E. A OLATOYE'S BLOG

Let’s Always Speak Life

2026-02-20T14:10:00.008+01:00

And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me — holy is his name.” — Luke 1:46-49

I’ve always been deeply moved by Mary’s faith. Not only did she accept her divine assignment, she did it willingly with thanksgiving and praise. After Elizabeth blessed her, Mary began to declare the goodness and faithfulness of God. She did not accept her purpose begrudgingly but with passion and humility. She considered that to obey the call of God was an honor and not a burden.

She gave all the glory to God, proclaimed his goodness and faithfulness, and even declared, “From now on all generations will call me blessed.” It required great faith to make that statement in her condition. Remember, she was an unwed teenage girl and her reputation was at stake, but she chose to believe God despite the circumstances. She knew that he was worthy of her trust and so she entrusted her future to Him.

Once Mary had decided to pay the price to fulfill her calling, she was all in. She wholeheartedly trusted that God was who He said He was and that He would do all he had said He would do. Instead of waiting for a physical sign that she was pregnant, Mary prophesied her future when the promise was still in seed form inside her womb. And guess what?

We all are indeed calling Mary, the mother of Jesus, blessed, now, everyday and at every Christmas.

There are so many lessons that we can learn from this amazing woman of God every Christmas and after. She was relentlessly steadfast and kept her eyes unflinchingly fixed on the author of the Promise that she carried. She committed to enjoy and celebrate the journey and not merely endure this calling as a burdensome obligation. She surrounded herself with great faith-filled people and reminded herself of all the amazing things God had done for her people thus far. She knew that the same God who had been faithful to them would also be faithful to His Promise in her.

Let’s determine to be people of faith who expect to hear from God through His Word, who will not hesitate to say yes to our divine assignments when He gives them to us, and who will surround ourselves with people who inspire us to see the dream come to pass.

As we go forward after Christmas, let’s never forget to give Him all the praise and honor that He is due and continually speak words of life that affirm the dream and the promise that we carry. Each word we speak either waters the seed or destroys it, so let’s speak life as we enter the new year 2017.

Credit: Christine Caine

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Health Habits You Must Break Before Turning 40

2026-02-15T18:53:00.005+01:00

Don’t smoke, eat better, exercise, and sleep more – these are often referred to as the basics of longevity but the reality is a little more complex. People can’t ignore their age. Making this mistake can lead to weight gain, heart problems and chronic illnesses brought by unhealthy lifestyles. A lot of hormonal changes are happening. Any imbalance can have an effect. Before you know it, a routine checkup finds your blood pressure to be too high and you’re pre-diabetic.

Skipping meals: People don’t always eat three times a day with light snacks in between due to busy schedules. But making time is crucial because going through a long period of time without consuming food can lead to a series of health problems – blood sugar levels dive, stress hormones are released, you get hungrier, you increase your chance of developing diabetes, and your skin and hair suffer. Don’t even think about not eating because you’re trying to shed a few pounds because you lose water weight and muscle, not fat.

Read: How Simple Lifestyle Changes Can Transformed Your Life At 40 here

Overlooking health warnings: “If you think you have an emergency, then you have an emergency until proven otherwise,” Dr. Michael G. Millin from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine says. The key to preventing potentially fatal incidents is to pay attention to small changes or sensations and to know when not to dismiss them because you had a busy day at work. Don’t overlook symptoms such as sudden headaches – could be life-threatening, chest pain – could be heart attack, shortness of breath – could be heart problems of collapsed lung, swollen legs – could be a blood clot, or confusion associated with tiredness.

Consuming too much salt and sugar: Sodium is essential for nerve cells to communicate well, prevent muscle cramps, and regulate blood sugar and fluid balance…Until we get too much of it. Then a vicious cycle begins – your blood pressure rises, you hold too much water, blood vessels get damaged, you lose calcium, and you are at higher risk of dementia. Sugar is also one of the worst things you can put in your body. The liver is overloaded, your cholesterol is up, tooth enamel gets destroyed, it makes you tired, your immune system is weakened, and you are at risk of becoming depressed, according to research.

Avoiding dairy: People lose bone mass or density as they age, especially women after menopause. Calcium is an important nutrient that helps maintain healthy bones. Many nutritionists say that milk is the best source of calcium known to people. A study shows that taking it around the same time as a workout may be the most effective way to prevent calcium loss and to aid recovery. The recommended calcium intake for adults, 19 to 50 year old, is 1,000 mg a day.

Doing only cardio exercises: Running, and other cardio workouts that burn more calories, won’t necessarily lead to fat loss. You need to be able to burn more calories when you’re resting in order to drop the few extra pounds. This can only happen if you build muscles by doing strength training. Ten pounds of muscle will burn 50 calories in a day spent at rest, while 10 pounds of fat would burn only 20. Lifting weight also helps prevent diabetes. Glycogen is stored in muscle tissue and the liver. As we age, we lose muscle mass and glucose disposing tissue.

Drinking too much soda and alcohol: Soda – even the diet kind – and alcohol can wreak havoc on your body. A report from 2014 found 54 direct and indirect ways – from car crashes to depression and cirrhosis – in which alcohol can be lead to death. A recent study made a connection between soda and life expectancy decrease by 4.6 years because sugar damages telomeres, which affects how cells age. Diet sodas taste the same as regular ones because they have artificial sweeteners. They play tricks on the brain in a worse way than sugary sodas.

Exercising too much: It is possible to have too much of a good thing, and working out more than what your body can handle is highly detrimental. Exercise addiction often starts with the remarkable feeling you have when you push yourself hard to get to the next level and see the results of your sweat. All of a sudden you wake up at 4 a.m. to do cardio training before work, weight lifting during your lunch break and Zumba classes before you go home. You are constantly tired and find artificial ways to boost your energy such as coffee and energy drinks. Also, you make yourself a very easy target for injuries. Finally, you start to crave comfort foods, filled with sugary, high carbohydrates, and begin to overeat.

Practicing “wreck-covery’: “Many people at the gym train hard but I don't see them putting as much effort into allowing their body to rebuild and repair,” Dustin Bogle, Personal Trainer and Fit Body Boot Camp owner, says. “Recovery almost seems too easy so people don't pay attention until they are mentally and physically exhausted.” You can't ignore it. Recovery is essential for building muscle and burning fat. “If my clients have trouble with sleep, I have them do some foam rolling to activate the parasympathetic system which slows your heart rate and helps you to unwind,” Bogle adds.

Avoiding fruits and vegetables: About 87 percent of Americans don't meet the recommendations for fruit consumption, and 91 percent don't for vegetable consumption, according to a recent U.S. report. They add essential nutrients to diets, reduce the risk for heart disease, stroke, cancer, and help manage healthy body weight. There are some genius ways to add them to your meals – bake with veggies, add them to kebabs, make noodles, freeze them, roast them, and add them to smoothies.

Watching too much TV: A study has linked prolonged television viewing with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality. Also, televisions and other electronic devices emit blue light, which affects the levels of the sleep-inducing melatonin more than any other wavelength. Another problem is what you’re watching. Chances are a movie or a late show that you find will be more stimulating than relaxing, keeping you awake, which has many side effects, including weight gain.

Washing your face too often: Washing your face twice a day is more than enough, with an extra time before and after exercising. Soaps, especially the alkaline ones, can really dry your skin by removing all of its natural oils. This makes the skin itchy, very irritating and prone to breakouts. Wipes and cleansers are not a much better option. The oils in the skin are crucial for its health because they keep it supple.

Wearing headphones a lot: Elderly people are often labeled as having hearing problems. They usually come with age but sometimes they appear due to environmental factors. Wearing headphones for more than an hour a day can be a cause as well. It’s important to not overdo it and keep the volume down. Sound is delivered directly into the ear canal, very close to the eardrum. Over time that quickens the kind of hearing loss linked to age.

Keeping your home too hot: The biggest temptation in the winter – other than staying home all day, cuddled up and watching Netflix – is cranking up the heat in the house. However, you will end up hurting yourself. The heater dries out the air indoors. That can lead to inflamed skin. An acceptable wintertime temperature indoors is 70 degrees for the living room and at least 64 degrees for other rooms, according to the West Midlands Public Health Observatory. Keep a glass of water in the room for some humidity.

Not eating dessert: There are many ways in which you can consume sweets and not weight. Don’t blacklist desserts. Studies have shown that restriction often leads to overeating. Among the 103 women in the research, chocolate-deprived restrained eaters consumed more chocolate food than any other group did. Restrained eaters experienced more food cravings than unrestrained eaters did and were more likely to eat the craved food.

Detoxing: Detoxing has been a popular diet over the last several years. The liver and kidneys naturally get rid of toxins every time you sweat or go to the bathroom. Science is not conclusive whether detox is good for you. There is no definitive proof that such diets help the body eliminate toxins faster. You are, however, often starving, which is never a good idea. Your body needs about 2,000 calories a day to function properly. It must have its vitamins, minerals and other nutrients to keep you healthy so you don’t gain weight, get constipated or sick, and lose your energy...Anything less than that puts it in stress mode.

Not drinking enough water: The body is dehydrated when it has lost more fluid than it’s taken in, resulting in not having enough water to allow it to perform at optimal level. Drinking water is a vital part of digesting, absorbing and transporting nutrients, which is crucial for good overall physical and mental health. Ignoring that fact can make you sick – kidney problems, dry skin, muscle cramps, headaches, fatigue, swollen feet and arms, high cholesterol, and constipation.

Setting unrealistic fitness goals: One of the most difficult phases of getting healthy is setting goals. You setting yourself up to fail without them, but you have to have a clear idea of how to achieve them, otherwise they are unrealistic and are likely to end up disappointed and physically hurt. The older you get, the more difficult it is to lose weight or build muscle, your metabolism slows down, and the thigh gap is next to impossible.

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How People Become Entrepreneurs Today

2026-02-07T18:10:00.011+01:00

To understand this article, Read ''What Exactly is an Entrepreneur?''

Considering that “part-time entrepreneurship” is now more common than it once was, it’s no longer necessary for you to quit your job to start building something on the side.

Many Shopify store owners run their businesses part-time, during evenings or on the weekend, eventually going full-time if they choose to. Some have a physical location for their store and others operate entirely online.

Businesses can now exist in a variety of forms that just weren’t possible before. So naturally, people are starting them for a variety of reasons.

You can...

Build a business around selling products and proving value.

Many entrepreneurs identify an opportunity and then capitalize on it. If there’s demand, they become the one with the supply. Being passionate about the product helps but it’s by no means a prerequisite.

All you need is to be passionate about business, competition, and creating systems that create value, either as a side business or something that replaces your 9 to 5.

Example: Syght Glasses

Build a business around information and empowerment.

The “infopreneur” is typically a teacher who sells information via courses, templates and other resources usually geared towards educating and empowering their audience.

Example: Copyblogger

Build an audience and then build a business around it.

Once, the only way for an artist to survive was to have their work sponsored by a wealthy patron.

Today, creators—writers, vloggers, musicians—build audiences around their talents and cleverly create businesses around them with merchandise, book sales etc. The “patron” is now their audience.

We don’t often look at them that way, but books are physical products and music downloads can be a digital product. If you’re selling these, you’re running a business.

Example: Wait But Why

Build a business around your craft.

The maker applies a specific craft they’ve honed in order to create physical products. Usually a hobby or a past time, they’ve learned how to unearth niche audiences with an interest in owning what they create—whether necklaces, hand-crafted furniture, or scented candles.

This often starts out as a hobby before you find your first customers and decide to become an entrepreneur.

Example: JM&Sons

Build a business around providing services.

This group includes agencies, consultants, freelancers and people with skills or expertise that others need. They might start off alone, only able to make money when they work, but they can develop into more if they want.

Example: Shopify Partners

Build a business around a better way of doing things.

There’s always room for improvement. There are always needs and pain points that have yet to be satisfied.

This is the story behind many tech company founders trying to realize their vision of a better way.

It can also be built around a product or service that you want that simply doesn't exist. Not yet.

Example: Uber

Build a business around social responsibility.

Some entrepreneurs use business as a means of creating a sustainable living that improves the quality of lives through social enterprise. Outside of profit, the value they seek to create is for those in need.

Example: LSTN

These are only some of the intrinsic motivations that lead people down the path of entrepreneurship. It might even be some combination of reasons that inspires you to start a business.

The reasons might be unique to each person, but there are two qualities all entrepreneurs share.

Two Things All Entrepreneurs Have In Common

The word "entrepreneur" comes from the French word, entreprendre: to undertake. And despite how entrepreneurship has changed over the years, that part is still very much in tact.

However you or anyone else chooses to define what it means to be an entrepreneur, it almost goes without saying that an entrepreneur can’t become one if he or she has to wait for that validation.

Because there are at least two things every entrepreneur has in common for sure:

They have ambition.
They start.

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SILENT KILLER: HABITS AND PRACTICES

2026-02-05T15:48:00.002+01:00

"Silent killers" are chronic, often symptomless, lifestyle-driven conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, primarily caused by poor diet, physical inactivity, chronic stress, and smoking. These habits lead to inflammation, obesity, and accelerated biological aging.

WORRY AND ANXIETY:

In response to environmental and social demands, humans tend to worry about so many things – what to eat, where to live, how to take care of the children (unborn ones inclusive), how to settle bills, getting along with family and in-laws etc. This increases tension and may lead to hypertension

HAVING TOO MUCH TO DO WITHOUT PROPER PLAN AND BALANCE:

Having too much to do without a proper plan and balance is a formula for burnout, reduced productivity, and severe health issues. When work demands overwhelm personal life, the result is chronic stress, poor mental health, strained relationships, and a lack of focus that actually lowers overall effectiveness. This often leads to stress and confusion. Plan your work and avoid ‘biting more than you can chew’ in a day.

LACK OF REST AND OVER-ACTIVITY:

Getting enough rest is imperative to living a healthy lifestyle and when you do not relax and get enough sleep you are putting yourself at the risk of illness as well as other dangerous side effects. When you don’t get enough rest you will have difficulty concentrating, thinking clearly, and even remembering things. You might not notice this at first or blame it on your busy schedule, but the more sleep and rest you miss, the more serious these symptoms will become.

FEAR FED BY UNBELIEF IN THE HEART:

Women have a lot of fears – fear of children’s security, husband’s fidelity, prevailing disease in the community, fear of what might happen to the baby in the womb, etc. What many do not realize is that fear creates turmoil and chaos in our lives and contributes to ailments such as migraines, panic attacks, high blood pressure, and depression. The human body is not meant to live in a state of fear. Adrenaline was made for emergency situations only. Yet people are imperceptibly subjecting themselves to fear and anxiety every single day. It is no wonder our health suffers. But “…God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of love, power and of a sound mind (2Timothy1:7).

