I am a Nigerian, female based in a midwestern state in the US. I love Africa and all that is connected with that continent. I love the music, I love the movies, I love the books, the dance, the fabrics, the expressions of faith.
This is my blog, where I will be commenting on matters relating to black people through the worldview of christianity. I believe that it is possible to be thoughtful, intelligent, black and christian all at the same time. I am certainly going to try to be all of the above as much as possible. We will see how often I succeed.
We are going to cover all manner of topics from the mundane to the controversial.
Fasten your seatbelts folks - its gonna be quite a ride!!
Hi everyone!
This will be my last post on this blog. It has been a fantastic two years with y'all, discussing faith, the African church and related topics. Thank you for coming to visit regularly. Now I am taking things to the next level and this blog will be evolving into a magazine namedcontraculturemag. I have been able to move all your posts and comments so we will just continue from where we stopped. The difference is that posts are much better organized and so you can better access and enjoy the content!
I will also be bringing you a lot of original content from musicians, missionaries and pastors - people who are engaged in the front-lines of the spiritual battlefield!
So please come over to the online magazine and join me as I take African related spiritual content to the next level!
Hi peeps!
I have been out of circulation abi? No vex for me o, too much wahala for my small head. I will be back with major force, but in the meantime, enjoy this brilliant song and video by Omawumi. It tackles a major societal issue (child molestation) in a very catchy manner. I love Omawumi's music - homegirl is super talented. ENJOY!
Our people dey waka oooo! The guy is a star! What? In China? Na wah!! All things are possible true true!
And there is a church connection - he started singing at House on the Rock in Lagos Nigeria. See this super cool video on him:
I cannot knock his hustle o, athough I dunno about all his talk about China in Africa. The jury is still out, but I doubt that its a good thing in the long run.
The serving vice president refused to participate. And I hear current President Jonathan has refused to debate because he is "busy". Hmmmmmm! Anyways sha, the Nigerian Vice presidential debates took place Saturday. Videos below:
The debate train is gathering steam ooo. The Oyo State people have joined in too. Unfortunately it was not videotaped, but you can listen to it. See below:
Edit: The player comes on automatically and I don't know how to stop that, so instead of embedding the link like I did previously, I have chosen to send you to it. Nothing more annoying than a noisy blog!! Go here:
I am so sorry that I could not post this on Tuesday as regularly scheduled. I was a little under the weather. But here we goooo!
The final way (at least from the list we identified here) that GOD speaks to us is in a clear audible voice, you know, like you talk to your friends? Actually, that was the original plan of GOD, we were meant to be HIS friends:
Genesis 3
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”
Sometimes, I do believe there is hope for Nigeria. I was very proud to see that the governorship aspirants of Lagos State were able to come together and have a relatively civilized debate on their plans for Lagos State. I am not gonna lie, the current governor - Governor Fashola really impressed me. Chief J.K Randle however, not so much. I cannot believe that the man came there talking about pedigree and respect for elders!!
Current governor Fashola
Anyways, watch the entire debate on youtube. It gets really juicy in part 5 when they ask each other questions, then the claws come out : meowwwwwwwwwwwwww!! Enjoy it, I did!! Great round of applause to Channels TV. Fabulous job they did though the crowd was a little rowdy!
Edit: Oh MY GOODNESS!! Parts 5-7 is just too sweet. Just toooo sweet. Even if you cannot watch the rest, watch those three parts. Tooooo much! Kai. This Fashola sef, he just looks gentle, the man is a tiger o. Chei. I loved this debate - too sweet!!
Nothing more to add. We should pray for him, and for healing for his victims.
Pastor Odulele who runs Glory House International, admitted indecently assaulting a boy aged 14 and sexually assaulting a 21-year-old man - both former members of his congregation.
He entered the guilty pleas at Bexley Magistrates' Court in south east London and was committed for sentencing at Woolwich Crown Court on a date yet to be set.
