Heart of the Wise

It is definitely not a sin to celebrate Christmas, given that it is done with the ascribed meaning of God's love revealed in Christ and it is done in ways that glorify God. However, the Christ mass or Christ celebration typically and universally commemorated on the 25th of December should not be legislated by the Church or elevated to a Scriptural doctrine because it is not. The choice remains the believer's as to if, when, why and how to celebrate or not to celebrate. We must be careful, as instructed by God's Word, not to judge or be judged by what we eat or drink or by what special days we choose to observe or choose not to observe. If you say it's Jesus that you're celebrating on Christmas, that is sweet, thoughtful, lovely and perhaps honorific to our Lord. However, here are a few questions I'd ask you to consider in your celebrations: 1. Is it what He wants? Is that how He wants to be honored? Are you really doing it for Him or for yourself? What does He w...

This is a mind-boggling fact: God is good all the time even when He allows people go to Hell. Two reasons: One, they blatantly chose Hell by their action or inaction. Two, He can't let any iota of evil enter into Heaven. God and His Heaven are completely pure and holy. The goodness of God gave Christ to pay the price for our sins; all who truly believe are saved from eternal damnation and enabled by the Spirit to live for God’s glory. Everlasting praise to the LORD God Alm ighty for Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world! The selfsame goodness of God will not unjustly and dubiously allow the wicked go unpunished. He will be unjust to do this. But He is never unjust. His mercy reaches to all who sincerely ask for mercy for their confessed or admitted sins. But as a good farmer, He will cast away the chaff to be burned with fire at the end of Time; yet without end but throughout all Eternity; that's the really terrible part: unimaginably endless torment, for Hell ...

Christmas is NOT a spiritual necessity or scriptural ordinance. It is a cultural and commercial festivity.   It professes spiritual undertones in Christian circles. But for the rest of the world, it is little more than a period of fun and merriment. Truth be told, it has its roots in pagan beliefs and non-Christian tradition. It is clear that December 25th is not the birthday of Jesus but the day of celebration of the sun god in Greek mythology.  However, organized religion has leveraged this period of celebration to commemorate the birth of the Savior, spread love and share the Gospel.   Holidaymakers and families all over the world use the holiday period to reconnect with family, friends and recreation. Businesses have taken advantage of the season to make more money from fun seekers. What is important for true Christ followers is what God's Word says. Study to show yourself approved unto God. The question we can ask is this: can we as t...

The "spirit of Christmas" is said to be the spirit of love and giving, evidenced during the festive season of December. This mental attitude or spirit of God-inspired love, joy, peace and giving should continue throughout the year for genuine Christians not just on the day or in the season called "Christmas". With God, there's truly no legislation with whether you should celebrate a day as special or not. It's your choice.  The question, therefore, is what are you really celebrating and how are you celebrating? Having good fun, spending fun time with family and friends, or taking a personal retreat, should all be done to glorify God with your life. Don't give the devil the opportunity to destroy lives in any way, yours or others, spiritually or physically. If you chose to celebrate the cultural festivity, do so with conscience and self-governance (self-control), as a Christian.  Jesus lives forever in our hearts. He makes every day of our lives blessed a...

I once saw a video of lots of human beings under the evil spell of a self-styled, so-called pastor or prophet who remotely controlled them to actually eat grass . Yes you read that right. Incredible! Extremely ridiculous, appalling, barbaric! I refused to re-post such graphic, evil, nauseating and most degrading scene. This type of nonsense must stop. True servants of God with true power must rise and stop this type of nonsense. Like Simon the sorcerer, he must be shut down! For the sake of souls in clearly severe demonic bondage and oppression. Humans under the power of demonic spell, debased and reduced to animals, all in the name of religion. Who is that wicked manipulating magician in the pulpit? His utter judgment has indeed come! By the Hand of God!  This serves as a serious warning to frantic miracle seekers , running to churches for power, signs and wonders rather than sitting down to be genuinely born again , seeking God for themselves and learning God's Wo...

That I respect, appreciate and love on people doesn't mean I'm trying to be Mr Nice , or that I'm "too good to be true" and thus phony, as some folks may initially misjudge until they get to know better.  It simply means I'm doing to others what I want them to do to me . That I'm treating others the way and manner I like to be treated.  But that's not even it really because I'm learning to curb my expectations from fallen human nature even among Christ followers (we're all still work in progress, after all). Final analysis, the real reason I treat people the way I do is this: I treat people the way and manner I treat me. It requires a great deal of selflessness, conscientiousness and sometimes lots of faith and God's grace. It's almost alien and odd in a perverse, deceitful, self-indulgent, egocentric, opportunistic, hedonistic, callous and competitive human ecosystem. But it's simply based on the fund...

