CHANGING TIMES

As I look down memory lane I remember

Like a little shrub at the dawn of sprouting

My admission, left me shouting

Alas there was yet another route to explore

Just behind the great gate of learning before me Continue reading

SCENES OF REVIVAL

This word that has been relegated into obscurity

This experience that has been interpreted unto mediocrity

An experience our fathers cherished and pursued

Without any elevated passion they worked to subdue

The resilience of sin and worldliness

That has choked the rays of godliness

In the heart of yesteryears believers

Whose lives shrank the pride of unbelievers.

 

There are scenes that are concomitant with revival

One thing is sure, that holiness makes an arrival

Young boys and girls become chaste and sober

Old men and women have christened memories to remember

The once straying souls are suddenly intercepted

By the word and the holy spirit with impact so concerted

Our young girls would dress modestly and beautiful

Not parading themselves in partial nudity in manners most detestful

 

The young men would discard mediocrity

And embrace purposeful ventures with godly authority

The brothels would be converted to places of godly encounters

And the clubs, a place of god’s dealing ever to remember

Our pot-bellied politicians would become large hearted leaders

Mounting on the wings of purpose to enforce the dreams of dreamers

Our universities would become citadels of excellent scholars

Whose conduct would be based on Christian morals.

 

Truth would be a surplus commodity in our business places

And sincerity would lead the way in our market places

Children would be nurtured in the bosom of caring parents

Developing in love their gracious talents

The movies we watch would be powerful sermons

Not high jacked by nude and erotic demons

From our music shall emanate soul warming aromas

Blended with intelligent lyrics and served a s soul warmers

 

We should not scamper empty out of our homes

Without being stuffed with some gospel drones

Our homes would be holy, happy and healthy ones

Where the devil and his agents would be long gone

Boys would relate with girls as sisters

While girls would relate with boys as brothers

Our preachers would not be scrambling on the pulpit

To gain self glory and ego while souls stream into the pit

 

The church would be filled with an atmosphere of love

Not gossips, slanders, debauchery and insincere smiley curves

Prayer would become a cherished venture by the saints

Consecration would be embarrassed by our ladies and gents

Then the bible would not be a book of fables and myth

God’s word would be real to us and full of might

The devil would lose territories once dominated by him

And a glorious militant church would recover lost lands in warring hymns.

 by

Agbaroji Chimeremeze

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL – WHO IS JESUS TO ME

Who is Jesus to me you ask? Kind of a funny question. Of course I know its serious but what kind of answer would be appropriate, would contain all my heart longs to say. I know it’s ambiguous but first of all I would like to say WOW. Funny right, I get the fact that I can’t simply say in a word or two who Jesus is to me or how much He means to me but is it because I’m at a lack of proper words to use or is it because I don’t really know what to say, maybe I don’t really know who He is. Puzzling…
Okay let me try again. Jesus, this Jesus is the man I’ve read about in the bible, a hero prophesied about, waited for and didn’t show up in the Old Testament. He in the fulfillment of time as the bible says showed up in the New Testament, a marvel indeed. Although kinda weird to the people of that time, He altered the course of the world before, present and even defied the laws science would one day present. His fame spread far and wide and though He led quite a short yet eventful life, His teachings and Spirit, His miracles and lifestyle has left the world a totally different place. He is the same one known to be the SON OF GOD; but wait that’s not who He is to me. Those are just some truths you already may have come to know.
Just as the world is carefully divided into seven continents, nations spread far and wide, thousands of towns and cities with millions of languages similar and the different and amazingly billions of characters, individualities and yes opinions of whom Jesus is.. but you see I can’t speak for all these people whether saved or not see Jesus but I can speak for myself, I can say how I feel, what I think, the truth I’m sure I know and though ambiguous I still think is impendent I figure out, you figure out who this Jesus is to you.
You see Jesus is the voice that spoke to me when I went wrong as a boy. Jesus was the one who consoled me when no one knew deep down I was hurting. Jesus was the one who drew me to His word as a little boy, teaching and tailoring my life into His masterpiece. Jesus was the one who called out to me every Sunday morning relentlessly until my heart answered to a call to love, light and life. Jesus was the one who had me saved and had to watch while I nailed Him time and again to the cross. Jesus was the one who wept in my insides when I opened my eyes to pornography, to lust, till the very reason my soul could find no peace in God. Jesus, this same Jesus is the one who forgave me all my sins in His mercy but had to repeat the process over and over again because I wouldn’t just stand firm in the victory he had won for me. Yet He kept forgiving me even pleaded my cause at the father’s feet. When my heart was lost in darkness and my conscience sealed as if forever, Jesus was the voice that called out to me still, renewing my once lost love, reinstating me, giving me a life testimony no, a love testimony. all my life I’ve known Him to be my healer cos though He does heal my body, the healing He provides my soul as He does so many others is so sure its value remains eternal. He healed my heart so well that I think it’s new. well it has to be cause though I should feel hurt, I feel joy and where resentment should abide in abundance I find acceptance, I find love, I find Him yes I find Jesus there.
This Jesus is the one who taught me to be strong, to be a man, not the kind that had to be proved with every passing minute NO! He taught me to be a man confident and assured, a man who knows that responsibility is his to bear man without fear but with courage on nothing but the living and true God. This same Jesus was the one who taught me to respect the woman even as He does the Church. so I don’t stay away but just close enough to be a friend and as at when due a lover, a companion, a husband.
I’ve said quite much but permit me to say, this Jesus was the one who saw me in my room alone masturbating, hopelessly loosing the joy of my salvation but he didn’t leave in disgust. He stayed there to caution me, close enough to forgive me when I cried out. This same Jesus saw me struggling and He called His servants together, rallied around to raise an army just for my sake, so that I may still see He loves me and would save me at any cost. This same Jesus rejoiced with me when I came to the realization of the fact that of a truth it is not by works but surprisingly by His own mercy cos He lived, He died, He conquered sin for my sake so I would never struggle cos he knew if I did I would fail. He freed me even before I was born and on that dark September night when I realized this, He smiled with me rejoiced with me for I was once lost but now am found.
You see, this Jesus will be the one I would see when it’s all been said and done. He will stand there and speak for me before the father; He would comfort me of all the wounds and scars the world had to offer. He would love me and forever keep me at His side in His love and light.
Now about the question you asked here’s a clue about what I think of Jesus or as you say ‘who He is to me’. Jesus is my love, my saviour, my inspiration, my God. He is the reason I sing, I live. He is the life in me that makes me smile. He is so many things to me and here’s some more, just kidding. But seriously if I were to use a sentence to say who Jesus is to me, I would say He is my love and He lives inside of me.
by
Ezeonyeka Godswill