Magistrates granted him conditional bail at the brief hearing.
Odulele, who describes himself as a 'teacher, preacher and evangelical preacher', is a major figure in the world of evangelical Christianity.
His east London-based church says it has a congregation of 3,000.
How else does GOD speak? Through dreams and visions. Everything we have said about keeping quiet, opening your mind to positive and spiritual things, etc, etc still apply in this case. You have to be attuned to a spiritual channel and ready to receive for GOD to speak to you. Having said that, there are many examples of GOD speaking via this medium in the bible.
A dream is a series of thoughts, images, or emotions occurring during sleep (Source)
Today, we begin by highlighting two famous dreamers in the bible:
I am not sure of what to think of this one ooo. I am reserving judgment until I hear all the evidence. Hmmm!!
Evangelical pastor charged with sex offences
The pastor of a global evangelical movement based in the UK has been charged with sex offences against former members of his congregation. Dr Albert Odulele who runs Glory House International in London is to appear in court next week. One charge alleges indecent assault of a child under the age of 16. Dr Odulele, who is 47 years old, is a major figure in the word of evangelism. His church, based in east London, says it has a congregation of 3,000, but he has many more followers around the world through appearances at international evangelic conferences, on religious TV programmes and videos on YouTube. Registered charity
The church has been a registered charity for 18 years and turns over £2million a year. He was arrested last summer by the Metropolitan Police's Major Child Abuse Investigation Unit.
So, fine! This has nothing to do with faith, or Africa, but its so fascinating, I had to post it. From East, to West to North, to South, in every corner of the globe, women have tried to come to terms with the polygamous nature of the male of the species. All you do is pick one and pray most earnestly that he keeps his pants zipped. However, not everyone seems to buy that idea or accept it as natural. See for yourself:
Na wah o - so any ladies thinking of moving to the Himalayas? LOL!!
The old and new testaments are full of accounts of prophets through whom GOD spoke to HIS people. And yet, GOD spoke many times through ordinary people too. You have to be discerning enough to test the spirit behind what people say to you. But many times, GOD uses the most unlikely people to bring you your answers.
There are several examples in the bible:
For prophets:
There are several, but one of the most poignant is found in 2 Samuel 12. David had sinned terribly, so GOD sent Nathan to him:
I had earlier mentioned this dude here and one of the people who commented thought that it was a fake posting. Since then, everybody has come to know the honorable and his big big English. Now he explains how and why he does it. I am not sure that the explanation does not leave you even more confused though!! LOL!
The general overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of GOD, Pastor EA Adeboye was recently featured on CNN's African voices. See the video and transcript of the interview below:
Another way GOD speaks is through circumstances. When GODis trying to tell you something, HE sometimes closes doors and opens others so that what HE is saying is very, very clear.
There are several examples of this, but I will just highlight two:
Hello people,
Hope you are having a wonderful val's day? I put together a val's day playlist last year, and then decided to do same this year. You can view last year's playlist here or here.
I enjoy secular music once it is clean and appeals to our higher (not baser) instincts. I think all these songs do that to some extent and there is one for every possible val's day scenario. Enjoy the selection after the jump.
Okay, this is just one of those stories that makes you want to SHOUT! Shout something reallly bad. But I wont. I will just post it so that you can see for yourself the products of fanaticism, illiteracy and poverty and what a fatal cocktail they can be when combined:
For those who don't know her, Comfort Sunday is the 14-year-old girl whose father poured acid on her after a pastor convinced her family that she was a witch and the source of all her family's problems. The father took her to an uncompleted building, where he poured a tin-full of corrosive acid on her.
Comfort was until the incident a JSS II student of Government Secondary School, Akwanga, and was living with her father, Sunday James, 61, and her stepmother, Justina Abimiku, 52. She lost her mom at a tender age and had been severally maltreated by her step mum.
