Dearly Beloved,

TO LET, FORMER CHURCH

“Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel” (Jeremiah 7:12 NIV).

I was prepared for many cultural shocks and surprises as I was leaving African soil for the Western World for the first time last month. I did have, and I am still having, many of such shocks in the less than two months of my sojourn in this so-called developed part of…

Dearly Beloved,

DISCONNECT YOURSELF FROM EVIL COVENANTS

“Now Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor, and he allied himself with Ahab by marriage” (2 Chronicles 18:1 NIV).

“When Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned safely to his palace in Jerusalem, Jehu the seer, the son of Hanani, went out to meet him and said to the king, ‘Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, the wrath of the Lord is upon you. There is, however, some good in you,…

Dearly Beloved,

THE GREATER LOVE OF A FATHER

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him” (1 John 3:1 NKJV).

King David was such a loving father. He loved his children so much that he did not want any harm to befall them, even when the children were wayward and sought his life. The case of Absalom is a good example of this. Here was a son who wanted…

Dearly Beloved,

THE WORD OF GOD REMAINS UNCHANGEABLE

“For, ‘All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.’ And this is the word that was preached to you” (1 Peter 1:24-25 NIV).

Recently, I read an article titled, "Are Christians Changing Their Minds On Gay Marriage?” online. The writer of the article frowned at the views of some notable Christians in…

Dearly Beloved,

I BELONG NOT TO EVERYBODY

“You know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God, don’t you? You do not belong to yourselves, because you were bought for a price. Therefore, glorify God with your bodies” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ISV).

On May 29, 2015, in his inaugural speech as the newly sworn-in fifth executive president of Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari inter alia said, “I belong to…

Dearly Beloved,

WHEN YOU ARE BEING MALTREATED

"Joseph's master took him and put him in prison. But while Joseph was there in the prison, the LORD was with him; He showed him kindness and granted him favour in the eyes of the prison warder" (Genesis 39:20-21 NIV).

The story of Joseph has always been an attention-grabbing one to me. His father loved him because his mother was the favourite wife of his father. Nevertheless, there…

Dearly Beloved,

I SERVE THE WONDER-WORKING GOD!

“Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare” (Psalm 40:5 NIV).

It is believed that David was the writer of Psalm 40 testifying to the wonders of God and thanking Him for His steadfast love over him. The reason is obvious from David’s history. Because of Saul’s sins against God, God…

Dearly Beloved,

ABIDE WITH ME

“And they constrained him, saying, Abide with us; for it is toward evening, and the day is now far spent. And he went in to abide with them” (Luke 24:29 ASV).

One of English favourite hymns is “ABIDE WITH ME” composed by Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847), an Anglican clergyman who served nearly half his life as vicar of a church at Brixham, England. According to history, Lyte composed the hymn on the afternoon of the Sun­day he gave his…

Dearly Beloved,

WHEN YOU FAITHFULLY SERVE THE LORD...

"After these events, in which King Hezekiah served the LORD faithfully, Sennacherib, the emperor of Assyria, invaded Judah. He besieged the fortified cities and gave orders for his army to break their way through the walls" (2 Chronicles 32:1 TEV).

King Hezekiah of Judah was one of the good kings that did well in following the ways of the Lord. He served God faithfully and brought the people back to God. He made them…

Dearly Beloved,

TO BE RELIGIOUS IS NOT ENOUGH!

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:21-23 NIV).

Here, in my part of the world…

Dearly Beloved,

TO BE RELIGIOUS IS NOT ENOUGH!

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:21-23 NIV).

Here, in my part of the world…

Dearly Beloved,

RIDE ON, RIDE ON, IN MAJESTY

“The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Hosanna in the…

Dearly Beloved,

IN WHAT DO YOU DO BASE YOUR FAITH?

“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does” (James 1:5-8 NIV).

I had an encounter with one of…

Dearly Beloved,

OUR TIME ON EARTH IS BRIEF

“Our time on earth is brief; the number of our days is already decided by [God]” (Job 14:5 CEV).

The death of Reverend Tunde Taiwo (1969-2015), the senior pastor of Zion Baptist Church, Ilorin, Nigeria, is another evidence that anybody can die at any time without prior notice. Here was a man who left the seminary where he was doing his postgraduate study early in the day for a couples' retreat of pastors and interacted with many…

Dearly Beloved,

DO YOU LOVE ME?

“The third time [Jesus Christ] said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ He said, ‘Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep’” (John 21:17 NIV).

As a matter of fact, most of the followers of Jesus Christ were following Him because of what they could get from Him (see John 6:26). No wonder, when it seemed to them that His…

Dearly Beloved,

GIVE GOD THE GLORY!

"On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them. The people kept crying out, ‘The voice of a god and not of a man!’ And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died" (Acts 12:21-23 NASU).

King Herod Agrippa I who reigned between A.D. 37 and 44 died a mysterious death. The writer of…

Dearly Beloved,

I MUST TELL JESUS

“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall” (Psalm 55:22 NIV).

The author of the hymn “I MUST TELL JESUS”, Reverend Elisha Albright Hoffman (1839-1929) was pastor of a church in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, United States, when he visited a woman who had gone through many sorrows and afflictions. The woman was discouraged because of her predicament. With heavy heart she asked Reverend Hoffman what she…

Dearly Beloved,

GOD OF IMPOSSIBILITIES?

“Now to [God] who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21 NKJV).

Some people in one of my BBM networks were surprised to see my BBM display message in that BBM network: "I serve God of Impossibilities". They thought that it must be a mistake, and they…