I HAVE A DREAM

Sitting by my bed at night
I picked my pen to write
To say, to express myself right
This truth that stays inside me tight
You see, I have a dream
What’s new about that? You say…
But what you don’t get yet
Is what I so highly speak of
It’s not the film shows you see
When your eyes are closed in sleep
It is in fact what keeps me awake like today
Boiling in my spirit, vibrating with promise
It is not the past or present
It is the future
The future with so much promise yet untouched
My dreams yet accomplished

Yes, I have a dream
But not the kind anyone would want
I have a dream solid and strong
My expressions running wild along
I have a dream
A dream so big even I wonder at its magnitude
I have a dream and that dream is me
Who I am and someday will be
I have a dream to fulfil
And though my eyes see nothing
I see it shining in the distance
My dream in full manifestation

Now you wonder
What do I dream? You wonder
What’s so different about my dream? You ponder
Here’s is a clue brother
I want success. Yes…
But not the kind given by G.P and fruitless hard work, NO
I want success embedded in fulfilment, not purpose
I want money not by ill-gotten means
But by God who is really to bless with ***** attached in

Of where I want joy and peace
But I will not seek it I the arm of women with lying tongues
Or in green bottles and their contents, NO
I will follow Rom 14:17 principle
I will seek true love in family, worthy friendship
In God, its very source
I want an assured future, but not in the certificate
Or in the unstoppable promise of man and what he can do
But my future remains safe in God’s hands

I have a dream
A dream so big it consumes me
Will it come to pass? I think
Shouldn’t I just follow the crowd?
Do what they do, be whom they want me to be
After all in the confession of many, the truth is upheld
Everybody can’t be wrong
Why must I be different, old-fashioned as they say
But then I will recall
The extra mile is a lonely road
The top is quite less populated than the bottom
If I would achieve this dream so big
I might have to learn to run alone
Cos I found out quite early enough
The road to destruction is wide and popular
But the road to life is wide and narrow
Narrow enough to let the few who would dare
Who would dare to be different
Who wouldn’t trade their dreams in an instant
Just like Joseph… what a man

I have a dream
That someday at sometime
I would stand before my saviour
And he would confirm from the books
The book of life to see if of a truth
I did accept him through and through
If I acknowledge the absolute truth
That God came in the form of man to die
Just for me, just for my sake

I have a dream
That he would see my name there
Written in golden print
And the wonder I would meet.
When he would say to me “welcome”

I have a dream, I have a dream
I have a dream which outside God is nothing
I have a dream though ahead of time is within me
I have a dream
That this dream you dream
Will one day see the light of day
If we could all hold on to Jesus
The author and finisher of our faith
Of our Dreams

by
Ezeonyeka Godswill

YOURS ALONE

It’s in you
A seed you have to grow
It’s called talents
Gift you are supposed to invest

Wonder why a child arranges broken glasses
And it forms a small sparkling galaxy
Why would a 6 year old pretend to be sick?
Only to ask, “What is tetracycline”?
Why else would a boy use his shoe lases
To replace his broken guitar string

Our talent makes us weird indeed
Because of it, we do stupid things
But that’s what makes us unique
So don’t tell me you don’t have a talent
As long as you are not dead yet
Please cultivate it and let it grow
It’s in you and you know it!

by
Emenike Mercy

BEHIND MY SMILE

You don’t know about it,
It’s inside
It’s personal
It’s behind my smile…
It’s deep
It’s piercing
It’s behind my smile…
It’s unnoticeable
It’s shocking
It’s behind my smile…
It’s a story
It’s a confession
It’s just behind my smile…
Can I take you there?
Can I tell you the whole truth?
Will you be an arm of god’s mercy and comfort?
It’s just behind my smile…
Will you judge me?
Will you sell my woes to the world?
How much will you earn from it?
Will you regard me afterwards?
We aren’t far from it…
It’s just behind my smile…
A problem shared, they say, is half solved.
What about a confession?
What about a deep stinking secret?
Is it safe with you?
Won’t you expose it as a disguised prayer point during prayer meetings, or;
Teach it as a disguised message during bible study?
Please, my soul is languishing!
I have prayed; I have fasted.
What I need is your understanding and support
Won’t you be glad to save a soul?
It’s just behind my smile…
All it will cost you is your solid sincerity and love
Your deep compassion and understanding,
Your humility and consideration,
Your nonjudgmental support!!!
The weight is still behind my smile…
I won’t let it down until I know that it is
Safe enough to share it with you.

By
Ebisike Amarachi