So we are still talking about how GOD speaks right? Today we are talking about music. When we meet in person ladies, we will talk about this a little more in depth. Suffice to say that music is not just for entertainment purposes. When used right, it is a tool by which we communicate praise, worship, adoration, supplication, petition, etc to GOD, and a medium by which HE can communicate comfort, peace, joy and provision to us.
The entire book of psalms is full of songs that are used as prayers – David was a “melancholy” full of emotion and feeling and music was his vehicle of communicating with GOD. And as for GOD’s responses, here are a few passages that speak to the phenomenon of GOD speaking through music:
Pastor Adeboye is a powerful man oooo! Are you impressed by President Goodluck, or you think of it as a political gimick? Lots of people were very upset when pictures of The president kneeling before the Man of God came out. How do y'all feel about it? The happens @ the 13:21 minute mark.
I am sorry that this is turning into Bakareville. I am just sooo fascinated by his decision to run. I have listened to Pastor Tunde Bakare's teaching for years and I have always loved it. I am really curious about what he is thinking in taking this decision. Well, you can hear from the horse's mouthhere:
It is a powerful sermon, particularly towards the end. He seems to infer that this is GOD's will. I find all of this very, very confusing. Well sha, Like I said, GOD knows.
Find below article to which he was referring :
Pastor Chris Oyakhilome in the news again. I am not a Christ Embassy hater o, please, I just report the news as I see it. Have you ever seen any of those crusades on TV, heard the testimonies on the healing line and wondered what was going on? Apparently you are not the only one. The government of South Africa was wondering the same thing, have concluded that the testimonies are not real (at least in Christ Embassy) and have ordered the TV station airing healing ads to "cease and desist". I believe that faith healing does happen, but there are a lot of buts! Anyways, that is another story for another day.
So what do y'all think of the article below? Should Nigeria have a similar law?
Just came across this very interesting opinion piece. The writer thinks that Pastor Bakare is wasting his time and should have stayed in advocacy. What do y'all think? Win or lose though, I think Pastor Bakare will be the big news item of this election cycle.
It has the colouration of a transmutation, but to those who know Pastor Tunde Bakare, General Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Ogba, Lagos, fairly, closely, his acceptance of General Muhammadu Buhari’s offer of running with him in the April presidential election is not in any way out of sync with his character; it is really an opportunity for the fiery cleric to accomplish his desire of being an agent of change in the country.
Long before it became expedient for him to convene the Save Nigeria Group (SNG), Bakare had said in an interview that, “I’m a trained lawyer. I trained under Gani Fawehinmi and Rotimi Williams. I wanted to practise my profession. I had three things at the back of my mind in my life: to be a successful legal practitioner, to get to the peak of my career and to be a successful millionaire. I wanted to use both law and business to go into politics. That was my triangle.”
This is my last post today I promise. I should be doing so many other things at the moment that its not even funny. But I just saw this and thought that the gist was too sweet not to share. When you think that you have heard it all, you then hear something new. Na wah for waya oooo!!
Hundreds of worshippers at Saint Paul African Church, Alagbado, Ogun State, on Sunday took to their heels as some hoodlums in the area attacked them with canes, stones and other weapons, preventing them from having normal Sunday service in the church.
Seriously people, Have we become so desensitized that we really don't care about all these killings anymore? Is it now everyman for himself even among us so called educated elites? This is getting ridiculous now! Really!! Check out the following news reports:
Looks like we will be talking about prayer for the foreseeable future. I guess I should stop calling it a devotional and instead call it a bible study because that is what it is. But anyways, just hunker down and enjoy the ride. LOL! So we were talking about how GOD speaks to us the last time and the focus was on the quiet voice that we need to listen for. Actually, that is the primary way GOD speaks. All the other ways that we are going to examine are all supporting mechanisms so to speak. The quiet impression from GOD – that is the most important and fundamental mechanism that needs to be cultivated.