ALLOWING BUILD UP OF STRESS FROM RESPONSIBILITIES:

So much is laid upon the woman: she may be a wife, mother, secular worker and Christian worker, saddled with so many responsibilities. When these are not properly planned and balanced they become stressful and make the woman to be nervous. This could result in peptic ulcer.

ANGER AND RAGE:

These trigger excessive production of certain hormones in the body which may result in stroke, heart attack, or paralysis. According to new research findings, all of the negative energy exerted in moments of anger isn’t just a waste of time or a minor nuisance; it can lead to serious health complications that shorten lifespan and interfere with quality of life.

BITTERNESS AND UNFORGIVING ATTITUDE:

Some women are known to be experts in these negative attitudes, which can cause both physical and spiritual illnesses. There may be loss of appetite, loss of weight, peptic ulcer and psychosomatic problems.

ALLOWING SELF PITY AND DEPRESSION:

Depression involves sadness, pessimism, a preoccupation with personal problems, and feeling sorry for oneself. It could also be accompanied by fatigue, excessive sleeping, insomnia, anguish, crying, and hopelessness. Other possible symptoms include poor appetite, heavy eating, weight loss or gain, feelings of inadequacy or worthlessness, anxiety, regrets, decreased productivity, poor concentration, or recurrent thoughts of death or suicide.

BAD FEEDING HABITS:

Skipping meals, overeating, eating at irregular times, eating the wrong types of food and unbalanced diet can predispose the woman to excessive weight gain (obesity), and diabetes mellitus. Women, by their privileged position in preparing meals at home, tend to eat in-between meals. This contributes greatly to their weight gain.

SMOKING OF CIGARETTES, CIGAR, PIPES AND TAKING OF SNUFF:

All forms of tobacco use, including cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and snuff, are harmful, addictive, and carry serious health risks, with no safe level of consumption. Smoking delivers toxins and nicotine, causing cancer and heart disease, while snuff (smokeless tobacco) causes oral cancers and cardiovascular issues.

TAKING HARD DRUGS (COCAINE, HEROIN, MARIJUANA, ETC):

"Hard drugs" such as cocaine, heroin, and marijuana (often considered a "soft drug" depending on the context) are substances with a high potential for abuse and addiction, leading to severe health, social, and legal consequences. This could lead to serious mental problems.

NONCHALANT ATTITUDE TO HEALTH MATTERS:

Some women don’t pay much attention to health-related issues, ideas and discussions. This set of people leave everything, including their health, to fate. They believe they can’t do much to improve their health and this makes them flout health rules and shun helpful ideas about their health. This is a very dangerous attitude.

LAZINESS/LACK OF EXERCISE:

Lack of exercise causes lots of physical and psychological setbacks. It increases one’s chances of developing heart disease and increases the risk of obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure.

FLIRTING AND ADULTERY:

These immoral attitudes could lead an individual to contracting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), HIV/AIDS, loss of self respect, and debasing of the dignity of manhood/womanhood.

POOR PERSONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE:

A woman unable to maintain a good personal and environmental hygiene will expose herself and members of her household and even neighbours to numerous health hazards.

KILLER DISEASES
Some common killer diseases caused by these killer habits include:

1. OBESITY: This is an excessive accumulation of fat in the body which leads to great increase in weight. It is determined by the index of BMI (Body Mass Index) whereby the weight in kilograms is divided by the height in metres squared. Overweight is defined as a BMI of 25 to 29.9, while obesity is defined as a BMI of 30 or more. The primary cause of obesity is consumption of more calories (food) than the body needs or uses. It is also caused by insufficient exercise.Â Obesity favours the development of many other diseases such as diabetes mellitus, gall stones, hypertension, inguinal and hiatus hernia, varicose vein, uterine prolapse and tiredness from overwork on the heart and lungs.

2. DIABETES MELLITUS: This is a metabolic disease characterized by excessive urination (with sugar in the urine), weight loss (due to excessive urination), excessive craving for water, and general body weakness. It has an attendant raised blood-sugar level as a result of inadequate secretion of a hormone called insulin.Â Contributory factors are overeating, alcohol consumption, excessive craving for sweetened/sugary foods and drinks. This, if not well controlled, will affect many other systems of the body and can cause diseases and/or untimely death. Change of feeding habit, regular exercise, and weight-shedding will go a long way to prevent diabetes.

3. HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE (HYPERTENSION): High blood pressure means high pressure (tension) in the arteries. The arteries are the vessels that carry blood from the heart to all of the tissues and organs of the body. Normal blood pressure is between 90/60 and below 140/90 mmHg. Thus, a blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg and above is considered high blood pressure. The top number, which is known as the systolic blood pressure, represents the pressure in the arteries as the heart contracts and pumps blood into the arteries.

The diastolic pressure, which is the bottom number, represents the pressure in the arteries as the heart relaxes after the contraction. The diastolic pressure, therefore, reflects the minimum pressure to which the arteries are exposed. 85-90% of people with high blood pressure have primary hypertension where the cause is unknown. 10-15% of people have secondary hypertension which is caused by other ailments such as kidney disorder or hormonal disorder. Hypertension can lead to heart-disease, stroke, paralysis and death. Predisposing factors include obesity, diabetes, emotional tension, stress and heredity.

4. TUBERCULOSIS: Tuberculosis is a chronic bacterial infection. It is spread through the air and usually infects the lungs, although other organs and parts of the body can be involved as well. Most people who are infected with tuberculosis at the latent stage harbour the bacterium without serious symptoms. Symptoms associated with this stage include weight loss, fever, night sweats, and loss of appetite. If the affected individual is adequately treated, he gets cured. However, if left untreated, the latent TB will degenerate into the active TB disease, which has chronic and debilitating symptoms, including severe cough, chest pain, and bloody sputum.

5. CANCERS: Cancer is a disease of cells. It is an abnormal growth of cells which tend to proliferate in an uncontrolled way and, in some cases, to metastasize (spread). First, cells begin to grow out of control in the body. Second, those cells have the ability to travel from their original site to other locations in the body. If the spread is not controlled, cancer can result in death. The most common forms of cancer are skin cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer (mostly in women), and prostate cancer (mostly in men).

6. HIV/AIDS: AIDS is a chronic, life-threatening condition caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). By damaging or destroying the cells of your immune system, HIV interferes with your body’s ability to effectively fight off viruses, bacteria and fungi that cause disease. This makes you more susceptible to certain types of cancers and to opportunistic infections your body would normally resist, such as pneumonia and meningitis. The virus and the infection itself are known as HIV. The term Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is used to mean the later stages of an HIV infection. Immoral sexual relationship, use of infected sharp instruments like needles, tattooing instruments, razor blade, shaving instruments, and transfusion of infected blood could cause HIV/AIDS and its attendant problems.

REMEDY
1. Enter into covenant relationship with God by being born again through repentance and faith in Christ and thereafter live a righteous and holy life daily in following the Lord. Doing this gives you right to enjoy all the covenant blessings of the Lord in all areas of your life – spiritual, health, finance, family, etc. (Exodus 3:25; 15:26; 3John 2; 1 Peter 2:24).

2. Take the following preventive measures against the silent killers:

(i) Learn to always carry your problems, cares and concerns to the Lord in prayer. Leave them there at His feet with a simple childlike trust “casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7; Philippians 4:6). Doing this takes care of all worries, anxiety, fears etc.

(ii) Always put the best (positive) construction on every situation of life and on what people say to or about you. This helps a great deal to keep your mind and heart healthy and sound to think and act right always as well as develop the best attitude to life. (Philippians 4:8).

(iii) Learn to always forgive every offence. Pray for grace and make up your mind to do so.

(iv) Obey simple health rules.

(v) Eat good and balanced diet with fruits and vegetables at regular intervals and at the right time.

(vi) Maintain good personal and environmental hygiene.

(vii) Do exercise regularly,

(viii) Rest. Sleep of 6-8 hours a day is ideal.

(ix) Go for routine check-up at six-month intervals.

(x) Do regular BP checks at every available opportunity. You can buy your own digital sphygmomanometer (Blood Pressure equipment) to check your blood pressure regularly.

(xi) Regular self breast-examination, Pap smear and early reporting of any abnormal swelling or growth in any part of the body will help a lot in cancer screening and prevention.

(x) Renew and strengthen your spirit always by daily reading and meditating on God’s word. Remember that your body needs a healthy mind to function effectively.

Source: Deeper Life Christian Women Mirror Magazine

What Exactly is an Entrepreneur

2026-02-02T17:31:00.006+01:00

My dad’s an entrepreneur.

In 1990, he opened his own auto shop. He took a risk, went through the motions of uncertainty and stress, worked a second job to support both his family and his business, grew his customer base, hired other mechanics, sold services (auto repair) as well as products (auto parts), and was ultimately accountable for his own success.

Ask him what he does for a living, however, and he won’t tell you he’s an entrepreneur. He’ll say he "fixes cars".

Ask him about being his own boss and he’ll say, “When you have your own business, you’re not the boss. You’re an employee.”

But in my eyes he is most definitely an entrepreneur, at least according to the definition you get from a quick Google search: ''An entrepreneur is a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.''

Like my dad, many small business owners don’t embrace their identity as “entrepreneurs”. On the other hand, you probably know someone who wears the title with pride. I’ve heard some people exclude those who own side businesses as “real entrepreneurs”.

I’ve also heard others talk broadly about entrepreneurs as anyone who starts a new business in any capacity. And let’s not forget the “entrepreneurial tendencies” people can have without owning a business, that many companies today look for in the people they hire.

But is an independent freelancer an entrepreneur? What about a full-time Uber driver? Someone who runs a stall at a fish market? Where do we draw the line, if there is one to draw?

This wide range of interpretations, coupled with all the new ways for people to make money on their own terms, begs the question: What exactly is an “entrepreneur” today?

What is an “Entrepreneur” Really?

According to Census Bureau data, from 1978 to 2012 there’s been a more than 44% decrease in new firms being created as a share of total businesses in the United States—the home of the American Dream—a trend that has been interpreted as the decline of entrepreneurship.

Despite that, our overall interest in the "entrepreneur” is still alive and healthy around the world, according to Google Trends.

In fact, a Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report in 2015 revealed that 66% of adults surveyed worldwide see entrepreneurship as a good career choice—over half who are working-age feel they have the ability to start a business.

This is likely due to our evolving interpretation of what an entrepreneur is, one that’s born from new variations and forms of “entrepreneurship”, from the sidepreneur to the infopreneur—emphasizing, above all, the self-starter attitude toward creating value that in turn creates revenue.

So I talked to over 25 “entrepreneurs” from all walks of life—from solopreneurs to tech founders to store owners to creators—to get a range of perspectives on what exactly an entrepreneur is. Here are some of the answers I got:

“An entrepreneur is someone who prefers a life of boundless uncertainty to that of predictability and chooses to bet on themselves before anyone else.”

— Drew Downs, Co-founder of Nuvango

“An entrepreneur is someone who has made a conscious decision to choose freedom. This freedom doesn't come easy because being an entrepreneur isn't easy, but it will change your life in every way. Many of us spend years of our lives building someone else's dream and following someone else's rules.

As entrepreneurs, we get to choose to work on the things that light us up, that motivate us, and that make a big impact for those around us. As entrepreneurs, we get to spend time with our family when we choose to, go on vacation when we choose to and surround ourselves with the people we choose to.”

— John Lee Dumas, Host of Entrepreneur on Fire

“An entrepreneur is a person who seeks to make a change - either to an industry, or the world. They're willing to take on financial risk, always choosing growth over profit, and are optimistic to a fault. There's never been a lower barrier to entry - you don't need a Computer Science degree to launch a web-based product or service. So to be a successful entrepreneur today boils down almost entirely to execution and perseverance.“
— Yoav Schwartz, Co-founder of Uberflip

“An entrepreneur takes on the risk and seeks to fill a need on her own terms. An entrepreneur doesn't just ‘organize’ a business in my mind, but fuels it, directs it, and creates it. I hesitated to call myself an entrepreneur for a long time because I thought you had to have a Harvard MBA. I was so wrong. Entrepreneurs are scrappy and disruptive, creative and unruly, strategic and unstoppable. Sometimes they make lousy students and difficult employees.”

—Terri Trespicio, Branding & Content Strategist, Writer, Professional Speaker

“An entrepreneur is someone that can sustainably serve an audience because they have a profitable business model.”

—Felix Thea, Owner of TrafficAndSales.com

Aside from the recurring themes of risk, value creation, and rebellion, the answers I got varied from person to person, from business to business. The definition of entrepreneurship seems to have evolved, and it’s likely the result of two things:

Thanks to technology, the barriers to entry have never been lower to start as an entrepreneur.

There are more paths now to starting a business than ever before.

How Technology Has Changed Entrepreneurship

A survey of Inc.com readers in 2015 revealed that the biggest barriers would-be entrepreneurs perceive are:

“I don’t think I can raise enough money.” (48%)

“I don’t have an idea.” (40%)

“I’m discouraged by the high failure rate of businesses.” (22%)

“I don’t have the right skills.” (21%)

“I worry about balancing business and family life.” (18%)

“I’m worried about taxes and regulations.” (17%)

“The competitive barriers are too high.” (13%)

“I don’t think I could hire people with the skills I need.” (7%)

But a lot of these are what I’d call “legacy fears” surrounding entrepreneurship—outdated misgivings that have yet to catch up with the technology and platforms that enable us to start things and put plans into motion in ways that weren’t possible before.

A Timeline of Tech Enabling Entrepreneurship.

In the last 20 years, we’ve seen the emergence of new software, tools and platforms addressing the fears and pain points associated with starting and running a business. And that’s excluding all the other opportunities afforded by social networks and search engines.

Expand

How technology has enabled entrepreneurs:

Quickbooks made accounting more accessible for small businesses.

Alibaba made finding a supplier easier for products you could sell.

MailChimp made email marketing easier and more affordable.

Shopify made it easier to start and run a business selling anything online without knowing how to code.

Dropbox enabled file sharing for better, more secure collaboration.

Kickstarter made crowdfunding your ideas a mainstream concept, reducing the financial barrier for execution.

Buffer streamlined the way you schedule social media content across multiple profiles.

Fiverr offered a marketplace for finding affordable talent and human resources.

Zapier made integrating technology possible without a developer in order to automate workflows.

Canva made it possible for anyone to design the visual assets they need for a variety of circumstances.

Kit built a “virtual employee” to take on some of the burden of running a business.