Pastor is not a title. It's a function. It simply means shepherd.   Etymologically, it's from the Latin verb " pascere " (past participle: " pastus ") meaning "to lead to pasture, set to grazing, cause to eat". Some mature Christians are called to pastor souls by helping and serving to provide essential spiritual guidance and nourishment for other believers, not to replace but to confirm the personal leading of the Holy Spirit, and most importantly to bring God's children to maturity. Every Christian needs a 'pastor', especially new or young Christians. However, many pastors are presumptuously pastoring the unsaved who they have not taken time to lead to Christ.  Plus, many pastors are not committed to true discipleship and to bringing believers to spiritual maturity. They are responding to the socioeconomic and sociocultural demands of members who desire the things of the world more than they desire to know God and grow...

Satan wants your faith to fail, because the Christian walk is a walk of faith. That's why he's attacking your foundation of righteousness; your identity in Christ. If he can get you to lose your sense of identity and to walk in fear or unbelief, then he has you were he wants you. However, if INDEED you are born of God's Spirit, you are SUPERIOR TO SATAN, regardless of who you are or where you are in life. That's the absolute truth! But you must KNOW and own this truth for yourself to walk in your freedom and to truly live free of the condemnation, harassment, lies and illusions of the devil and his myriad of representatives, which are contrary to what God's word says concerning you. NEVER lose faith! Faith is your shield against the fiery darts of the wicked. Faith is your victory over the world. YOUR own faith! Let your faith be rooted in revelation knowledge , understanding or insight from God's WORD.  BUILD yourself up as a...

The work of God's incredible and extraordinary grace is to save utmost sinners from utmost sin; to bring them into love, light and life; to empower them for godliness and holiness. That's TRUE GRACE. It doesn't nurse iniquity; that's wicked deception. Genuine grace leads to heart-felt repentance and Spirit-enabled righteousness. Be spiritually genuine and circumspect. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Spend time in personal prayer and in-depth study of and meditation in the WORD to truly understand the whole counsel and accurate will of God.  NEVER presume on eternal things.   Eternity is FOREVER!   After this fleeting lifetime, almighty grace expires and there will be no second chances, only exceeding joy or everlasting regret. Eternity is unending. Entertain no presumptions, please. God is true, righteous, just and holy as He is loving, gracious and merciful. We need to live in reverential fear of God. Many people have not y...

To be crystal clear, immediate "sinless perfection" is not biblically accurate and gravitates towards legalism or hypocrisy and away from the sanctifying work of grace in a maturing believer's life. However, a person who is walking with God or is in fellowship with God, is sensitive to sin, has a loathing for sin and does not deceitfully excuse or dubiously entertain wrongdoing and wickedness through the shallow or decontextualized understanding and recontextualized teaching of the Scriptures for earthly gain. No. They turn honestly to God in heart-broken repentance and seek Spirit-empowered righteous living. We all need God's grace; for without Him, we can do nothing and in Him we live, move and have our being. It's a vital walk with God. That's the genuine Christian life ; that's true reverential fear of God that does not abuse "grace" for evil but rather judiciously uses and depends on the grace of God for good and greater goo...

It's official: some people may not really be happy to see you happy.  This does not necessarily mean that they are bad people or that they will do anything to hurt you intentionally. No, but they may have gone through a lot of painful experiences in their lives and are carrying deep-seated pain that they find succor and comfort in company of someone else who has experienced a similar type of pain or is experiencing some sort of unpleasant situation in their lives too. As the saying goes, misery loves company. So, the thought of seeing you happy or having an experience they haven't had or that they think they won't have naturally leaves them drained, insecure and even more miserable. They inwardly literally panic at the thought of that.  That's their initial response: fear that results in more pain and misery. Thus, their brain and emotions go into sabotage mode to fault and foil whatever awesome plans you may have proposed or whatever new ideas you sh...