Today, we examine GOD speaking through HIS word. As the word says:
He is one of Nigeria's most famous pastors, known for stating his opinion without fear or equivocation. I personally have always dug his style and his conviction - fantastic bible teacher. Gen Buhari, running for president on the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) platform, is a former head of state (by coup) and an unrepentant advocate for Sharia law. You can read a great interview where he states his opinion on the matter here.
Strange bedfellows no? I am still not sure what to make of it. I have no idea whatsoever whether to clap or cry. This could be great, or it could end veeeery badly!! Well sha, GOD knows.
Na wah oooo! So which one are we to do now? Retaliate or not? So the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) says retaliate. They are a group that is more conservative - the more mainline churches. The Pentecostal fellowship (PFN) though says Praise GOD through it all.
I found this particularly funny :
Williams said that giving praises to God would change the situation of the country, especially the killings in the north and kidnapping in the south Eastern region.” Williams explained that it was always good to praise God in the time of persecutions and war, calling on Nigerians to worship the almighty with their songs.
“Through this alter of praise, war will subside. We will challenge God with our praises even in this period of challenges,” he said.
So someone comes at you with a dagger and you praise your way out of it. Well sha, what do y'all think? Who is right - PFN or CAN?
So homosexuality is something that has been thoroughly discussed on this blog. See: Homosexuality Part1Part2Part3Part4 and this well thought out response. While it is clear from the comments that we don't really agree on the topic, all thinking people, whatever their views on the topic should be outraged by what happened in Uganda. Every life is sacred, and the law should provide equal protection for everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation. If you don't agree with them, pray for them, minister to them, but do not kill them. HABA!! Having said that though, I am not sure I agree with politicizing the situation. The US needs to leave Uganda alone to figure out their gay policy. I just don't think that policy should involve killing anyone. Hmmm!! Article and video below
Hey folks, I thought this was very funny! Particularly the "leading them in the path of holiness and righteousness” part. Not that its not appropriate - its just funny. What say ye?
ARCHBISHOP and President of the Gospel Baptist Conference of Nigeria and Overseas, Most Rev. Professor Magnus Adeyemi Atilade, weekend, urged Nigerian missionaries to lead in the re-evangelism of America that has been overtaken by materialism and carnality.
Atilade, who spoke at the ordination and commissioning of Pastor Dr. Theophilus Lambo at Mushin, Lagos, said: “Americans brought the gospel to Nigeria, but now is the time for Nigerians to assist them by leading them in the path of holiness and righteousness.”
Noting that the church already had missions endeavours in West Africa, Atilade said it felt obliged to support a Nigerian pastor who was relocating to America in the missions task of re-evangelising that continent.
He said the church would support mission work in Asia whenever it had missionary volunteers there.
Earlier, the Rector of the church’s seminary, Bishop Dr. David Omole had compared the commissioning of Pastor Lambo to that of Prophet Jonah, but indicated that while Jonah resisted the divine call, Lambo was willing and ready to respond.
What say ye? Good decision? Or its against the "turn the other cheek principle'? Actually, what is the right way to deal with persecution?
CAN orders Christians to defend selves in Borno
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Borno State Chapter has called on Christians in the state to do everything possible to defend themselves against any aggression and attack by any group or individuals as Christians should no longer fold their arms and watch churches being destroyed and their members killed.
The last two devotionals have focused on the essential nature of prayer. We have started to answer the question “Why should we pray?” So far we have identified the following reasons:
a)We pray because it is essential to our spiritual growth.
b)We pray because Jesus did
c)We pray to hear from GOD, understand his purpose for our lives and get his direction and guidance in every situation.
I only briefly alluded to the third reason for prayer in the last post, so today we will deal with this reason in a little more detail.
It is my pleasure to introduce guest writer Hilary, a giant with the pen and a strong believer who will also play a huge part in some major changes that are about to come to Holyebony. Stay tuned as exciting things are planned for this year. In the meantime, enjoy his reflections on Martin Luther King day.