These companies—these entrepreneurs enabling entrepreneurship, of which I’ve only highlighted a handful—have created a world where a business no longer needs to be tied to a particular building, where many of them start and are run from home, on a laptop, in a coffee shop, through a mobile phone, with “employees” around the world.

Read How People Become Entrepreneurs Today here

Source: Shopify by Braveen Kumar

Relax, Don't Take Yourself Too Serious

2026-01-29T14:50:00.009+01:00

Are you worrying about what is going on in Nigeria? Worrying about the crisis in the World? Worried because you're still job-hunting? Worried about job security, paying the rent or the mortgage, success, investments (or lack thereof), whether you'll be promoted or not? Have you laughed yet today? Take a break today and laugh. Plan to relax.

The Holy Bible in the book of Proverbs 17:22 said:

A merry heart does good, like medicine.

When you make merry in your heart by ignoring the problems around you and allowing the Father of creation to be in control, you automatically get healed.

John Maxwell in his book, A Leader's Heart: 365-Day Devotional Journal gave the following advice on how to relax:
''I work with a lot of leaders. And one thing I’ve found is that many times they take themselves much too seriously. Of course, they’re not alone. I meet people in every walk of life who have too much doom and gloom in their attitudes. They simply need to lighten up.

No matter how serious your work is, that’s no reason to take yourself seriously.

too serious

If any person had a reason to take his job and himself seriously, it would be a president of the United States. Yet it’s possible for even people holding that position to maintain their sense of humor and keep their egos in check. For example, when Calvin Coolidge was asked if he was attending the Sesquicentennial Exposition in Philadelphia, the President answered, “Yes.”

“Why are you going, Mr. President?” a reporter asked.

“As an exhibit,” answered the rotund Coolidge.

If you tend to take yourself too seriously, give yourself and everyone else around you a break.

Recognize that laughter breeds resilience.

Laughing is the quickest way to get up and get going again when you’ve been knocked down''.

Therefore, no matter how big the problem look, see the bigger picture by looking unto Jesus Christ the author and finisher of our faith. God is bigger than that problem, Relax.

There is light on the other side of the tunnel and after the turbulent night, joy await you in the morning if you can let go of whatever negativity occupying your thought.
As Nigeria music star Lagbaja put it ''show me your 36, no matter condition, feyin re'' it means, smile no matter the condition. Always laugh over any unpleasant situation and work a way out by being positive.

Excerpted from A Leader's Heart: 365-Day Devotional Journal by John Maxwell

How To Be Happier, Steadier, And More Balanced Life

2026-01-28T13:47:00.000+01:00

5 Steps to be Happier, Steadier, And More Balanced Life

Can you remember when you last felt happy, really happy? Would you like to feel steadier in a healthy, mind-body way that does not involve pharmaceuticals? Is straddling a teeter-totter the last time you consciously considered balance in your life?

Today's topsy-turvy world has us all running madly in every direction. We often feel overwhelmed with what's before us -- and that is, even, before our feet hit the floor in the morning. We are losing our joie de vivre; there is precious little fun and almost non-existent downtime in our lives today. We are masters at multi-tasking; we excel at doing.

Perhaps, it's time to rethink the ways we choose to have a life and the ways we choose to fill a life. The life you are leading now is the life you passing on to your children. Is that what you want? Achieving a happier, steadier, and more balanced life involves a holistic approach that nurtures your mental, physical, and emotional well-being through intentional daily habits and mindset shifts.

Here are five strategies to help you re-find the happiness, steadiness, and balance in your life:

1. WAKE UP

I don't mean just get out of bed or off the couch, I mean become m-i-n-d-f-u-l. Happiness studies tell us that being mindful is the number one factor in creating a happy life.

If we are mindful, we are paying attention. Even God is 'mindful' of us, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? (Psalm 8:4).

We can savor every moment. We are no longer robots or automatons beating down the hours as the days slip by.

Remember the 80/20 sales rule. You get 80% of your business from 20% of your customers, but your spend 80% of your time on the 20% that does not yield the results you want. Apply that to your mind. Where do you focus your attention? Do you feed your time and energy into your priorities? Or, like most of us, do the shiny things distract you and you head off in your own trivial pursuit?

Discern what is important to you and place your powerful attention and intention there.

2. CHANGE ONE THING

Choose one thing you will do differently. Commit to making that change every day for 30 days. Want to do even better? Extend that commitment to 60 days. Really go for the gold, make that 90 days. Seriously, you will be a changed person after those 90 days.

What happens when you commit to yourself and you keep that commitment? You learn to trust yourself.

We are very good at giving our word to our boss, our family, and our friends, but what about ourselves? Do we keep our promises to ourselves? Frequently, we do not. Thus, it becomes harder and harder to trust ourselves.

If we want to be happier, we need to build up some energetic muscle tone and personal will power that says, in essence, I can do this: I want to; I am committed and I have given my word to myself. No matter how tiny the commitment, the faithfulness to yourself creates an avalanche of well-being. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13)

Happiness is knowing that you can count on you.

3. STOP

I know, it's a unique thought. To be happy and balanced, I suggest you need to stop and allow yourself to course correct and re-find your center:

May I suggest you take a few deep breath breaks during your day? You will bring yourself back to center, re-oxygenate your body, and tap into the here and now.

Ready for more ways to re-find some balance in your life and increase your state of happiness -- and creativity, too?

• A few hours before bed, unplug all technology. Give yourself some time when you are not required to respond, react, or do. End the mental gymnastics for the day in communion with your Creator, and wind down.

• Employ a daily ritual of quiet time. This can be 20 or 30 minutes of quiet time where you sit with yourself. You can journal, meditate, watch the flickering of a candle, listen to beautiful (melody only) music, and the like. Draw a perimeter around your sanctuary of quietude.

• Take at least one day off a week. Have a full non-work day where you can play, have fun, rest, relax, or just be a slug. We all need time to refill the well. If we run consistently on empty, our ideas, energies, and creativity become compromised. Be inventive, and find revivifying ways to nurture your overworked self.

• Say "No" -- or, at the very least, "I will think about it and get back to you." Ask yourself, does this request make me feel happy? Does it nourish or feed me in some way? Does it excite me? Think twice. Life is short. And you hold the key to your personal well-being.

4. DO SOMETHING EXPRESSIVE

Do you dance to the oldies in your living room? Do you like to create penguin cupcakes on your day off? Do you find great satisfaction in watering the garden and talking to the birds? Are you the queen of collages and vision boards?

What lights us up and turns us on is important. We all know that life does life. When we get exceedingly busy, those activities that feed, comfort, nurture, and soothe us can slip through the cracks.

5. HONOR THE BODY

It's time. We all know it's time, no matter how much we struggle, pout, and resist. It's time to be pro-active and support our physical selves. So, let's begin slowly and work ourselves up to a more optimum way of being. We know we will feel much better; we know we feel happier, stronger (in both mind and body), more productive, and balanced. Really, what's to lose, outside of some old bad habits?

Here are a few reminders to help you kick-start some new choice points:

• Remember the importance of getting enough rest; going to bed before midnight really helps those adrenals. If your body continues to run on empty, you will eventually go clunk.

• Eat well and sensibly most of the time. Aim for 80%; it's a good target. You know the drill: Remember to have some protein with breakfast; limit sweets to after a meal; limit caffeine; and choose colorful, whole foods. You and your blood sugar will remain steadier and more stable throughout the day.

• Move your body in any way that makes you happy; regular physical activity is a definite biochemical boost to happiness and balance.

• Make choices based on what totally resonates with you and your body. This requires that you become mindful of what energizes you and turns over your engine. It can be an "and and" not an either/or. In other words, you can have your cake and eat it, too -- just not for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

• Create some space and time to treat yourself well.

The greatest gift we can give ourselves and model for our loved ones is a life well lived.

In today's upside-down world, action is our primary modus operandi. Consider tweaking your idea of action and focus, and try these five strategies -- maybe, one baby step at a time. They are proven techniques with big rewards. They cannot hurt, and they can clearly help. Your life will become happier, steadier, and more balanced -- and isn't that, what is all about?

With Ancient of days, Almighty Jehovah, all things are possible including you being happy without you worrying.

By Adele Ryan McDowell

ARE FIRST-FRUITS AND TITHES THE SAME?

2026-01-08T08:00:00.009+01:00

In God’s Word, firstfruits and firstborn are never the same thing as tithes.

Firstfruits were the first wave-sheaf of the whole harvest, not the best (Leviticus. 23:10); in addition to the tithe, they were the “first offspring of your herds and flocks,” not the best (Deut. 12:7).

Unlike the food-tithe, it was a very small token amount of the first crops harvested and was small enough to fit into a hand-held basket (Deut. 26:1-10).

Firstfruits were a very small token offering -- like a handful of grapes or olives. And, like tithes, first-fruits and first-born were always only food from inside God’s holy land of Israel.

35 ''..We also assume responsibility for bringing to the house of the Lord each year the firstfruits of our crops and of every fruit tree.

36 “As it is also written in the Law, we will bring the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, of our herds and of our flocks to the house of our God, to the priests ministering there.

37 “Moreover, we will bring to the storerooms of the house of our God, to the priests, the first of our ground meal, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees and of our new wine and olive oil. Nehemiah 10:35-37.

In Nehemiah 10:35-37 above, first-fruits and first-born offerings went directly to the Temple and were required to be totally consumed by ministering priests only inside the Temple. While the Levites ate only the tithe, the priests could also eat from the first-fruits, first-born offerings and other offerings. All of this is very clear from God’s Word.

1 Tim 5:8 But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

First Timothy 5:8 is the new Spirit-taught "first." A Christian's first obligation is for the needs (not wants) of his/her immediate family.

God wants you to make sure you can buy medicine, feed and shelter your family. Even the heathen do that (Rom 2:14-16).

Read: First Fruits Offering, Should Christians Give? Here.

A Christian who neglects his/her family's necessities is worse than unbelievers. And a pastor who convinces Christians to give their first to the church to the neglect of caring for their own family is guilty of sin against God's cleat post-Calvary command.

Because the differences between firstfruits and tithes are so clear, one must conclude that educated tithe-teachers deliberately lie when they equate firstfruits with tithes!

There is simply no honest excuse for this distortion of God’s Word. Yet almost all of them tell this lie. It is an outrage almost to the point of blasphemy and must stop!

By Russell Earl Kelly, PHD

Our message is the kingdom of GOD. Our mission is to prepare you for it. click here to support this site. Thank you for your contribution.

HERE ARE TIPS TO MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER

2026-01-05T08:00:00.001+01:00

It is a new day, a new month, a new year and a new dawn.

What are the best ways to make your life easier this year?

As you read through this list of simple living tips, I encourage you to think creatively about how you can apply these ideas to your own life.

What works for me or others might not be appropriate in your life but I think most of the broader principles are universal tips to make life easier.

Set Daily Goals: When you wake up every morning, try asking yourself “What do I need to do to have a good day today?” and then set your daily targets.

It is very important that you ponder on this each morning, it is a powerful question for several reasons.

First of all, it helps you to identify the priorities on your to-do list. Instead of beating yourself up, trying to get everything done, you can focus on what will really make a difference. This is key to having a productive day.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, this question reminds you to think about your wellbeing to avoid breaking down.

I know, you’re busy and you need to do tough things, but you also need to make time for things that make you feel alive—even if it’s just something small. I know it feels counterintuitive but I promise that when you do, life will feel easier overall.

Don’t take things personally: This is very difficult for some, and something my wife is working on. It’s important to own your reality in life, not someone else's. If someone judges you it has more to do with them than you. Stop being a reactor person (bad temper), it is not every word/speech you must react to or respond to.

Practice the PAUSE rule, one quick and easy tip that has made my life easier is learning to press pause. It helps me to slow down and make better decisions.

Relationships: When someone shows you who they really are, believe them the first time, but remember that once bitten, twice shy. Wasting time on toxic abusive people is mentally, and physically draining. Cultivate a healthy relationship with those who will have respect for each other. Help and Care for each other, Trust each other and to be honest and loyal with each other.

Someone that will take interest in one another's activities, Be in touch and spend time with each other regularly and those that will express themselves to one another without any fear.

Health: Taking care of general health, with proper nutrition is often overlooked. It sure can make life easier as you age. One vital thing that makes life more easier is not being tired and weigh down by sickness!

Getting enough sleep is so important for your health and wellbeing but I know that eight hours a night on a regular basis is just not possible for me and for most people. I am not an early bird, my wife have tried to help me in this area.

Having said that, I think getting eight hours of sleep at least once a week is possible if you commit to making it happen (occasionally I tried it and it worked for me). Make it a priority in your life—get a pizza that night or give yourself permission to leave the dishes in the sink if you need to. Do whatever you can to get into bed early!

I know this isn’t always possible for nursing mothers—my daughter nursed every two hours ALL NIGHT and it makes it difficult for my wife to sleep straight—but do the best you can. It really does make a huge difference.

Solitude: Learn to be ok being alone. So many people have to be in a relationship. They have to be surround by tons of friends or somebody 24/7. You can learn a lot about yourself with some solitude. Don’t spend your whole life running from yourself. Never know who you are. Have a quiet time with youself and your Creator.

The benefits of being ALONE are numerous; It improve your Concentration and Memory. It help makes your interests a priority. It boost your creativity. It will also improves your relationships with your Creator and creation. You will be more Productive and lastly, You will be more empathetic.

Social Media: 95% of what you see or read on social media are fake. Everyone is just trying to portray an image to impress someone while underneath their life is nothing like they portray.

Social Media is categorize into two groups:

Group A, The Good

Social media and technology offer us greater convenience and connectivity:

For you staying connected with family and friends worldwide via email, text, FaceTime, etc.

There is quick access to information and research, banking and bill pay at our fingertips, online learning, job skills, content discovery (YouTube)

involvement in civic engagement (fundraising, social awareness, provides a voice)

great marketing tools.

There are opportunities for remote employment, Social media can be a good thing, but if teens ever feel uncomfortable about something they see or read on social, they should trust their own feelings and talk to someone – a parent, a teacher, or another trusted adult. Bullying, threats and cruelty on social media are all signs that the person doing those things needs help.

Group B, The Bad and Ugly

Along with the good comes the bad and ugly. With all of its benefits, the nature of social media presents a range of potential issues.

Online vs Reality. Social media itself is not the problem. It is the way people use it in place of actual communication and in-person socializing. “Friends” on social media may not actually be friends, and may even be strangers.

Increased usage. The more time spent on social media can lead to cyberbullying, social anxiety, depression, and exposure to content that is not age appropriate.

