was not sure what to say. All I said to her was that I was sorry to hear about her dad and would be praying for him. I also told her that if she needed anything, she should let me know. I began to wonder if things could get any worse for her, because when she broke the news to me about her dad’s health a week earlier I tried to remain positive that things would get better. I was lost for words and all I said was “I would be praying for you.” Jessica was a strong Christian and we usually discussed different Biblical topics together.

I remembered how we used to discuss about James.1:2-4 and how God lets us go through trials for a reason whenever either of us was going through tough times. I couldn’t help but think about those verses when she broke the news to me; I began to wonder how Jessica could be joyful even in the midst of all these bad events in her life. She had lost a job she held for almost four years, and her dad; who meant everything to her has been told earlier that he did not have long to live. I wondered what to tell her to comfort her but I couldn’t think of anything. I had told her not give up hope when she got the news about her dad and that all we need to do is keep praying. I had always had the idea in my head that everything always happened for a reason but couldn't figure out a reason for this one. The idea of “everything happens for a reason” has always been the encouragement that I usually give myself in order not to lose hope. I knew that this occasion wasn't the season to say such a thing, but all I could do was being there as a friend and pray for her.

A few weeks later when I asked her how she was doing, she replied she was doing fine and she knew everything was going to be okay because God will always be there for her. She said God would provide a new job and he could also heal her father. Jessica got a new job but her Dad died some few months later. She later told me “though she was devastated by his death but she took comfort in the fact that he was now with God.” She said her biggest fear was being alone but somehow through it all, God has assured her that she is not, both through His words and friends. Jessica’s story always serves as encouragement to me whenever I am going through hard times because of how she remained strong in her faith during the tough times.

Romans.5:1-4:

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

The Race

“If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”

John 15:19

Being a Christian is not going to be an easy walk. There are going to be trials and temptations, we must overcome for the sake of Christ. The moment we give our life to Christ, it means we have rejected Satan and have become a threat to him. He doesn’t want us to enjoy the blessing of following Christ and leading others to Christ, so he would put trials and temptations before us in order to serve as a distraction. I like to compare our walk with Christ with my first experience of taking part in a Charity 10k Run. I knew it would require a lot of discipline and training on my part to be prepared for such a race because I’ve heard friends talk about their preparation for such races. I asked a good friend of mine named Jim to help me prepare for the race. Jim was athletic and experienced because he had taken part in several 5k and 10k races. Jim warned me that it wasn’t going to be easy; it would require hard work, food discipline, strong commitment and I must be willing to push myself to the limit. He said the most important thing was for me to make a commitment not to quit no matter how tough it got. I thought to myself that it couldn't be that rigorous; it might require a small change in my diet and maybe spend more time working out.

The first training session was harder than I thought and I only barely made it through. I was required to run 5 miles but almost gave up after I reached 3.5 miles because I was tired and thought I couldn’t make it, but Jim kept telling me that I can that I could reach four miles. When I reached four miles he said five until I ran 5 miles. I thought the training would get easier after that but it did not. I decided to quit after the first two weeks because my body felt sore and was I missing some of the food had given up. I decided to lie to my trainer that an unexpected event that I couldn’t miss would occur the same day the 10k run was to take place. I knew the excuse of my parents visiting was a valid excuse that I could give to all my friends including Jim. My parents didn’t live in the United States, so I knew I wouldn’t seem like a quitter. When I gave Jim the excuse, he advised me to still take part in it and invite my parents to the event. I replied that I don’t think it is a good idea to invite them because they aren’t such huge sports fans.

He replied that this was a charity event and my parents would be proud to see me be part of it. I finally admitted later that my parents weren’t visiting, that I wanted to quit and thought my parents visiting was the only valid excuse I could come up with. He encouraged me not to quit and remember that I made a commitment to training and taking part in the race. I told him that I couldn’t go on with the training because my whole body was in pain and it wasn’t getting any easier as I thought it would be. We had about three weeks left of training and I told him I was not sure I could make it through those three remaining weeks. He said okay, but if I ever change my mind, I should let him know. I later spoke to a friend, who had taken part in the 10k; who told me how disappointed she was when she heard I quit. She advised me not to give up so easily and that I should resume my training.

She talked about how sometimes she felt like quitting when she was training for the race but she did not give in and she said it might seem hard now but it would be worth it in the end. She also reminded me that quitting was taking the easy way out and that she knew that I was better than that. I restarted the training and finished the workout plan. It wasn’t an easy task but by the fourth week my body was used to the training. I also took part in the race but I neither won nor finished in the top 5. I would have liked to win or be part of the Top 5, but I was really glad to have just taken part in the race. There is just an unexplainable joy in taking part in something bigger than you.

I was definitely glad that I finished the training because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to finish the race. The training helped increase my level of endurance. Preparing for the marathon reminded me of what being a Christian looks like. It is not going to be easy and we must be prepared to face whatever obstacles come our way. We must be willing to commit everything we have to it and never quit no matter how hard it gets. It is easier to return back to the old ways when we face obstacles because it does not require any effort on our part to do so, and having someone to encourage us and hold us accountable is also very important. We must also be prepared to face any obstacles that come along the way by having a closer relationship with Christ.

I am not sure how far I could have gotten in the 10k race if I hadn’t trained; just like what kind of Christians we are depends on our relationship with Christ. We need to observe Christian disciplines such as prayer, studying the Bible, fasting, scripture memory and self-control in order for us to grow closer to Christ. The training any Christian need is to make sure his personal relationship with Christ is made a high priority. Jesus Christ spent thirty years preparing for three years of ministry; that must show how important it is for us to be prepared. We will discuss about various different Christian disciplines and their importance later in this book. The life Christ has called us to live as Christians isn’t going to be easy; it will involve discipline, commitment and encouragement. We must be willing to give it all for the sake of Christ so that we could finish the race that is ahead of us.

Bearing the Cross

“Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”

Luke 9:23-24

To be worthy of the race we must deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and be ready to follow Him. To deny ourselves means to make our lives not about us but about God. It means we make God supreme in everything, and let God’s desire overtake our personal desires. You cannot know your cross until you deny yourself because it’s only then that you can totally dedicate your life to Christ. We discussed earlier about how believers and non-believers face problems alike; so you could be carrying the wrong cross if you don’t deny yourself.

The first step to denying ourselves is accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and personal savior, and repenting from our sinful ways. Denying oneself also means making Christ the priority in everything we do. The world is currently burdened with carrying the wrong cross; we could be doing the same if we don’t make Christ our ultimate priority. The wrong cross represents the consequences of a sinful lifestyle. It is important that we live our life according to God’s words, so that we can avoid burdens that aren’t meant for us. Take up your cross” means accepting trials or temptations that will come your way as a result of following Christ. It means if things are not going according to plans; you are willing to follow Christ. It means when strong winds and waves shake up your world, you are still willing to follow Christ. Jesus knows we can’t escape trials which are why he asked us to carry our cross as we follow Him. We must learn to deny ourselves, carry our cross and follow Christ in order to be worthy of finishing the race.