Martin Luther King Jr. , the Christian beyond the pulpit.
by Hilary Afeseh Ngwa, http://afeseh.blogspot.com/
As we pause at this time of the year to commemorate the life of Martin Luther King Jr, a man who might have been small in physical stature but in many ways towered intellectually and morally high above the average person, I am touched by how he brought his pulpit Christianity to his life without the boundaries of Church buildings.
I got this in my email and thought I should share. What do y'all think?
A Plea To Seven Ministers of God: We Need a Nigerian Christian Leadership Conference
by Ahmed Olayinka Sule, CFA,
http://zangodare.wordpress.com/
11 January 2011
So often the contemporary church is a weak,
ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often
it is an arch-defender of the status quo. Far from
being disturbed by the presence of the church, the
power structure of the average community is
consoled by the church's silent and often even
vocal sanction of things as they are. - Martin Luther King, Jr.
The church must be reminded that it is not the
master or the servant of the state but rather the
conscience of the state. It must be the guide and
the critic of the state and never its tool. - Martin Luther King, Jr.
To:
Pastor E.A. Adeboye
Pastor Tunde Bakare
Pastor W.F. Kumuyi
Bishop Mike Okonkwo
Pastor D.K. Olukoya
Pastor Chris Oyakhilome
Bishop David Oyedepo,
Grace, mercy and peace to you in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. In the aftermath of the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1957, Martin Luther King, Jr invited 60 other black ministers to the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta to discuss the formation of an organization to address the injustices melted upon members of the African-American community. The organization, which was named The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), was formed to draw on the unity of the churches to fight for racial justice through nonviolent resistance. In explaining the purpose of the organization, Martin Luther King stated that “This conference is called because we have no moral choice, before God, but to delve deeper into the struggle—and to do so with greater reliance on non-violence and with greater unity, coordination, sharing, and Christian understanding’’.
Like I said earlier, we will be talking about prayer in month of January. Part 1 of this series can be found here
Today, the focus is on praying because our example, JESUS prayed.
Why should we pray?
It is a way of building intimacy with GOD. Everybody knows that no relationship will survive without communication. How weird would it be if you were dating/married to someone, and you only spoke to each other in public when you went out together, at the park or at a party. However, when you are alone, you have nothing to say to each other. What kind of relationship would that be? And how long will it last? Now when we communicate with someone, it’s a two way thing – we make eye contact, we listen, we speak, we hear what they have to say, they respond to us, we listen to them.
This is a great video I think. Although it only covers the three major tribes in Nigeria, it applies to every country in Africa. Thanks to the filmmakers for making it. And now we all need to go think about it. We will make no progress as a continent if we continue to hold on to these prejudices. Enjoy:
Okay, so I will admit that I have never been a huge fan of Pastor Chris Oyakhilome and his Christ Embassy Church and this is one of the reasons why:
Christ Embassy Church in Lagos, South-West Nigeria, is being turned into show business as members were made to part with N1, 000 each as gate fee before they could enter their church to attend the New Year’s Eve service, P.M.NEWS can reveal.
P.M.NEWS confirmed that only members who could afford the N1, 000 gate fee were allowed into the premises of Christ Embassy Headquarters at Oregun, Lagos, where self-styled cleric and business man, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, preached on 31 December 2010.
Indigent members who could not afford the N1, 000 tickets, were denied access and sent back by security men at the gate, it was learnt.
The church, a source said, realised about N25 million from about 25, 000 members who bought the tickets.
It was gathered that the church informed its members that it decided to impose a gate fee to control the huge crowd that always besiege the church on the New Year’s Eve church service.
“Pastor said that to control the crowd and only allow genuine members who could do anything to be in church, it was good to pay a gate fee. Last year for instance, even senior pastors in the church could not secure a seat in the church on New Year’s Eve service,” our source said.
The ticket, bought by our correspondent, was still on sale today, five days after the New Year’s church service took place.