Now let's talk to a few pseudos... (Disclaimer: Brace yourself! This may hurt a bit but no harm intended. Should be graciously received. Written only "to whom it may concern". And without mincing words. It's straight up. One love.) There is really no such thing as 'secret' or 'hidden' Christian living. Like secret love or secret pregnancy, that's more often than not a fabrication. You may say you worship God 'privately' and that you don't "flaunt your faith". Congratulations! But you are quick to ecstatically post a picture you took with your so-called "celebrity crush" for the world to see that you do know them. No newsworthy crush on Jesus, too? Of course, you should NEVER be a hypocrite, showcasing outwardly what is not an inward reality or authentic experience. But you know what? Subtle Satan may have just succeeded in cornering you into a psychological hole with a powerfully dis-empowering thought. Yo...

Any so-called prayer, confession or faith that seeks to CLAIM people and property for one's self without adequate personal preparation or the practice of due diligence is an ERROR and a witless nuisance. That is no prayer but perhaps witchcraft, sorcery or spiritual manipulation. Anyone involved in such acts must STOP that. Sorcerers have no place in God's Kingdom. First, BECOME what you want to have. Then, you can attract and KEEP it. You may RECEIVE but you cannot RETAIN s omething until you have developed your ability to MANAGE it properly. God is NOT a magician. We should not violate natural and spiritual principles. Otherwise, we would have to bear the dire consequences with much loss and regret. The pathway of responsibility for any sustainable undertaking is to BUILD CAPACITY. It is irresponsible, selfish, fraudulent and thus criminal to COVET and CLAIM something you have little or no capacity for or understanding about. Do you have "carrying capacity...

God is NOT a religion. True Christianity is not a religion. There's a marked difference between having God and having a religion.  God is love. And love is beyond religion. So, God is beyond religion. Religion is mainly a matter of compliance with rules, rites or rituals. Religion has a form or 'similitude' of godliness but denies, refuses or fails to practically experience the true 'power' or essence of spiritual life. Colonialism brought with it a religion-mutated 'God' to  Africa and, while helping us to read and write, it robbed us not only of our material wealth but also of our identity. It gave us the similitude of an empowering education but which encapsulated a deep-set need for dependence and a dis-empowering sense of inferiority, making us aspire to be more like another and less like ourselves. Commendably, 'imported' religion was a blessing as it propagated the work of God by illuminating our darkness; but the goodly mis...

Beyond competence development, there is a need for character development.  We don't just need gifted, talented and intelligent people. We also need people who are honest, humble and 'healthy' in their hearts and minds.  Competence makes a person capable, effective and good at what I do. However, character is the real foundation for success that is both worthwhile and sustainable. Without this dimension of personal growth or development, there will be outgrowths and outbursts of envy, strife, unhealthy competition, malice, slander, scheming, spite, dishonesty, insincerity, cheating, usurping, fraud, offense, insensitivity, pettiness and i mmaturity even with the abundance of information, knowledge, know-how or skills we have acquired.  We should add virtue to our knowledge otherwise we would have underdeveloped psychologies, insecure personalities, immature emotions or unreliable intentions.  Fact is, we have many times elevated and prioritized ...

The mind is programmable. Matter of fact, everyone is running on a certain mental programming, known or unknown to them. From birth and infancy, the involuntary programming begins, encoding subconscious data to our ab-initio tabula rasa mind pad from our background, experiences, exposures, environment, interactions, learning, culture, education, religion, family, etc. Any dysfunctional experience has the potential of making a dysfunctional imprint on our minds. That's why people who have had dysfunctional relationships or families are dysfunctional in some way and must not deny it but accept it and work at overcoming and even mastering that dysfunction or potential for dysfunction in their future relationships. This is because the subconscious mind is like a computer and functions based on the subconscious coding it receives from its programmer, whoever or whatever that is.  Many people are running on terrible mental scripts but the worst part is that they are largely unawa...

Marriage is covenant. Marriage is the highest form of human relationship. Next to God, is your spouse, not your father, not your mother, not your siblings and certainly not your friends. We must not be in such a hurry to get married. We must understand marriage in God's context because He is its creator and originator. It was His idea: "two are better than one, and it is not good for a man to be alone" . Marriage is a lifelong bond. It is a covenant with a lifetime companion of one's own choosing. It should be preceded by due diligence and engaged with all honesty, truthfulness and authenticity. So first, be whole, happy and secure as a single person. Then, understand what marriage is , understand your role as a husband or wife, and understand your potential spouse to ensure you two are compatible and will make a good match not an unequal yoke. When a cat pairs with a dog, it wouldn't understand why the dog is barking because it can only meow, but God made ...