Social Media is addicting. When you’re playing a game or accomplishing a task, you seek to do it as well as you can. Once you succeed, your brain will give you a dose of dopamine and other happiness hormones, making you happy. The same mechanism functions when you post a picture to Instagram or Facebook. Once you see all the notifications for likes and positive comments popping up on your screen, you’ll subconsciously register it as a reward. But that’s not all, social media is full of mood-modifying experiences.

Fear of Missing Out. FOMO has become a common theme, and often leads to continual checking of social media sites. The idea that you might miss out on something if you’re not online can affect your mental health.

Self-image Issues. Social media sites provide tools that allow people to earn others’ approval for their appearance and the possibility to compare themselves to others. It can be associated with body image concerns. The “selfieholics” and people who spend most of their time posting and scrolling are the ones most vulnerable to this. In fact, most college girls who use Facebook at least five times a day are likely to link their self-worth to their looks. That doesn’t mean that the main problem is social media; it only provides a medium for it, which further elevates the problem. It also promotes the same sort of behavior to others.

Bullying. Sadly, there is an ugly side to all that technology offers. While bullying is not a new concept, social media and technology have brought bullying to a new level. It becomes a more constant, ever-present threat -- cyberbullying.

Life: Be easy on yourself, life can be tough sometimes. Negative self talk does no good, but a heightened sense of awareness does. Learn from the below quotes:

“The unpredictability of life

sucks. One minute you’re

riding high with the wind

whipping through your hair

and the next minute you’re

flat on your ass with a face

full of gravel.”

― Alison G. Bailey, Present Perfect

“Let it rain on some days,

Let yourself shiver on some cold nights,

So when it's Spring you'll know why it was all worth going through.”

― Sanhita Baruah

“Life is full of ups and downs, the only way to make the journey worthwhile is if you enjoy the good and learn from the bad.”

― Natasha Potter

So, lastly, according to Debasish Mridha “Life has its ups and downs. When you are up, enjoy the scenery. When you are down, touch the soul of your being and feel the beauty.”

Gratitude List: Make a small list of 3 things you are grateful for each day.

Addiction: If you find yourself abusing alcohol, food or drugs address the issue. It won’t get better and there is a great life without the addiction.

SIMPLIFY YOUR FINANCES: Here are a few ways to simplify your finances.

Be realistic and create a plan that reflects your actual spending habits (not the ones you wish you had). Then with time, you can start making small changes to achieve your money goals. Whether you’re looking to create a personal budget spreadsheet or just get a better grasp on money management, start with these six steps.

Even if you don’t use a budget spreadsheet, you probably need some way of determining where your money is going each month. Creating a budget with a template can help you feel more in control of your finances and let you save money for your goals. The trick is to figure out a way to track your finances that works for you.

The following steps will help you to create a budget that will make your life easier:

Note your net income. The first step in creating a budget is to identify the amount of money you have coming in. Keep in mind, however, that it’s easy to overestimate what you can afford if you think of your total salary as what you have to spend.

Step 2: Track your spending. It’s helpful to keep track of and categorize your spending so you know where you can make adjustments. Doing so will help you identify what you are spending the most money on and where it might be easiest to cut back.

Step 3: Set your goals. Before you start sifting through the information you’ve tracked, make a list of all the financial goals you want to accomplish in the short-and long-term. Short-term goals should take no longer than a year to achieve. Long-term goals, such as saving for retirement or your child’s education, may take years to reach.

Step 4: Make a plan. Use the variable and fixed expenses you compiled to help you get a sense of what you’ll spend in the coming months. With your fixed expenses, you can predict fairly accurately how much you’ll have to budget for. Use your past spending habits as a guide when trying to predict your variable expenses.

Step 5: Adjust your habits if necessary. Once you’ve done all this, you have what you need to complete your budget. Having documented your income and spending, you can start to see where you have money left over or where you can cut back so that you have money to put toward your goals.

Step 6: Keep checking in. t’s important that you review your budget on a regular basis to be sure you are staying on track. You can also compare your monthly expenses to those of people similar to you. Few elements of your budget are set in stone: You may get a raise, your expenses may increase or you may have reached your goal and want to plan for a new one. Whatever the reason, keep checking in with your budget following the steps above.

Finally, don’t be afraid to use your money to make your life easier: hire a cleaner, take a class, invest in a therapist or whatever else YOU need.

Differences: Don’t worry about being right or wrong. Don’t force your opinion on anyone. So much easier to “let it go” instead of wasting the energy, even if you know you are right.

Pain: Lastly, life is full of mental anguish. Learn to sit in that pain briefly, learn from it, and push through. The best way through a terrible situation is to keep moving, if you stop, life can seem unbearable. Do a pain point audit.

Pay careful attention to all the pain points in your everyday life. Where is there friction? What is causing you stress?

It could anything from the seemingly insignificant (you can never find your keys or your phone is always dead) to bigger hurdles (you really struggle with grocery shopping because you have three kids at home).

They all matter; get specific about your pain points (even the tiny ones) and write them down.

Next, get creative and look for the easiest possible way to remove the pain point. Buy a hook for your keys, put a phone charger in every room, or start ordering your groceries online.

This might sound obvious but I promise you that when you intentionally do an audit like this, you see things—problems AND solutions—with new eyes.

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There will always be Giants in the Land

2026-01-02T14:15:00.000+01:00

David and Goliath

It is a new dawn, a new day and a new year

DADDY told me “son, there’s always a dichotomous arrangement with my statement. Each power of instruction is double-faced, carrying also a relative power of obedience strictly available to help the doer and the willing-to-obey without reservations.

Remember the same angel that was light to Israel was darkness to Egypt

So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night. (exodus 14:20).

Grace is never an afterthought with God but a deliberate act. He thought it to mean it. He meant it to even think it. And when he eventually made you, to fulfill it was why. The Question now is “fulfill what?” That which is already behind schedule? Hasty or a drag, you waited too long for what’s gone.

Perhaps stuck in the attitude of younger-ones-ahead-of you-in-all-things, you unconsciously agitate, running ahead to a prove point. Your real estate gets left behind while your point-proving egotistical struggles of not being an old “cargo” stays a myth. You get double loss for your self-made troubles.

You walked out on destiny and missed out on workable trials of manageable fate. Don’t you get it? Jesus sat thirty years passing the nail to papa Joseph, supposedly doing nothing.

Not us! We must be at something, helping God lest it becomes too late for him. Hey! Will you be real for once? Isn’t feeling the penetrating eyes running the gauntlet over you the main reason you truly strive to be seen as a sensibly regular (not weird) citizen, relevant to societal normalcy?

Remember team work is not about “e go” Its about “we go”. (Can two walk together, unless they are agreed? Amos 3:3).

The “e” could be a “he” or a “she”.

DADDY questions “Why call me LORD and do not do as I say?”. “I’m trying LORD” is never a right answer. Did God call you to try anything? The last time I checked, ONLY BELIEVE was what I saw.

As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid; only believe.” Mark 5:36. But if you prefer to BELIEVE ONLY, be my guest.

But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.” Luke 8:50. It’s the same to me. 'Believe' works with whatever attached. That’s why all things are possible to them that believe.

ALL, not some. Been in this city since early nineties. With time, became a concern to closest buddies. What’s with heykins? Is he normal? Is he never ashamed? Well, heykins had been in and out of business. On and off, determinate procedures of gospel chores. Self-deterring and thus-saith-the-LORD deterred.

You know that type of scripture we have grips on, interpreted to suit our poverty, joblessness and unending waiting(s):

But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be [a]perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:4

If a man dies, shall he live again?
All the days of my hard service I will wait,
Till my change comes. Job 14:14…

“And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him (Samson) at times – between Zorah and Eshtaol” Judges 13:25

Somehow, I overstayed my welcome to my own hurt in temporal places God himself arranged. You want to make it in this city, then stay in this city. Have your mind set on this city. Remember last week’s article on “paying attention to details”.

Going on and off won’t make that happen. Now, don’t get me wrong, God can and will move you to permanence somewhere or between here and there if you must move. It’s all about “right place-Right time” Let’s say GOD MOVED ME.

Is He moving you? Let’s say He moved me to equip me for this information you are getting. Should He move you? What if He stayed you in the city for capital information?

Now I'm back, why have you not given me that information necessary to expedite my restoration? Were you in the city like you never was? Jesus asked Nicodemus “how come you don’t know what you ought? Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?” John 3:10

Eyeball to eyeball, how do you take the Goliath of the city if you are every time evasive? “I'll do it tomorrow is a coward of confrontation.” Not paying attention to your area of strength will only mock you. Most of us think, once we have God, anything will work. David knew better as a teenager to reject the sophisticated weapons of war in his days. Rather, he paid attention to the direction of events in favour of his ridiculous weapons.

Hey!, You are too cumbersome in that presidential attire to win. David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off. 1 Samuel 17:39.

It’s a make believe when you are not proved, doing what you do. People who met you in the city ran you out of track because all you do is consume space. They beat you to the game of relevance and as far as you are concerned, “It's their time”.

Hey! There will always be giants in the land to make you wait another year. And it will never be your time until your natural ease becomes your winning sling _oh ye sleeping David.

Prayer:
Dear Lord, I apologize for ways I’d abused the simplicity of my naturalness by struggling so hard to impress people. Give me stability of awareness to see clearly my winning ways..In the Name of Jesus Christ.

All Bible quotations are from NKJV.

By Akin Paul Akinboyede

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I AM NOT AN ACCIDENT IN THIS WORLD

2026-01-02T14:04:00.000+01:00

God's purpose for your life is to love Him, to love others, and to bring glory to His name.

Your birth was no mistake or mishap, and your life is no fluke of nature. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did. He was not at all surprised by your birth. In fact, He expected it.

Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God. He thought of you first. It is not fate, nor chance, nor luck, nor coincidence that you are breathing at this very moment. You are alive because God wanted to create you!

The Bible says, The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me. (Psalm 138:8)

God prescribed every single detail of your body. He deliberately chose your race, the color of your skin, your hair, and every other feature. He custom-made your body just the way He wanted it. He also determined the natural talents you would possess and the uniqueness of your personality.

The Bible says, You know me inside and out, You know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Read Psalm 139:15

Because God made you for a reason, He also decided when you would be born and how long you would live. He planned the days of your life in advance, choosing the exact time of your birth and death. The Bible says, You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your Book! Psalm 139:16.

God also planned where you’d be born and where you’d live for His purpose. Your race and nationality are no accident. God left no detail to chance. He planned it all for His purpose. The Bible says, From one man He made every nation... and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. Acts 17:26

Nothing in your life is arbitrary. It’s all for a purpose.

Most amazing, God decided how you would be born. Regardless of the circumstances of your birth or who your parents are, God had a plan in creating you.

God has created you with unique gifts and talents that He wants to use for His kingdom.

It doesn’t matter whether your parents were good, bad, or indifferent. God knew that those two individuals possessed exactly the right genetic makeup to create the custom “you” he had in mind. They had the DNA God wanted to make you.

While there are illegitimate parents, there are no illegitimate children. Many children are unplanned by their parents, but they are not unplanned by God. God’s purpose took into account human error, and even sin. God never does anything accidentally, and He never makes mistakes. He has a reason for everything He creates.

Every plant and every animal was planned by God, and every person was designed with a purpose in mind. God’s motive for creating you was His love. The Bible says, Long before He laid down earth’s foundations, He had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of His love. Ephesians 1:4

God was thinking of you even before He made the world. In fact, that’s why He created it! God designed this planet’s environment just so we could live in it. We are the focus of His love and the most valuable of all His creation. The Bible says, God decided to give us life through the Word of truth so we might be the most important of all the things He made. James 1:18

This is how much God loves and values you! God is not haphazard; He planned it all with great precision. The more physicists, biologists, and other scientists learn about the universe, the better we understand how it is uniquely suited for our existence, custom-made with the exact specifications that make human life possible.

Dr. Michael Denton, senior research fellow in human molecular genetics at the University of Otago in New Zealand, has concluded, “All the evidence available in the biological sciences supports the core proposition... that the cosmos is a specially designed whole with life and mankind as its fundamental goal and purpose, a whole in which all facets of reality have their meaning and explanation in this central fact.”

The Bible said the same thing thousands of years earlier: God formed the earth... He did not create it to be empty but formed it to be inhabited. Isaiah 45:18

Why did God do all this? Why did He bother to go to all the trouble of creating a universe for us? Because He is a God of love. This kind of love is difficult to fathom, but it’s fundamentally reliable. You were created as a special object of God’s love! God made you so He could love you. This is a truth to build your life on.

The Bible tells us, God is love. (1 John 4:8) It doesn’t say God has love. He is love! Love is the essence of God’s character.

There is perfect love in the fellowship of the Trinity, so God didn’t need to create you. He wasn’t lonely. But He wanted to make you in order to express His love.

God will fulfill His purpose for you and provide you with whatever help you need along the way.

God says, I have carried you since you were born; I have taken care of you from your birth. Even when you are old, I will be the same. Even when your hair has turned gray, I will take care of you. I made you and will take care of you. (Isaiah 46:3-4)

If there was no God, we would all be “accidents,” the result of astronomical random chance in the universe.

You could stop reading this article, because life would have no purpose or meaning or significance. There would be no right or wrong, and no hope beyond your brief years here on earth.

But there is a God who made you for a reason, and your life has profound meaning! We discover that meaning and purpose only when we make God the reference point of our lives. The Message paraphrase of Romans 12:3 says, The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what He does for us.

God's purpose will always be in your best interest and for your salvation.

This poem by Russell Kelfer sums it up:

You are who you are for a reason.

You’re part of an intricate plan.

You’re a precious and perfect unique design,

Called God’s special woman or man.

You look like you look for a reason.

Our God made no mistake.

He knit you together within the womb,

You’re just what He wanted to make.

The parents you had were the ones He chose,

And no matter how you may feel,

They were custom-designed with God’s plan in mind,

And they bear the Master’s seal.

No, that trauma you faced was not easy.

And God wept that it hurt you so;

But it was allowed to shape your heart

So that into His likeness you’d grow.

You are who you are for a reason,

You’ve been formed by the Master’s rod.

You are who you are, Beloved,

Because there is a God!

Point to Ponder: I am not an accident.

Verse to Remember: I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born. — Isaiah 44:2

Question to Consider: I know that God uniquely created me. What areas of my personality, background, and physical appearance am I struggling to accept?

Comment below and share your experience, understanding and those things you are struggling to accept.

Credit: Faithgateway,
Excerpted from The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, copyright Rick Warren. Published by Zondervan.

10 Most Effective Ways Of Getting Your Inheritance From the Earth

2025-05-15T17:27:00.002+01:00

Steve Jobs once said, 'Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it'. Life is to be fought with through hard work before it can surrender to you your inheritance which she has been holding on to the moment you came into the world.

You must contend with life to subdue to receive the very many blessings it has to offer. Men and women who have become successful in life, have in a way understood that life is a game and you have to be a good game player to make it. Hard work as stated above does not only imply the breaking of stones or excessive use of ones strength but also the usage of the mind or resources to further better humanity.

A lot of people are not aware of this truth, that the human mind is where the world lies. Every development or damage is as a result of the mind. The mind is where every thought is born. As Napoleon Hill said " Everything we see here on earth is or was born out of some ones thought." E.g, the creation of the earth was made out of Gods thought. Great companies or products were created or made out of thoughts of its founder or manufacturer.

From this, one would understand that another form of hard work is simply to think, but thinking to better humanity is what makes one successful. As Donald Trump put it " we humans are the ultimate resource. That for every problem that occurs, we can solve it." To combating a problem, a thought must be applied.

The first most effective way to get your inheritance from life is to THINK. Thinking is a hard task that can be made easy through problem solving. Become a problem solver and millions of thoughts will come. We must not forget that thought is money.

The second most effective way of getting your inheritance from earth is transferring your thoughts from the spiritual to the physical. Our minds cannot be Seen, read or understood by others because it is hidden. It is spiritual in the first instance. It is where every thought is processed. The mind responds to where the individual finds himself, what he sees or what he hears.

From these, thoughts are born. Thoughts are intangible that can be made tangible through our behavior, or through the product or service we wish to render. The mind can be controlled. It can be channeled toward the development of the individual, and the society in which he finds himself. The transfer of thought to the physical depends on the action you take. Action is the key. Action could also mean strategy. Simply put it this way "the steps you want to take to bring your thought into life so it can be of value to people around you.". Please, remember that nothing can come into the physical from the spiritual without your permission.

The third most effective way of getting your inheritance from life is through a product or service. Martin Luther King jr. Said "all humans on earth are consumers. In the first instance, humans must feed and need shelter." For you to be successful you must identify a need and fill it.

You must be able to provide a product or service that will be of value to humanity. Everyone you see on the streets is in need of a product or service. Success comes by giving man his desire. You must channel your thoughts toward creating products or services that man can use continually. Success comes from offering a product or service that is inexpensive and is generally acceptable by the public.

The fourth most effective way of getting your inheritance from earth is to put others first before yourself. When you do this, you begin to think of how you can be of value to people around you. You begin to think of how you can make life convenient for them. Your innovative ability comes alive. You start to make plans to providing a product or service that will meet their needs . Once this is done, you become of value and you get high patronage. But when you put yourself first, you will belong to the dream of others. You will give your inheritance away to people who are currently meeting your needs.

The fifth way to get your inheritance from earth is to make people dependent on you. It's a well known fact that "he who makes the rules takes the gold." The way to do this, is to be a decision maker, a service provider or a problem solver. Try becoming any.

The sixth most effective way of getting your inheritance from earth is seeing failure as an opportunity for change.

Abraham lincoln said "I slip and never fall." He also said " if after one defeat we will continue even after a hundred defeats." Winston churchill also said "men should see failure as prevention against greater disaster that would have occurred in the future. Thomas edison also said "we should see failure as a way of not getting it right.

Failure is good. Don't get me wrong. failure makes us wiser and smarter than we were before. It teaches us how to do things better. It shows you how to improve yourself. Its important to note that failure is democratic. It is for everybody. Failure is not an enemy. Its only you that can make failure an enemy if you refuse to change when it comes. See failure as an agent and promoter of change.

The seventh most effective way of getting your inheritance from earth is the effective use of thy youth.

Greater strength can be found in the youth. You should channel your strength into things that are productive now. Winston churchill said " no day should be wasted during the days of your youth for the youth is the master of his fortune." Its what you do with your youth that determines where you will be at old age.

The eight most effective way of getting your inheritance from earth is conquering fear.

Fear builds resistance. Resistance in its simplest form is that force in us that holds us back. A lot of destinies have been ruined due to fear. If you carry fear mentality you will never become an achiever. Achievers are courageous people. Achievers are those who see fear as nothing but mental.

Norman pearl puts it this way "fear is nothing but mental." All human actions are mind actions. It is the pictures and thoughts we develop in our minds we follow as human beings. If all you see in your mind is your inability to achieve what you want due to fear, you will never go past your present condition. You then become stagnant and start to stink. To do exploit, just take that bold step over fear into the many blessings the earth has to offer.

The ninth most effective way of getting your inheritance from earth is rendering free service.

Free service is a way of creating attention. It is the easiest way of getting the world to know about your product or service. Free service takes you from nowhere to somewhere. It turns you from nothing to somebody. E.g. The story of Joseph in the bible is a clear example of what free service can do. Joseph interpreted the kings dream that made him governor over Egypt and made him a wonder before his brothers that sold him.

Take a look at this: if Joseph had sold the interpretation, his story wouldn't have ended on a good note. A lot of us can be like Joseph for our destinies might be tied to free service. It was also free service that gave Thomas Edison the kind of money he was looking for at the age of 21. You should try as much as possible to make yourself available when opportunity calls to render free service.

The tenth most effective way of getting your inheritance from earth is improving the works done by others.

Change, they say is inevitable. Works such as inventions stick with the periods they were invented. As time goes on they become outdated. For continuity of purpose, they need to be advanced to meet up with change. Its your duty to find and locate which, you can make improvements on that will be of value at the moment.

Madubuko kenechukwu said "old things have become slow in modern times where speed is required." Part of "Thomas Edison's " fame came from the improvements he did on the works of great inventors of his time.

Beloveth, I hope you find the above write up interesting and worth taking action. Continue putting your thought into reality to benefit our world positively.
We are able through Christ who strenghten us, it is well with you and those who wish you well. God bless you as you work towards getting your inheritance from the earth.

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Thank you for spending your time on our site and improving your life.

The Woman who changed our view of Death

2025-03-01T16:28:00.002+01:00

The Woman who changed our view of Death: the gruesome reality of America's Funerals

In the 1960s, British aristocrat Jessica Mitford wrote a best-seller on the funeral industry’s practices. Twenty years after her death, she can still teach us how to handle mortality.

“In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,” Benjamin Franklin once quipped. If some scientists and businessmen are to be believed, Franklin’s assertion is now only half true. For the sum of $200,000, you can pay to have your whole body saturated in antifreeze and placed in a giant refrigerator in Scottsdale, Arizona. (To shave down the price to $80,000, you can let your flesh rot and preserve your brain alone.) So far, around 1,000 people have signed up for the service in the hope that they will one day be defrosted to live a second life.

Whenever I hear of these schemes, I can’t help but think of Jessica Mitford, who died 20 years ago. The sister of the novelist Nancy Mitford, she was by turns a communist rebel, investigative journalist, civil rights activist and pop singer, opening a gig for Cyndi Lauper and recording a duet with the writer Maya Angelou. The author JK Rowling admired Mitford so much she even named her first daughter after her.

But it is for Mitford’s 1963 book The American Way of Death that she should be remembered today. An unsentimental (and often gruesome) examination of the extravagant and bizarre ways we cope with mortality, its message is more pertinent today than ever before.

‘Running-away account’
Decca, as she was known to her family and friends, was born to Lord and Lady Redesdale in 1917. The sixth of seven children, Decca’s dissatisfaction with her aristocratic life emerged at an early age: at just 12 years old, she was already planning her escape by establishing a ‘running-away account’ at the family bank.
Those dreams of escape would become increasingly earnest as her parents and two of her older sisters, Diana and Unity, began cultivating fascist sympathies. Unity eventually moved to Germany and forged a close friendship (some claimed a romance) with Adolf Hitler, while Diana married the leader of the British Union of Fascists, Oswald Mosley – with the Fuhrer in attendance.

Repulsed by their ideology, Decca became the ‘red sheep’ of the family, using her diamond rings to carve hammers and sickles into the glass of her bedroom window. Her principles only solidified at the age of 19 when she met Winston Churchill’s socialist nephew, Esmond Romilly, at a house party. She promptly cashed in her running-away fund and the two eloped to join the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. Downcast and dejected after Franco’s victory, they returned to England before eventually emigrating to the USA.

Her life was soon marked by tragedy, losing first a daughter to measles and then Esmond himself, who was killed in combat during World War Two. But she married again and established a new life for herself, joining the San Francisco branch of the Communist Party and campaigning for the civil rights of black Americans. By middle age, she turned her hand to investigative journalism, specialising in exposing social injustice – including a particularly provocative article detailing increasingly extravagant funeral services, often pushed upon families who could ill afford the expense.

Death became her. Combining her social conscience with gallows humour, the article attracted considerable attention and soon blossomed into a book. It was revelatory reading. Even those who had recently suffered a bereavement understood very little about what occurred in the cool confines of the mortuary. “Thousands of books have been written describing, cataloguing, theorising about the funeral procedures of ancient and modern peoples from the Aztecs to the Zulus, but about contemporary American funeral practices almost nothing has been written,” Mitford noted.

Mitford’s descriptions were so gruesome that her first publisher decided to terminate their contract. She had paid particular attention to the process of embalming – describing in exquisite detail how each body is “sprayed, sliced, pierced, pickled, trussed, trimmed, creamed, waxed, painted, rouged and neatly dressed – transformed from a common corpse into a Beautiful Memory Picture”.
It was ostensibly a sanitary measure, to prevent further decay and to present the mourners with a poignant last glimpse of their loved one. In practice, it amounted to extensive post-mortem cosmetic surgery.
The embalmer would drain the blood from the veins – the sooner the better, to avoid cellular damage, before refilling the arteries with embalming fluid. This came in a number of separate tints, allowing the funeral director to colour with a brown suntan or a healthy rosy glow or simply to regain the “natural undertones”, and helped to firm up the skin with youthful plumpness. Following that, the mortician would then nip and tuck the tissue across the body with implants, pins and fillers to mask blemishes and swellings that come with age and illness, before sewing the face into the most attractive (and youthful) expression possible.

Finally, the teeth were whitened, make-up applied, and the corpse was dressed in its final outfit. Mitford was surprised to find an enormous range of clothes marketed specifically for the departed; her particular favourite was a special brand of bra designed for “post-mortem form restoration”. She argued that mourners were also encouraged to pay exorbitantly for the most expensive coffins, ostentatious flowers and sentimental memorabilia (such as commemorative, heart-shaped ash-trays), with the underlying message that it would be disrespectful to buy anything but the best.

Mitford questioned the dignity and utility of these invasive procedures. She was dismayed that morticians would sometimes discourage an essential medical autopsy because it would make it harder to beautify the body and she objected to the fact that the they often veiled their services in pseudo-psychology, arguing that a lavish funeral, with a pimped and plucked and polished corpse, was essential for the grieving process – despite little evidence this was the case. The vulnerable families would have done far better to see a qualified psychoanalyst, she thought, than to be encouraged to pay for a luxury satin-lined casket and more roses in their funeral wreaths.

More than anything, she baulked at the fact that death was being prettified and sanitised, masking the brutal facts about our mortality. Mitford decided now was time for the public to look death in the face.

America agreed. Mitford had expected to sell just a few hundred copies, but the first print run – a whopping 20,000 – sold out on the day it was published. The book topped the New York Times best-seller list and remained on it for most of the year. In 1965, the filmmaker Tony Richardson used it as inspiration for The Loved One, billed as “the motion picture with something to offend everyone” and starring Liberace; in 2013, David Bowie listed it as one of his “top 100” books.

The interest did indeed appear to leave its mark in the way people treated the dead, with many more opting for cremation and a simple, bare-bones “Mitford service”. She was delighted when one funeral director named a cheap and cheerful coffin after her. In her letters, she noted that Robert Kennedy even told her that The American Way of Death had informed his arrangements for the funeral of his brother, President John F Kennedy.

Today, science offers more ways than ever to mark your passing, and we can be sure that Mitford would have approved of some more than others. The Urban Death Project in Seattle, for instance, turns corpses into compost – a greener way of returning dust to dust than a typical cremation. Cryogenics, on the other hand, may seem like the apotheosis of all she deplored, although we cannot make too much of the comparison. As New Scientist recently pointed out, valuable medical research may emerge from these projects.

At the very least, conversations about death may be losing some of their stigma. Take the “Death Cafes” that encourage frank discussions of the subject. First established by Swiss sociologist Bernard Crettaz in 2004, the “café mortel” offers a venue to talk about mortality over tea and cake. The followers of this movement argue that we need to become more involved in the practical decisions that mark our final exit from this world, the ways we would like to be remembered, and of how we grieve for others.

Mitford certainly faced her own death with the same frank humour with which she had also embraced her colourful life. In early 1996, she had begun revising and updating her magnum opus (Death Warmed Over, as she had started calling the new edition) when she was diagnosed with metastatic cancer and given months to live. She remained upbeat and was grateful that she had just enough time to finish her book and tie up some of her life’s loose ends. She died on 22 July at the age of 78.

She had once teased that, despite her appeals for a simpler and more dignified attitude to death, she herself wanted an elaborate service with the “streets to be blocked off, dignitaries to declaim sobbingly over the flower-smothered bier, proclamations to be issued – that sort of thing”. Her friends complied, ordering six black-plumed horses to pull a glass-enclosed antique hearse through downtown San Francisco, followed by a twelve-piece brass band.

If Mitford could have seen the spectacle herself, she would have surely curled her lips into a mischievous smile. Having devoted so many years of her life to the funeral industry, her only regret had been the fact that she could never attend her own, once writing: “Goodness, I wish I could be there.”

Source: David Robson for BBC

Why is Africa Underdeveloped as against Gen 1:28

2025-02-24T15:26:00.003+01:00

Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:28

The above Bible verse is being practiced or fulfilled by Majority of the people that have white skin and very few people among black people. God created us and equips us to work, the work of the ''creation mandate'' was passed to us for our own good.

Everything is grounded on God’s creation of people in his own image, from Genesis 1:26-27, 5:1. All creation displays God’s design, power, and goodness, but only human beings are said to be made in God’s image. A full theology of the image of God is beyond our scope here, so let us simply note that something about us is uniquely like him.

But the chief thing we know about God, so far in the narrative, is that God is a creator who works in the material world, who works in relationship, and whose work observes limits. We have the ability to do the same.

Chapter 2 of Genesis discuss about dominion, provision, fruitfulness/growth, limits, and relationships, and we must continue in this regards in creating what will make life easier for us in line with God mandate.

But now a days, especially in Africa, we are bringing many to our churches and having programs upon programs everyday while other countries are teaching their children to be creators (problem solvers).

We teach our children to pray for everything including jobs, smart phones and cars, while they (civilized countries) teach theirs to create jobs, invent smart phones and cars.

Then our children become adults who go and work under those who obey God and created jobs, our children struggle to get small money to buy smart phones that we disobeyed God in creating, our children go to church to celebrate the Pastor for smart phones and cars purchased from other countries whose children have become adults who invent cars and smart phones with their God given talents.

While here in Africa we sleep in the church waiting for miracle from God that have already equips everyone of us with talents as told in the Scripture, Matthew 25: 14-30.

This are the same people that brought Islam and Christianity to us but they are not behaving or disobeying God the way we do. They go to church but dont waste time in the church as it is common in Africa, they pray and have faith that God has answered their prayer but we here in Africa, after praying we are still waiting for miracle instead of us to act on whatever prayer we have as we read from James 2:14-26.

We end up consuming the smart cars and iphone 14 pro max they invent with their God given talents and we gathered, give testimony, and are happy with not fulfilling God's Word. We go beyond that, we started praising, boasting that it was pastor's prayers and anointing that gave us those devices and cars.

We are teaching our kids that "A" is for "Apple" and they are teaching their kids how to turn apples into other products and how to impregnate apples to give birth to beautiful bubbles.

They are teaching their kids coding and programming in well equipped schools while we are teaching our kids how to prophecy and speak in tongues in well equipped churches. While there's nothing wrong with raising a child in a church, (many great achievers are being raise in the church), it is wrong if our children remain within the safety of the walls of religion. That's a limitation on the mind of the African child.

Our children's school drama is about how to be a pastor or imam while theirs is about how to relocate to a new planet. They boast about conquering Mars, while we boast about seeing dreams and hearing prophecies.

We choose our leaders based on tribe and religion while they choose theirs based on the solutions these leaders bring to the table. I want our churches to continue in creating things that will empower their members finacially, spiritually, mentally, physically and so on. Why is it that we have many people poor in the church?

We are poor yet look rich but they are rich yet look poor. We may be doom on the last day if we don't change our mindset. Matthew 7:23.

Please share this post until every African child read it and change their mindset. Enough is enough, Madness means thinking the same way you used to think ten years ago but expecting a different result. If you want real changes, then practice what is written in the Scripture against what you used to know and embrace new knowledge for new results.

It's time to teach the African child how to become a god - creator of solutions.

Read: Why are Blacks not successful and wealthy? here

Our message is the kingdom of GOD. Our mission is to prepare you for it.

Why not, If it's in your heart to help E. A Olatoye's blog, kindly visit here to support us.

The Freedom Propaganda

2025-02-22T18:39:00.042+01:00

The freedom propaganda started long time ago, the lie was told so subtly that we didn’t notice.

To gain popularity, they convinced us that it was all about gender equality, then they preached to us, saying it was a human rights and child rights agenda.

Photograph: Amnesty International/Polly Dunbar

To draw the attention of women, they hid under Women Empowerment Campaigns. USAID. We saw everything they did as part of civilization. Because of this, we applauded them and blindly sang their praises.

We were so blind that we did not notice when they went from equality to role reversal, and from ‘rights’ to ‘wrongs’. They told us it was all a matter of understanding. I mean, if she earns more than he does, why can’t she be the head while he submits?.

They told us we had the right to our bodies, they told us that if the guys can do ‘it’ anytime with anybody, so can the girls. They introduced free love, and ‘friends with benefits’, and convinced us that we were just exercising our rights to enjoy our bodies. We agreed, which youth wouldn’t?

When we complained about STDs, they introduced condoms, and even started sharing it to us free of charge in our secondary schools (catch them young). They told us that from the age of 16, we had the right to do whatever we wanted to. This made us to start seeing our parents and school teachers as toothless bulldogs as they no longer had the right to discipline us. Talk of sweet freedom!

When we complained about teenage pregnancies, they told our parents to educate us about contraceptives as early as possible. Then they introduced the reformed sex education in our school as a guise to give us more condoms (Male and Female condoms).

Some of us still got pregnant, and we complained yet again. So they decided to legalize abortions. This was in a bid to help us. You see, they really cared about our future, and wanted to ensure that we live a free life.

Abortion made sense to us. So we accepted it. I mean, why bring a child you don’t want or can’t take care of into the world? We felt a bit guilty because it seemed like murder. But they told us not to worry. According to them, what we were doing was merely taking out an unwanted fetus, and not killing a child.

Fetus

Yet again, we accepted it, and got pacified. They said that we weren’t supposed to be accountable to any deity, religion, our parents or the society. Next, they told us we had the freedom to do what we wanted with our lives, so far as we weren’t hurting other people or trampling on their rights.

Almost immediately, we stopped regarding God. We rather chose to play football, hang out, or watch seasonal movies on Weekends.

We also decided to experiment with homosexuality. It seemed like fun, and they encouraged us. When we told them that the society frowned against our choice, they legalized it and told us we can get married too.

We decided to go further and experiment with drugs. They frowned against it publicly, but we still had access to it. Moreover, we were minors, and the law enforcement agents couldn’t really punish us.

We looked for role models and they gave us Hollywood stars with multiple divorce stories, musical icons addicted to drugs/alcohol, and sports stars with numerous extra marital affair scandals.

They told us, that those celebrities were successful and free and we should aspire to be like them. Some of us started pumping iron, getting tattoos, and injecting steroids in order to look as manly and as ‘successful’ as our role models.

We started seeing fidelity as a sign of weakness. And just like our ‘role-models’, we started going after everything in skirt. We equally tore off pictures of our successful and ‘sexy’ looking role models off celebrity magazines, and pasted them on our mirrors. We started dieting like mad so we can lose weight and look like them.

We noticed that they hardly wore any clothes, so we followed suit. When we became bored, they introduced us to their clubs and night parties. They told us to throw caution to the winds and just have fun. Even when some of us got raped, they encouraged us to shut up and keep having fun.

Some of us became addicted to alcohol, but we were told not to worry that it was one way to prove our manhood, so we continued.

At a time we noticed that we had lost our will. We had become their slaves without knowing it. We noticed that we didn’t have any reason to live again, and life was no longer purposeful.

In the bid to look sexy, some of us became victims of anorexia nervosa.

The twin doctors who made a pact of
starving of never gaining weight

Those of us in relationships found it impossible to be faithful. Many started contemplating suicide. Many more had STDs. Some of us experienced series of psychological traumas and mental breakdowns.

A lot more dropped out of school as a result of unwanted pregnancies, drugs, or an abortion that went wrong.

At this point we saw our future get dashed before our faces. We started looking for whom to blame. After a fruitless search, we had to admit that we didn’t even know who ‘they’ were. Then reality dawned on us.

We remembered Holly Books wisdom and we remembered our fathers telling us that “unlimited liberty is slavery in disguise”. We also remembered when our mothers told us that “freedom without checks and balances is tantamount to advanced bondage”. By then it was too late for us. We had bought ‘their’ freedom lie. A Yoruba people in Western Nigeria puts it ''Aso o ba Omoye mo, Omoye ti rin ihoho'' ( Too late for Omoye, Omoye ran mad).

Maybe for you, it is not yet late. Then please don’t be deceived by their lies and evil propaganda. Do not be swayed by their subtle message of freedom.
They’re all lies! We can prove it with our relationships, drug addictions, unwanted pregnancies, violent tendencies etc.

Beware, and please let's warn our youths and teenagers so the menace will not colonise all of this generation. This is clarion call to all Parents.

"Flee from Babylon (freedom propaganda)! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the LORD's vengeance; he will repay her what she deserves''. Jeremiah 51:6 (NIV Holy Bible)

First published on www.bellanaija.com

Our message is the kingdom of GOD. Our mission is to prepare you for it.

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DWELL ON POSITIVE THOUGHTS

2025-02-20T11:43:00.002+01:00

So much darkness is hovering around in our world today. It brings with it all forms of evil, fear is griping a lot of people, uncertainty is everywhere. But should we really be surprised?

Surely we know that the wages of sin is death:

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, Romans 6:23

Never mind that we often delude ourselves by the claim that "the blood washes away our sins". Perhaps this is the time to tell ourselves the truth at last. The salvation that the Lord Christ brought was in redirecting our attention to the path that leads to salvation. The convenient claim that the blood washes away our sins has lured us to sleep for too long. It is time to wake up from our slumber!.

Read Also: Why Your Suffering Makes You Stronger

It was written in the Holy Bible, in 1 John 1:7 that, ''but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. Before we can claim "the blood washes away our sins", we must turn a new leaf and walk in the light.

We must brace up, it's time to try and undo our mistakes. Let us stop the brooding and the complaining. Do not be a passive partner to the atrocities that abound today.

Watch your thoughts, words and your actions, (''Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it''.) Proverb 4:23 .

Read: The freedom propaganda

Be conscious and cautious, no more careless utterances, for nothing is lost. And remember that the fact that you are physically removed from the places of these activities does not make you innocent of the evils that are perpetuated therein.

A very conscious effort at feeding the good power centers are urgently advised. Dwell on positive light thoughts.

Listen to good music, engage in light happy conversation, laugh, dance, admire nature etc.

Pay less attention to the negative events of today. Spread love and joy, think good always and most importantly think of THE ALMIGHTY CREATOR and of ETERNITY. And do give THANKS always.

Stay blessed and remain positive.

Our message is the kingdom of GOD. Our mission is to prepare you for it.

Why not, If it's in your heart to help E. A Olatoye's blog, kindly visit here to support us. Thank you for spending your time on our site.

What are Stages of Social Deception?

2025-02-18T11:12:00.004+01:00

I love this article that has been making rounds across social medial, especially whatsapp, thought i should share it with you to make us more wiser. I also posted the propaganda freedom here early this year.

Deception according to wikipedia, means, beguilement, deceit, bluff, mystification, ruse, or subterfuge is the act of propagating a belief that is not true, or is not the whole truth (as in half-truths or omission). Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda, and sleight of hand, as well as distraction, camouflage, or concealment.

Social Deception very often is a process by which wrong becomes right, and right becomes wrong.

It’s a complete paradigm shift of opinions, standards and morals that is achieved softly, subtly and often takes a generation to entrench into society. Those who engineer it are very deliberate and structured in their approach.

If you want to know what I am talking about, find out your mother’s views on things like sexuality and marriage and compare them with yours. The contrast in opinions does not necessarily prove that she is old and antiquated; it may instead prove that you have been deceived.

There are six stages of Social Deception.
The SHOCKER stage
The OUTRAGE stage
The DISCUSSION stage
The TOLERANCE stage
The ACCEPTANCE stage
The VENERATION stage

If I wanted to popularize the most unimaginable thing in our society, say like bestiality (the practice of having sex with animals). I would follow these steps. I would select a forerunner to drop the SHOCKING message on an unsuspecting public. “It is okay and we shouldn't have problems having sex with animals,” he would announce on radio, TV or in a newspaper. That is the SHOCKER; the bombshell, so to speak.

It would inevitably be followed by OUTRAGE. The forerunner is abused and demonized by the bewildered public. Every respected leader in society comes out to slam the lamentable reprobate who dared suggest something so obnoxious. The forerunner defiantly defends the practice. His critics come out even more scathing. But the forerunner knows exactly what he is doing. He is setting an agenda. Many people don’t understand the effect of continuous exposure on the human mind.

First Fruits Offering, Should Christians Give?

2025-01-04T01:46:00.003+01:00

Good day to you and once again, welcome to new year. The year has started running as usual and the church also has started preaching on the need to pay or give first fruit in other to get God blessing.

In this article we will be looking at how it was done in the old testament of the Bible, how it was done in the new testament, and how it is being done by our church today in other for us to have in depth knowledge about the First Fruit so that we can avoid being a prey to pastors who capitalize on it.

First of all, let us examine this issue from the old testament of the Holy Bible.

First Fruits in the Old Testament

The first fruits offering was an offering required by God of the Israelites. It's mentioned several times in the Old Testament law:
Exodus 23:19a: "The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God."

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Leviticus 23:10: "'Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest."
Proverbs 3:9-10: "Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine."

The most comprehensive passage about the first fruits offering is found in Deuteronomy 26. It explains that the purpose of the first fruits was to acknowledge how God took the Israelites down to Egypt, multiplied their number, released them, and gave them the land of Canaan for an inheritance. Canaan was a fertile land that was already settled by people who did horrible things like sacrifice their children. For their sin, God had the Israelites destroy the Canaanites, and then He gave the Israelites the land.

God told the Israelites that the first fruits offering was to be given in thanks for "cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant…" (Deuteronomy 6:10-11).

The offering was brought to the temple where it was displayed before God, and then given to the priests for their sustenance (Numbers 18:11-12). Proverbs 3:9-10 does say that offering first fruits will bring blessings, but it's unclear if this is a general proverb or a specific promise of God to His people; in the majority of appearances, first fruits is associated with thanks to God for bringing the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan.

The law is somewhat vague in the specifics, and has opened itself up to rabbinic interpretation. For instance, Scripture does not dictate how much the first fruits offering should be in comparison to the harvest. Leviticus 23:17 mentions two loaves of bread for an offering for wheat, and rabbinic custom stated the minimum offering should be 1/60th of the harvest, although this is not in the Bible.

Rabbis decided that only the seven species characteristic to Canaan were required: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olive oil, and dates (or honey). The offering could be brought anywhere between late spring and the fall. If the giver lived far from Jerusalem, the fruit could be dried.

The most significant aspect of the first fruits offering was the reason behind it: it was designed to acknowledge and thank God for providing the Israelites with the land flowing with milk and honey after their captivity in Egypt. It was a ceremonial act for the nation of Israel.

It was not meant to be an act of faith that God would provide in the future, nor even to honor God as first in their lives. It was an act of obedience, and while that obedience was part of God's promise to Israel that He would bless them, it was the faithfulness of obedience that ensured His blessing, not the offering itself.

The term "first fruits" is used in another, somewhat metaphorical way in the Old Testament. It refers to the firstborn son of each human man or female animal. All firstborn males belonged to God, but depending on the species, they could be redeemed—that is, a sacrifice could be made so they could stay.

God provided the redemption for the "first fruit" sons by taking the Levites for Himself to care for the tabernacle and the temple (Numbers 3:12). The firstborn male of each female herd animal had different standards depending on what they were.

Are Christians Required to Tithe? Read it Here

For instance, a firstborn male donkey could be redeemed by donating a lamb (Exodus 13:12), but cows, sheep, and goats were to be sacrificed (Numbers 18:17). Use of "first fruits" in this manner does not directly relate to the first fruits offering. The firstborn animals were dedicated in remembrance of God taking all the firstborns of men and animals in Egypt while the first fruits produce were given in remembrance of God providing for Israel in Canaan.

First Fruits in the New Testament

First fruits are mentioned in several ways in the New Testament:
- Romans 8:23 states "And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit…" As in other passages, Paul is using "first fruits" as a metaphor for the first appearance of a promised blessing. Here, it is the Holy Spirit, the "helper" who Jesus promised in John 14:26. The very first followers of Jesus were also the very first to experience the blessing of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit—they received the "first fruits" of the Holy Spirit's work in the lives of believers.

Also Read: United States Televangelist Seeking $54M Donations To Buy Fourth Private Jet

In Romans 11:13-16, Paul makes a confusing statement in regards to the rejection of Jesus by the Jews. It was always God's intent to bring salvation to the Gentiles (non-Jews). It was not His intent that the Jews would reject that salvation. But, since they have, God hopes that His new relationship with the Gentiles will make the Jews jealous—envious—and cause them to want that relationship for themselves.

Apparently some Gentile Christians turned their acceptance of Christ into pride and harassed the Jewish Christians. God is for all, and even the Gentiles who accepted Christ should not have treated the few Jewish Christians they came into contact with arrogantly.

Verse 16 continues: "If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump…" The phrasing is odd, but it's believed that the "dough" refers to the first Jewish Christians and the "whole lump" to Jews in general, meaning that God has not abandoned the Jewish nation indefinitely. If the first Jewish Christians were redeemable, then the Gentiles needed to remember that every Jew is redeemable.

"First fruits" is used as a metaphor to mean the first part of the harvest of Jewish souls that are to be saved through Christ's sacrifice.
- 1 Corinthians 15:20, 23 refer to Jesus as the "firstfruits" of those who will be raised from the dead. He is the firstborn Son of the Father, and His resurrection is the first of the promise that all who follow Him will also be raised. He is a guarantee of our future blessing.

- 2 Thessalonians 2:13 and James 1:18 call New Testament saints "firstfruits." They were the first to follow Christ, and act as a promise that there will be more to come. In fact, James 1:18 infers that the Christians in the early church were the "firstfruits" of all of creation and the promise that creation itself will be restored.

First Fruit Offering

The final mention of firstfruits in the Bible is in Revelation 14:4 and speaks of the 144,000 Jewish witnesses who will spread the Gospel during the Tribulation. They will have a special role in Heaven and are claimed by God and Jesus as special representatives of those who are saved.

All to say that although the term "firstfruits" is used in the New Testament, it does not refer to giving, whether to the Temple or the church. It acts as a metaphor to mean those who experience God's blessing first or in a special way.

First Fruits Today
The concept of first fruits is sometimes used by preachers today to encourage their parishioners to give an offering above and beyond tithing.

The first fruit today itself may vary:
- First paycheck of a new job or the first paycheck of the year (now that we are in a new year and this is January)- Portion earned from the sale of something- Portion of each subsequent paycheck- Take a Sabbath the first day of the week, and/or have a quiet time in the morning. The reasons stated for giving a first fruits offering also vary:

ARE FIRST-FRUITS AND TITHES THE SAME? Find out Here

- To show sacrificial faith that God will provide- To give thanks that God did provide- To "sow a seed" so that God will make the giver rich- To ensure God will bless the giver's plans for the new year. The problem is, the first fruits offering was for the Jews for a specific purpose.

Nowhere does the New Testament mention that the church is required or even encouraged to give a "first fruits offering." Like tithing, giving to the church is left up to the personal convictions of the individual believer. There is no blanket policy for giving.

This presumes that the work of God be understood in a dispensational manner instead of following the teaching of replacement theology. Replacement theology teaches that the church has replaced Israel in God's plan for the world. All of the promises God gave Israel (including material blessings for obedience) are transferred to the church.

Dispensational theology claims that God gave Israel and the church different promises, and many of Israel's promises will not come to fruition until the millennial kingdom. It is the belief of this ministry that dispensational theology best interprets the Scriptures. The church cannot claim all the promises God made to Israel in the Old Testament.

That doesn't mean that giving a first fruits offering is bad in and of itself. Like the term (or even the practice) "tithing," "first fruit" can be used as a sort of shorthand to mean "voluntary offering given in thanks or faith." There's nothing wrong with giving above and beyond what is regularly budgeted for—as long as the motivation is personal and not pressured by church leadership as we see being done in our churches now.

The ways in which churches use the phrase (and the practice) vary in theological truth. To say that "laying down a seed" so that God will make someone rich, or that you can pay off God to bless future plans, is an abusive lie from adherents of the prosperity gospel. To give sacrificially is to follow in the example of the widow of Mark 12:41-44, and is commendable as long as it isn't coerced.

To give an offering in thanks that God provided is perfectly acceptable. But if a church wants to have a period of fund-raising, it would be better to have a specific purpose and not just try to spiritualize the desire to have more capital in the bank.

This brings to mind the purposes the New Testament gives for church offerings.
First Timothy 5:17-18 says that the church should support those who run the church.

First Corinthians 9:14 says that those who preach the gospel should be supported by their work.

Several times the New Testament exhorts believers to give to those who are in need (Matthew 25:34-36; 1 John 3:17-18). The New Testament says we are to give in faith, but it doesn't say that we are to give to the point of destitution so that our faith can grow (1 Corinthians 16:2).

First fruits

There is a difference between faithful sacrifice and bad resource management.
As far as the first fruit offering as described in the Old Testament, the church is exempt. Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but He did come to fulfill it—including being the first fruit, Himself (1 Corinthians 15:20).

If the usage of the term "first fruit" in the New Testament is to be considered, the manifestation of first fruit in the church age means that those who were saved in the early church were a promise that more would follow.

And Jesus' resurrection is a promise that we, too, will be resurrected. Any other use of "first fruits" is either abusive or careless. There are better terms to use when a church collects a special offering, and there are more biblical ways to do so than to insist, cajole, and threaten people to give.

Ironically, what the New Testament teaches about giving is more extreme. God wants all of us (Romans 12:1). Because of that, every monetary blessing we have is His, and we should do with it as He leads—whether to use on ourselves or to use for others.

Matthew 25:14-30 tells us that we should be responsible with His blessings. This would include giving for a purpose, giving by the leading of the Bible and the Holy Spirit, giving for the spread of the Gospel and the aid of the needy, and giving cheerfully.

Whatever you choose to call that, it's simply Christian giving.
Do not allow anyone cajole you, let it come from your heart cheerfully like that widow woman especially at this time. God bless you as you follow the leading of the Holy Spirit not the coercion of your pastors.

Our message is the kingdom of GOD. Our mission is to prepare you for it.

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NIGERIA HOPE RENEWED

2025-01-03T15:39:00.001+01:00

President Bola A. Tinubu

In few hours, Nigerians and every living souls throughout the world are gearing towards the new year. Situations in Nigeria depicted that though we got our so call independent from the British 63 years ago, Nigerians are not enjoying the freedom.

But Regardless of our situations we deserve to celebrate, though we are yet to have true independent because we are still under the bondage of heartless, so called leaders or rulers. But we should not quit or give up easily as the New President, HE Bola Ahmed Tinubu, says a renewed hope has dawned in Nigeria with his election, promising to be a fair leader to all.

So, certainly there is a silver lining lurking around and soon we shall see the light, because Nigeria is Gods project.

As our Lord and our Savior warned us in the parable of the fig tree, “Look at the fig tree and all the other trees. When they sprout leaves, you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near. So also you, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Politicians will always come with their numerous lies to get our votes and there after not fulfilling those promises, but with God Almighty, it is yea and amen and it will be done.

Arise Nigerians, let your hope be awaken (renew your hope), God is still God! let's not allow our faith to turn feeble and our prospects disintegrate, God tells us to lift up our heads and awaken our hope. We watch for Him, confidently expecting His deliverance and give us true and real freedom.

The Bible instructs us to pray for our leaders. In 1 Timothy 2:1-3, it is written: “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior”.

Therefore, it is important to pray for our leaders, so that they can lead us in the right direction and we can live in peace and harmony. Let us come together and move Nigeria forward. If you dont pray for our leaders, others that want to achieve ulterior motives (Bad or evil) will pray for them so that they can have their ways.

Remember that Yeshua (Jesus Christ) warned us in Luke 21:25. “The nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by the roaring seas,”

This will be a dire time when many will find it impossible to cling to hope. “People will be terrified at what they see coming upon the earth,” Yeshua warned, “for the powers in the heavens will be shaken” (v.26).

And precisely at that impossible moment, Jesus assured, His disciples must “stand and look up, for [their] salvation is near!” (v.28). When we feel most fragile, most at risk, this is the time when we’re to cling most tenaciously to the promise of God’s rescue.

Nigerians, our hope is renewed, lets not continue living in negativity, there is power in spoken words, we shall rise again.

Bible reading: Luke 21:25-28

Season greetings to Gods own country, Nigeria.

By E.A Olatoye

Our message is the kingdom of GOD. Our mission is to prepare you for it. Why not, If it's in your heart to help E. A Olatoye's blog, kindly visit here to support us.

Thank you for spending your time on our site and improving your life.

You can read about: Lagos Psychological Way Of Living here

THINGS YOU MUST DO TO SUCCEED THIS YEAR

2025-01-01T22:49:00.002+01:00

Happy New Year Friends!!!

Thank you for being there for us throughout the year and transforming your life and world through our articles.

Welcome to new year full of upliftment, realization of goals, divine favour, victory etc...

We are back and better. We welcome your contributions and feature post.

The new year has left point January and we are now moving upward, therefore, whatever plan or things you need to do must be put in place quickly, because when you set a goal and make plan in achieving it with your determination, at the end, it will end with success. Opportunity does not wait for anyone. Be sensitive and alert in your daily activities.

Below are some things that must be done to have a happy new year, enjoy.

1. Pursue something. Don't walk in the entire 365 days without having something particular in mind to achieve. Go out there and win some souls for the Kingdom of God in other to have a better place to live in. Start a building project, buy a car, pay some school fees, start some job. Just do something!

2. Walk with people wiser or stronger than you. In this new year, surround yourself with people who will inspire you, who will make you feel you can do better, who will challenge you on.

3. Check your dressing or appearance. Don't put on 'anything' just because it covers your nakedness. Your appearance tells a lot about you. Iron your dress neatly. Don't wear dresses in the name of fashion or trend. Wear more decent but fitting dresses. This is the slogan: Simple but Classy.

4. Check how you talk. Before you open your mouth, be minded of who you are talking to, where you are talking, when you are talking and also know that your integrity is at stake. In every situation, choose silence over speech unless you don't have any option.

5. Visit old people's home to appreciate them also orphanage and children in need of special care. Don't let them feel unwanted or neglected in the scheme of things.

6. This year, be more prayerful. You can't live your life thinking things occure merely logically. There's a Supreme Being who makes things happen, pray to him.

7. This year, start thinking or planning towards doing more for humanity.

8. In this new year, always think Positive while being Realistic. When you see tigers praying to God, don't join them. You can be positive that they won't 'chop' you since they are praying but be realistic too that after the prayers, they'll remain tigers and God will feed them with flesh.

9. Buy gifts for your love ones. This year, try and do something 'small' for parents. You have no idea what goes on in their minds. Let them feel you are not far off.

10. This year, Invest more, save less, spend less. Put your money into investment ventures. Buy Treasury-bills, buy shares, buy fixed deposits, import some goods and sell, be a stock broker, etc. In fact, get more than one stream of income!

11. Many known names have gone and live goes on. The point is, don't work your life out. You won't take your work with you when you die. You are not as important as you think, calm down. Take time off work, go and do medical check-up, visit your family, visit gardens or the beach and appreciate nature, etc.

12. Many other pure, just, good and righteous things that will motivate and transform your life and your environment.

After reading, share this message to all your groups and contacts, it may be of help to someone.

I welcome you once again to your year of upwards, forward, good health and wealth.

God bless you.

Credit: Counselor Fenyi, is the CEO of African Mentorship Academy (AMA), a Media Educator, a Speaker and Writer.

Our message is the kingdom of GOD. Our mission is to prepare you for it. Why not, If it's in your heart to help E. A Olatoye's blog, kindly visit here to support us.

What A Marvelous God With A Marvelous Gift

2024-12-18T00:00:00.002+01:00

The judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift... resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. — Romans 5:16-17

What is the most special gift you’ve ever received? Did you receive it on your birthday, for Christmas, or on another occasion? Through the years I’ve received some amazing gifts, but Jesus is the most marvelous gift ever given. And it is the most needed gift ever given.

The apostle Paul taught that by one man — Adam — sin entered the world, and death was pronounced upon all, for in Adam all have sinned. On the other hand, grace entered the world through Jesus, and a forgiven life and eternal life are available to all who believe. Adam brought into the world sin, offense, judgment, condemnation, disobedience, and eternal death.

Yet Christ brought grace, justification, righteousness, obedience, and eternal life.

Christ’s death saved us from God’s wrath. We now live with hope of eternal life rather than under the curse of death. We rejoice in God who, in His Son, atoned for our sins. Our justification is complete and irrevocable; there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. And Paul confidently wrote that “he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

What a marvelous God, with a marvelous gift.

Credit: Johnny Hunt, from The Gift of Jesus

Does Christmas Makes Sense To You?

2024-12-16T05:03:00.010+01:00

''This child in the manger was the undeserved gift that meant everything - more than material possessions, more than comfort, more than security''

No, seriously. Nothing much about Christmas makes sense, when you think about it. Here’s why:
God became . . . a human.

Why would God ever want to become a man?
Why would a deity with absolute power over the universe want to live as a weak, flawed mortal? Why would He even deign to become like one of us?

Yet that is exactly what Jesus Christ did, when He came down onto earth. Though He was God, He chose to be born as a vulnerable baby, to go through the growing pains of a teenager and learn His earthly father’s trade as a carpenter (this, after having created the universe), and to try to convince His community that He was their savior, and the savior of the world. Why did He bother with such a senseless move? Why not get all this done from heaven, without having to come down to earth as a human?

The answer is, in a word—love. To properly save and redeem man from the punishment that he deserved, Jesus had to become a man himself. Only by becoming human and dying as a human, could His sacrifice be fully accepted, so that anyone who believed in Him could be spared eternal death. That meant that Jesus had to put up with the indignity of being born as a mortal, and living as one. But He did it anyway, because He loved us. That’s the story of Christmas. It doesn’t make a lot of sense—but then, true love never does.

The Son of God was born . . . in a stable
If a prince were to be born today (or in the past, for that matter), where do you think he would be delivered, and what kind of reception would he get? Surely in the best of hospitals, surrounded by the biggest fanfare the proud king could afford. Remember the birth of Prince George to Britain’s Prince William and Princess Kate? What attention that got! Huge crowds stood outside the hospital, waiting to get a glimpse of the royal baby.

Read: God Gave Up What He Had So That We Might Receive What We Need

Yet Jesus was delivered in a dirty stable surrounded by animals. No adoring crowds, no fanfare. And who did He get as His first visitors? Poor shepherds. That’s like having a royal prince being born in a dirty garage surrounded by cars in various stages of repair, with curious workers popping by for a look-see after work. We’re talking about the birth of the Son of God here. But God Himself saw fit to have His only dear Son born in the humblest of circumstances.

Why? Because, as the Bible reminds us, Jesus is the gentle, humble King who saw it fit to enter Jerusalem not in a golden chariot, but “on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” ( Matthew 21:5 ). Jesus did not spend His life hobnobbing with the elites and lording it over ordinary folk, as kings tend to do; He came to mix with the poor, the lowly, and the worst sinners. And He is the self-giving Saviour and the Servant King who “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” ( Mark 10:45 ).

It’s not quite the fantasy tale one would tell about the Son of God. A great king who arrived in the humblest manner and was more interested in the lowly than the elites? That just isn’t logical.

Jesus was born on earth . . . so that He could die
Look at any parent’s face as he or she looks at their newborn baby, and you’re likely to see pride, joy, and hope for the little one to live long and prosper. The one thing any parent will not want to do is to outlive his or her child. But when God saw His Son being delivered in a manger on Christmas, He knew that this baby’s main purpose in being born was to die one day, and in horrific fashion.

Imagine what it was like for Jesus growing up as a child, learning His father’s trade, and gathering His disciples for training. Instead of the usual hopes for a bright and happy future, all that was waiting for Him was an early death, and the indignity and pain of the cross. But He had no doubts about His own destiny ( Mark 8:31 ), and reminded His disciples of what would inevitably happen.

Today, we celebrate Christmas with nothing but joy and rejoicing. Yet how bittersweet that first Christmas, taking place in a quiet corner of Bethlehem, must have been! It’s kind of ironic, isn’t it? Makes you wonder about what we are actually celebrating on Christmas. But there is a good reason to rejoice, even though that amazing birth 2000 years ago was to lead to an equally amazing death some 30 years later.

For being guilty, we get . . . salvation
It’s easy to remember what Christmas is all about: Jesus the Son of God was born, so that we would be saved. But sometimes we may forget a little detail: we didn’t deserve it in the least. We weren’t innocent victims of evil, awaiting death helplessly and in need of a rescuer. We were guilty; we were deserving of death and already condemned. There was no good reason to save us.

Yet God sent His Son down to earth to save us. In the movies, that would be like sending the majestic hero in, at the expense of his life, to save a boatful of murderers on death row who still don’t think they’ve done anything wrong. Now imagine the hero’s father, having sacrificed his son for undeserving criminals, offer to adopt them as his own sons, so that he can share all he has with them.

It just doesn’t make sense. Yet that’s exactly what happened. God chose to give us salvation when we least deserved it, and not only that, then proceeded to offer us the amazing privilege of being His children ( Ephesians 2:4–6 ). That’s how illogical Christmas is.

It’s Jesus birthday . . . and we get the gifts
Every December, we hold big happy parties to celebrate His birthday—then we give each other gifts. It’s a little bizarre, if you think about it. It makes you wonder, whose birthday party is it?
Ironically, the biggest gift that is being given is not one that the birthday boy should get, but one that the birthday boy himself is giving to us.

What’s this present? It’s the amazing gift of salvation: We are spared the punishment of eternal death that we deserve, forgiven for all our wrongdoing, and offered eternal life with Jesus. That’s what we get on His birthday. And it’s a gift that He’s more than happy to give us.

Yep, Christmas just doesn’t make sense . . . Thank goodness it doesn’t!

Now it is your turn to appreciate what he did by turning a new life and live a good, righteous, pure, holy life in obedient to the Word of God.

Written By Leslie Koh

God Gave Up What He Had For Us

2024-12-14T00:00:00.001+01:00

It’s been called the “Paradox of Christmas,” the fact that the Creator of heaven and earth gave up what He had so that we might receive what we need.

It’s in this ultimate selfless act that we find the origin of exchanging gifts between loved ones and friends. We try to find that perfect gift to communicate our affection for each other. In many circles the tradition has been trivialized and commercialized, but this is why we give – to be reminded that God so generously gave us the gift of His Son on that first Christmas.

But here is another paradox of the season for me: When I was child, beyond the necessities of life, my needs were minimal. Yet, I was rarely satisfied. I always wanted one more G.I. Joe. One more toy under the tree. I was convinced that I was always just a few dollars shy of all my dreams coming true.

Now, nearly a half-century later, and blessed with a wonderful wife and two growing sons, I see life very differently. As the breadwinner of our family and tasked with juggling all types of responsibilities both personally and professionally, there are times when I am nearly overwhelmed by it all.

Yet, unlike when I was a child, it really doesn’t take much to satisfy me anymore. I feel like my needs are minimal.

I find joy in the simplest of things and realize that in any case, all the money in the world wouldn’t buy what I really want for Christmas.

Read: Does Christmas Makes Sense To You?

Looking around the world these days, cutting through the fog and fear of worldly anxiety and desire, here is what I want:

I want every child to grow up in a home with a mom and a dad, with parents who tuck them into warm beds on cold nights with a kiss, a hug and prayers of assurance.
I want the most innocent and vulnerable among us, pre-born children, to be protected under the rule of law.

I want God’s gift of marriage to be celebrated, not redefined.
I want our nation’s schoolchildren to walk in and out of their classrooms with a spirited and excited spring in their step, not looking over their shoulder or wondering if their school is safe.

I want a world where we celebrate not denigrate our pastors, these brave and courageous individuals who extend God’s love to all people and who preach the Gospel with boldness and courage.
I want to live in a colorblind society, among people who see the character of a person, not the pigment of their skin or their place on the social class ladder.

I want our leaders to respect our religious freedoms and not force us to choose between violating our conscience and following the laws of the land.
I want peace, not war – militarily, politically, physically, socially and emotionally.

Mind you, I am not naïve. Ever since sin entered the world in the Garden of Eden, paradise has always been beyond our reach. But it is good, I believe, to look up from the misery and consider the miracle that is Christmas – the “Grand Miracle” as C.S. Lewis so aptly put it. In his own words:

God descends to re-ascend. He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity… down to the very roots and sea-bed of the Nature He has created. But He goes down to come up again and bring the ruined world up with Him.

One has the picture of a strong man stooping lower and lower to get himself underneath some great complicated burden. He must stoop in order to lift, he must almost disappear under the load before he incredibly straightens his back and marches off with the whole mass swaying on his shoulders.

As we pause to celebrate the birth of Jesus, let us lift up our eyes and ponder anew the miracle of Christmas.

Credit: Jim Daly, Original post for FaithGateway, 2014

Kindly share your thought with us below. God bless you real good.

Move Closer To Those In Crisis

2024-12-12T14:06:00.002+01:00

Christmas Is Our Chance To Move Closer To Those In Crisis, Not further away

God came to the poor — in other words, to each of us.

The apostle Paul reminds us that -

[Jesus] set aside His infinite riches and was born into the lowest circumstance so that you may gain great riches through His humble poverty. — 2 Corinthians 8:9

What does this mean? Jesus gave up the glory of heaven to be born into a sin-scarred world. That glorious night in Bethlehem, every day of His life, and in the deadly pain of the Cross, Jesus became poor for our sake. Jesus entered our poverty so we would no longer be poor. The priceless gift of a restored relationship with God and others is now offered to those who could never afford it. The outrageous wealth of His righteousness is credited to those who don’t deserve it. To those of us who are poor, this is very good news.

But is it still relevant news? Can Christmas still change the world? We’re discovering that the answer is a resounding yes! But how exactly does that happen? How can Christmas and the way we celebrate it still change the world?

As poor people who have met with the righteous wealth of God, it is now our turn to model his generosity by sharing our wealth with those in need.

Christmas is our chance to move closer to those in crisis, not further away. It is our time to notice those who are normally ignored. In short, it is our turn to love as we have been loved. In practical terms, our love must include caring for the poor in our midst.

Over and over we see Jesus teaching that God is on the side of the impoverished, even when no one else is. Throughout the Gospels, He raises the status of those the world mistreats and marginalizes — people who are deemed hopeless and beyond help. Jesus is clear: He expects His followers to do the same.

There’s no way around it: Jesus calls us to love and care for the poor.

At Christmas, one of the things that should distinguish a Christ-follower is a love that reaches out to the hungry and thirsty and sick and imprisoned. Such giving is an act of true worship. There is a close connection between how we treat each other and how we treat God. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus says that whatever we do for one of the least of His brothers and sisters, we do for Him (Matthew 25:40). God takes these acts of love (or moments of rejection) very personally.

And why wouldn’t He? Jesus Himself was poor. He chose to be born into the poverty of a family struggling beneath the heel of Imperial Rome. Writer Scott Bessenecker suggests that “the very first statement Jesus ever voiced about his concern for the poor, oppressed, marginalized people was when he cried out as one of them — eyes shut tight, mouth open wide, wailing, kicking…

It was one of the most profound acts of solidarity with the poor he could make.”1 For all of the other aspects of His Advent we celebrate each year, let us not forget this part of the story: “When God voted with His birth, He voted for the poor.”2

Our Turn
We cannot allow the broken and vulnerable to become invisible. Which brings us back to how Christmas can still change the world. Let’s return to Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:

You shall be richly rewarded, for when I was hungry, you fed Me. And when I was thirsty, you gave Me something to drink. I was alone as a stranger, and you welcomed Me into your homes and into your lives. I was naked, and you gave Me clothes to wear; I was sick, and you tended to My needs; I was in prison, and you comforted Me. (Matthew 25:35-36)

These are very simple acts of service being described — giving someone something to eat or drink, welcoming them, clothing them, visiting them. Simple as they are, these gifts matter very much to Jesus — and to those in need. So why not start there? Sometimes we will be led to huge, global strategies (more on that in the next chapter), but

it’s usually the simple, common-sense acts of love that make the difference.

Think of a single parent “adopted” anonymously by someone at church, provided with toys for the kids, groceries, gas cards — that’s the world being changed. Think of a family that decides to serve in a local shelter — the poor are cared for and the family members’ hearts become a bit more like God’s.

Picture entire churches deciding that some of the money they are saving by giving relationally and resisting cultural norms should be given to the “least of these” in our communities and world — that’s when Christmas still makes a difference. Businesses find ways to get involved.

Students get creative about giving to other kids they may never meet. The presents around the tree aren’t stacked quite so high, but the stories of worship and love grow richer and deeper. Children start telling their parents they want less for Christmas so that others might have more. People of all ages are finding themselves with generous hearts, offering their time, money, and selves to others because they are compelled by the love of God.

Through this kind of radical but practical giving, we are transformed by the Advent story. But make no mistake: the changes that occur are not simply about us. God is up to something in His world. When God’s people serve the poor in humble, generous ways, the story of Jesus is told again and again.

The poor in our world will be touched by God through how we choose to celebrate Christmas.

Of course, as Reggie McNeal reminds us, “God is the One doing the heavy lifting!”3 Through His trustworthy Spirit, God is sending us into a broken but beautiful world on which He will never give up. When we show up and love in the name of God, God shows up. That’s part of the mystery of partnering with Jesus in the work He is still doing.

Credit: Rick McKinley, Chris Seay and Greg Holder

The Good News of Great Joy

2024-12-12T00:00:00.010+01:00

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Luke 2:10 (Berean study Bible)

If the Son of God came to help you stop sinning—to destroy the works of the devil—and if he also came to die so that when you do sin, there is a PROPITIATION, a removal of God’s wrath, then what does this imply for living your life? Three things. And they are wonderful to have. John Piper give them to you as Christmas presents in this below article.

Enjoy your gifts.

Gift 1: A Clear Purpose for Living

The first implication is that you have a clear purpose for living. Negatively, it is simply this: don’t sin—don’t do what dishonors God. “I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin” (1 John 2:1). “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).

If you ask, “Can you give us that positively, instead of negatively?” the answer is: “Yes, it’s all summed up in 1 John 3:23.” It’s a great summary of what John’s whole letter requires. Notice the singular “commandment”—“And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.”

These two things are so closely connected for John that he calls them one commandment: believe Jesus and love others. That is your purpose. That is the sum of the Christian life. Trusting Jesus and loving people the way Jesus and his apostles taught us to love. Trust Jesus, love people. That is the first gift, a purpose to live.

Gift 2: Hope That Our Failures Will Be Forgiven

The second implication of the twofold truth that Christ came to destroy our sinning and to forgive our sins is this: we make progress in overcoming our sin when we have hope that our failures will be forgiven. If you don’t have hope that God will forgive your failures, when you start fighting sin, you give up.

Many of you are pondering some changes in the new year because you have fallen into sinful patterns and want out. You want some new patterns of eating. New patterns for entertainment. New patterns of giving. New patterns of relating to your spouse. New patterns of family devotions. New patterns of sleep and exercise.

New patterns of courage in witness. But you are struggling, wondering whether it’s any use. Well, here’s your second Christmas present: Christ not only came to destroy the works of the devil, our sinning; he also came to be an ADVOCATE for us because of experiences of failure in our fight.

So I plead with you, let the fact that failure will not have the last word give you the hope to fight. But beware! If you turn the grace of God into license, and say, “Well, if I can fail, and it doesn’t matter, then why bother fighting sin?”—if you say that, and mean it, and go on acting on it, you are probably not born again and should tremble.

The sum of the Christian life . . . [is] trusting Jesus and loving people the way Jesus and his apostles taught us to love.

But that is not where most of you are. Most of you want to fight sinful patterns in your life. And what God is saying to you is this: let Christ’s covering of your failure give you hope to fight. “I write this to you that you might not sin, but if you sin you have an advocate, Jesus Christ.”

Gift 3: Christ Will Help Us

Finally, the third implication of the double truth that Christ came to destroy our sinning and to forgive our sins is this: Christ will really help us in our fight. He really will help you. He is on your side. He didn’t come to destroy sin because sin is fun. He came to destroy sin because sin is fatal. It is a deceptive work of the devil, and it will destroy us if we don’t fight it. He came to help us, not hurt us.

So here’s your third Christmas present: Christ will help overcome sin in you. First John 4:4 says, “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” Jesus is alive, Jesus is almighty, Jesus lives in us by faith. And Jesus is for us, not against us. He will help you in your fight with sin in the new year. Trust and obey him.

This article is adapted from Good News of Great Joy: 25 Devotional Readings for Advent by John Piper.

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