A copy of the ticket has the following information printed on it: “one service…different locations worldwide impact! Time: 7 pm, Venue: Loveworld Convocation Arena, N1,000, December 31st New Year’s Eve Service With Pastor Chris.”
There is also a bold picture of Oyakhilome wearing one of his flashy suits. On the background there is a huge crowd in adulation of the man who once boasted that he will never be broke in life.
At the back of the ticket is a bold inscription : “ This ticket admists one person.”
The development, described as scandalous by those who got a glimpse of it, is unprecedented in the history of Christianity in Nigeria.
In the medieval period, similar scandals led to the break-away of Martin Luther from the Catholic church. This led to the formation of the Protestant movement.
At that time, Catholic priests were collecting money, known as indulgences, from worshippers before they could confess their sins.
These indulgences had become big business in much the same way pledge drives have become big business in Nigeria.
The development outraged Luther and others who kicked against it, quit the church and founded the protestant movement.
The latest scandal in Oyakhilome’s church comes only weeks after he appeared before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to answer questions on money laundering allegations.
According to TheNews magazine edition of 13 December 2010, the alleged laundering of $35 million by Christ Embassy was traced by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission with the help of foreign partners.
The magazine reported that Oyakhilome and money have had a bitter-sweet relationship. While money has brought him a lush lifestyle: an eye-popping auto collection, a movie-star wardrobe of stylish suits and choice properties that include a stunning church auditorium, it has also brought him an arm-long list of scandals.
Every new year, we all make New Year resolutions - something that we are going to do differently in the new year. For most people, it is losing weight - which reminds me that I need to work the gym back into my schedule (sigh)! However, I hope that prayer featured prominently in your new year resolution list, because it did in mine. Prayer is the most important activity you will ever partake in as a christian and in 2011, you need to commit to praying often, regularly, persistently and fervently. So for the month of January, all the devotional posts will be on prayer. It is foundational, it is important, without it, you will make no spiritual progress. Believe me.
I will begin today by highlighting the centrality of prayer to the Christian. JESUS spoke often about prayer, and when HE did, HE assumed that it was something that was happening regularly. HE said "when you pray" - not if you pray.
Examples:
Matthew 6:5
And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
Matthew 6:6
But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Matthew 6:7
And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
Mark 11:24
Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
So in today's post, first we establish that prayer is fundamental. You have to pray. I had this conversation with somebody recently, and this was the illustration I used. In order for the human body to survive, it needs three basic things - air, food and water. Everything else is extra that makes life comfortable. I know that somebody will say something about clothing and shelter, but in warmer climes, those may not be necessary. No human being anywhere on earth can survive for too long without food , water and air.
Similarly, once a person is born again, they need two things to nurture and grow their recreated spirit - prayer and the word. Without those two things, the spirit will shrivel up and die. So we don't only eat because we want to - we eat because we have to. Therefore, we should not only pray because we want to, but because we have to. I will die if I don't eat, and my spirit will be stunted if I don't pray.
I must pray!! Is it easy? Nope not always. Will I always feel like? Nope, not at all, but I must pray, and so must you.
One of my favorite books that motivates me to pray is "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire" by Jim Cymbala, pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle. Its not a book on prayer as much as a testimony to the results of prayer. I highly recommend it.
This topic will be covered through out this January but I want to encourage you to prioritize prayer this year. Your life will be completely transformed when you do.
I leave you with one of my favorite songs with which to enter the throne of grace: Baba by Sonnie Badu. There is just something that happens when I play this song. Enjoy HIS presence today
Its been a really long time since I have been to a watchnight service African style. I just left one and I am all fired up and ready to face this year. It was nothing short of fabulous!! A very lovely lady ministered in dance to this song and I feel that it is a message to you in this new year.so I am sharing it with you. No matter what is going on, know that GOD is able! This is going to be a fantastic year. I can feel it!! Enjoy the song:
