what is yOuR NAME?

“What is your name?”
“You mean… my name?”

I could close my eyes in a quick drift in to my spirit to give you an answer….

My name is who I am!
It is not merely a form of identification;
No! It is an embodiment of my whole being
It does not only describe my features
It gives you a description of my origin.
It does not just qualify me as a creature
It introduces you to my creator.
It does not just say I am human
It gives you my meaning.

It is not just about a phase of my life
It is the whole book of my life, as it is written of me.
It is not just about my past, present of future
It is about them three
It is not just, what I can become
It is what I am.
My name is I and I am my name!
You can see it in my eyes…

Just like scientists and their laws
My name and my creator are connected.
I am his product and bear his trademark.
My name is the declaration for the delectation of my creator.
My name is the bedrock of the loss of me…
Remember that I am still thinking of the right answer to your question.
So next time, ask me of my birth name instead of MY NAME.
My birth name could just be a word, but my NAME is something more.

“I am the child of the only living God who created heaven and earth, and who lives forever more.”

Now, that is my name.

By
Ebisike Amarachi

fRoM the FALL…

Why must I continue like this?
When He’s actually saved me like He promised
Cos I won’t just say no to my sinful needs
So the victory He won me
Makes no real difference
Cos with every passing day I abuse his presence
Loose His essence and continually descend
Cos I won’t condescend to say no to my flesh

Of course if I pray He would forgive me
But will I forever continue like this?
Will my story be falling and rising in brief
And will His mercy forever speak for me?
So here’s what I’m gonna do
I’m not gonna just confess my sins like I do
But I’m gonna rededicate my life too
And I’m gonna ask for help, YES, help from you Lord
To say no; No to my sinful needs

Although I can’t seem to stop myself
Truth is, I love you Lord. I really do
True to my human nature I love with reasons though too numerous to mention
But you, you just keep on loving me
Without any worthy reason or condition
And yet I am very confident of the fact that no matter the ups and downs
You’ll never let me down

Without you I am an empty vessel a sounding cymbal
Without you I am sure to lose my way again
Without you I am proven guilty, a perpetual slave to my flesh’s demand
Without you I cant say no to my sinful needs
But no matter how resolute I claim to be
I am sure to fail condemned to my final end, death
So here’s what I’m gonna do, I will trust and obey
And together with you Lord
Make this decision to say no
Cos without you I am nothing

By
Ezeonyeka Godswill

THE WOMAN QUESTION

BOOK REVIEW by Njoku Uchechi

TITLE: THE WOMAN QUESTION
AUTHOR: KENNETH E. HAGIN
YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 1983
NUMBER OF PAGES: 66
CHAPTERS: 7

In the church and even in the world at large, we have been faced with so many questions about certain seemingly unclear principles in the scriptures that have adversely affected our churches and our perspectives in judging some issues. Questions like….
Is the man the head of the woman?
Must wives always obey their husbands?
Must women keep silent in churches?
Must women have their heads covered? Etc
In whole Christian denominations, women have been forbidden to teach, preach, or even to testify or offer audible prayer in church, based on these Scriptures. Many conservative denominations allow the women to take only a small role.

In this book, Kenneth E. Hagin deals with the questions bothering women and their faith. it will surely answer most of your questions about head coverings, women in ministry, marital relationships and female dressing. Also, he outlined that a man can only be the head of one woman- his wife, not all women.

I would advice that you get this book because it would get your heart right, help your ministry and get you more focused with God. One other advice is for you to leave it if you do not have the sweet Holy Spirit dwelling right inside of you, because it would actually do you more harm than good. In other words, get Jesus, and then get this book, God bless you.

In the blink of an eye….

How sad it is to think
That all we ever wanted in this life
Could be taken away in the blink of an eye
That all we worked so hard for pound by pound
Could in a moment, be nowhere found
That everything, everyone who made living worth it
Could in an instant, be lost and gone forever
In our grief we all but wonder

What a misery it is to live
In pure joy soon to cease
In love doomed for tears from a broken heart bleed
In peace never existing
In life lived towards a horrid decent
Down death’s dreadful fork-end
In time spent with no forever after assurance

If in this fallacy we call existence
We all but choose to dance the rhythm, enjoying the present
Though in the depths of our hearts the knowledge remains
Clear as crystal and we agree it’s real and evident
Yet we lead our lives neglecting its essence
Then is it all worth it, does it all make sense
That any minute from now could be the end

This fact we all have to accept
But the knowledge of its truth we may all but reject
Neglecting the choice before us set
Loosing mastery of this mystery we remain in misery
The irony!
But every day is laid before us a chance at it
The truth behind true life forever lived
The only hope we might in this world have still
In Jesus Christ in His blood, His voice and will

To give up and give in
To sit and cry overwhelmed by the reality
Of the vainness of this world we live in
May sound and appear the only option remaining
But a new message I’m preaching
One that echoes through time behind beyond within
Jesus paid the price to give us a chance with him

For the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof
Yet for an apple’s bite we have all sold dominion of this world
With our God given rights lost, untamed evil runs along
But for this cause Jesus left His throne
To give us something better than the vainness life on earth has to offer
A promise a hope a future
A sure eternity worth living for
In the twinkling of an eye
It will all be gone by and by
No matter its worth or by what style
It will forever be lost in time
Beyond the fires this earth provides
Only this one message will stand true if actualized
In your life in your mind its truth realized

In just an instant
You could make that one decision for life
And enjoy a life of righteousness peace and joy what a ride!
In the blinking of an eye
We would be translated to heaven’s aisle
To be forever joined with our Lord the Christ
And with the vainness of time behind
We would see cause to smile
Forever safe in our Savior’s arm
Now that’s the Life!
By
Ezeonyeka Godswill

a SWEET DEAL

This is not the first time it would be heard, these little voices in my head
I’m beginning to actually doubt if this could be from my head or does my heart play a major, creating sounds like a broken record; because It seems like these weird voices become clearer when I am in a state after the whole or a part of my heart has been torn apart.
The voice of God, the voice of my spirit and the voice of the devil at times sound exactly the same, so maybe I should neglect them all and be led by what I am being taught in a world of shame, because if mad men hear voices too and are sent to the asylum, then silencing these voices is safe, or maybe trying to do that is actually what will then drive you insane.
But I got a deal;
I do not know if am the only one who has ever had this deal, so I want to extend an invitation to find out if I am the only one of my kind amongst mankind who has had to deal with a deal as inviting as this, if I made a mistake or might get a second chance to reconsider after rejecting initially, this deal that came to me so swiftly from someone I could not see but felt so strongly, so much that I had to speak out loudly before he left me.
Voices
Everyone had at one time or another been led by a whole lot of them but it all boils down to how you respond; then a yes, no, or even deciding to ignore would definitely be recorded to you as one of your choices.
What have you been given? I have fallen and risen times without number that it has caused me to reason, then I found out that since the devil has a cycle that only ends in death and I am still living, then whatsoever he had done or is doing to me would have taken me, but it took Christ to take me in and give me a new beginning. So I am done selling myself cheap; because since we are all farmers, I want to be very careful in the end the things I would reap.
I had a deal;
The enemy comes to destroy, to kill and to steal then Christ comes to give life, forgive sins and to heal; but heaven is His throne and the earth His footstool, sitteth at the right hand of the father, further than all principalities and power, giving me cover and all His blessings He shower but then to be sitteth with Him would be much honor and stress free, that is the point I almost became carefree, the enemy knows that of a truth I am scare free, so whatever he does on earth to me and those I love so dearly doesn’t even move or scare me.
Then that night, with no lights, left alone with the voices, it came as clear as my voice is “will it not be better to just leave this world of pain and death-in, so you can die and go to heaven now that you are standing?” am paraphrasing, but that was the deal.
I knew every word was true but was stunned receiving them from the devil, he wouldn’t like for me to make heaven, but I have been through quite a lot of odds lately, so maybe he is offering it to me now to be even, yes I deserve to rest from all of the…….. hold on, hold on, hold on, the devil never pities no man.
Now I understand the deal, there is something in me that he was trying to steal, having failed a thousand times to keep me down he now wants to accelerate my going up and out of his way in a sweet deal. To shut me up before I start manifesting and working for my father, to reduce me to a mere man who just walked the earth and left weak foot prints on the sea shore which would be soon forgotten on the next wave from the sea, see it was appealing, that is what every Christians dream is, but I was careful not to give in, because as 24,4,5 the letter from Matthew revealeth, the Lord is not after the servant who would return home, but the one who gave His people their meat In due season. I mean in due season.
So this is my reason, to stare death in the face and with the authority in the name of Jesus say no to its deal. I know in the end I would leave this world and heaven is where I am sure to be, but now I have got work to do here: dead to raise, sickness to heal, demons to cast out and seriously the blind has got to see; thank God I resisted this deadly deal, now I am waiting for angels to minister unto me.
A word from God; if you are reading this, and you have had thoughts of suicide or giving in to death, it is not your time, there is something the enemy is trying to cut short. He could not get to you so he is hoping you would help him do it yourself. And you evil spirit, I speak to you directly, by the authority in the name of Jesus, leave that body, in Jesus name I pray, Amen. You are covered by the blood of Jesus, God bless you.

By
Njoku Uchechi

foOd FoR tHoUGht

Make time for getting big tasks done every day. Plan your daily workload in advance. Single out the relatively few small jobs that absolutely must be done immediately in the morning. Then go directly to the big tasks and pursue them to completion. –Boardroom Reports

THE DAY MY PAST CAME KNOCKING

3 brothers one coming after the other
Past, present and future after one comes another
I had my present with me my future awaiting its turn
I had no business with the past, he was gone and out
But one day I had an august visitor
Knock knock… who’s there? I asked
Just me replied he, your old friend past
My blood ran cold, thinking back, he hadn’t been the best for me, my past had given much pain and sorrow
I had been ashamed of him, tried forgetting him
Concentrating on my present as I earnestly prayed for my future
But he kept on knocking, with his sugar-coated tongue he reminded me of what we both shared
I was tempted, my present encouraged me to open the door
Betraying me and my future who continued pleading that I do not

Its only for a moment I said,
So I opened the door, smiling broadly he walked in and took over my heart
Pushing away the present, he let me fall back in those acts I had so enjoyed
Yes I opened the door and enjoy I did
Losing myself in my past I gave myself to him
Taking his hands he took me on a tour to our time down memory lane
Telling me how I missed him and I realized I did so
I walked and I enjoyed the walk, every step brought me deeper and farther away from my present and future calling out to me
Its just for the now I told them
But I did see the past smile behind his teeth
And I took the bait. Hook line and sinker
Till one moment turned into a habit
Hand in hand we kept on descending
Suddenly…

I was lost, alone and afraid
I called out for Him but got no answer
Turning back I realized the present and future were no longer there
Cos they left, they were gone , leaving me empty
I realized I lost the present and future the day my past came knocking and I let him in…
By
Odimbu Promise Buchi