The 3 Men you Need in Your Life & Good 'News' to the Deaf

Every Wednesday, I try to share something inspiring that I have read online within the last week. While I didn’t get the lead clip this week from an online source but in a church bulletin (June 2013), I think it is quite noteworthy:

“Howard Hendricks, author and professor at Dallas Theological Seminary suggests that every person should seek to have three individuals in their life: a Paul, a Barnabas and a Timothy.

The three guys we all need in our lives

A Paul is an older person who is willing to mentor you, to build into your life. Not someone who is smarter or more gifted than you, but somebody who’s been down the road. Somebody willing to share their strengths and weaknesses- everything they have learned in the laboratory of life. Somebody whose faith you’ll want to imitate.

A Barnabas is a soul brother, somebody who loves you but is not impressed by you. Somebody to whom you can be accountable. Somebody who’s willing to keep you honest, who’s willing to say, “Hey man, you’re neglecting your wife, and don’t give me any guff!”

A Timothy is a younger person into whose life you are building. For a model, read 1 and 2 Timothy. Here was Paul, the quintessential mentor, building into the life of his protégée- affirming, encouraging, teaching, correcting, directing, and praying.

Do you have these three guys in your life?”

I definitely have a Barnabas- probably more than one. I don’t have a Timothy- yet. Perhaps I don’t count myself experienced enough to have one but that could be false humility. However, I need a Paul. I am certain about that. I wrote to someone in my church as regards this in April and he accepted but I haven’t found the courage to call him. I don’t know why. I was hoping I would find such relationship that would happen naturally. Do you have to deliberately pursue this kind of relationship? Maybe I would. I should - I’ll give updates when I finally move from ‘should’ to ‘did’. 

BIBLE APP FOR THE DEAF!!!

I found 2 interesting things:

1.  Bible App for the deaf. However, from what I know, this app is based on American Sign Language. Is Nigerian sign language different? It probably is. Maybe we use British sign language (if there is any such thing), after all, they …um colonised us.

2. A man (Tim Challies) who swallowed his pride and let the world know his wife strengthens him.

  

 Here is a reminder from last week’s rounds. It is so good I’m sharing it again:

                Josh Harris shared this about when you should stop reading your Bible: 

                “Go on reading it until you can read no longer, and then you will not need the Bible anymore, because when your eyes close for the last time in death, and never again read the Word of God in Scripture you will open them to the Word of God in the flesh, that same Jesus of the Bible whom you have known for so long, standing before you to take you forever to His eternal home." - Geoffrey Thomas, Reading the Bible

 Beautiful, isn’t it? And very true too. I really love this quote.  I’ll probably share it every week till someone protests- but what kind of Christian protests against the Bible? :-)

What have you found inspiring online this week? Please drop a note in the comments section.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Miss August

PS: The aim of Wednesday weekly rounds is to share with you things I came across online and found useful. It could also be a way of saying that “if I can’t share it on this platform”, I should rethink reading it.

Would you be able to freely share what you have been reading online in the past week? If you consider it inappropriate to be shared amongst believers, maybe you shouldn’t be reading it to start with.

PPS: The usual disclaimer: I am not affiliated or endorsing the people mentioned in this post. As you know, they are waaaayyyy out of my league J
 PPPS: The picture is from jrbriggs.com

GIVE YOUR CHRIST TO LIFE

Over the weekend, I was on the phone with a friend and while discussing about the importance of witnessing to people in our environment, he was of the opinion that we don’t always have to witness with words; our daily and even routine actions can daily point to Jesus. Before I could get a word in, he said “Most of the people that have come to talk with me about God did not come to me because I said ‘give your Christ to life…” The former me would have jumped and pointed out   the error as it should be "give your life to Christ", not "give your Christ to life" (it is sort of a game we play); but almost immediately, the error made sense- “give your Christ to life”.

Let's do as Jesus would have us.

Someone has said that for some people, the Christians they interact with on a daily basis will be the only Bible they get to read. What wonderful privilege our Father has given us to be the letter of Christ written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart! Unfortunately, we botch the job sometimes.

How many times have I botched the job myself? Running my mouth when silence would have been the best answer; keeping quiet when I should have stood up for what I truly believed in; choosing to stay neutral and politically correct at critical, defining moments…ad infinitum.

While we cannot change our history, the future is still within our grip. So brethren and ‘sisthren’, let us take up the challenge today, tomorrow, this week, this month, this year and for as long as we live by the grace of God. Give your Christ to life. 

You remember that it is said “by their fruits, ye shall know them”. I know we argue that it is not about what you do on the outside but the state of your heart. True. Very true. Nevertheless, what we do on the outside is sometimes a reflection of what is going on inside. After all, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Personally, I have found out that if for example, I get really upset because I feel someone has wronged me and I tell myself that I won’t quarrel with the person but i continue to stew over the incident, rehearsing witty sarcastic remarks that I would have said or done, if only I wasn’t a Christian, it is only a matter of time before I actually say it- and regret my actions.

Recently, I believe that the Spirit of God is calling my attention to certain character traits in me that do not glorify God. Interestingly, one of them includes mentally preparing a ready sharp, remark that will ‘cut to size’ anyone that I feel intends to step on my toes. This may not necessarily be a big deal but my eyes got opened to the fact that this trait is making me a defensive human being who has a ready answer to any question that may want to undermine me. The sobering part is that the root of this kind of behaviour is pride. Simple. There is no other way to brand it and appear less sinful. Now, Jesus wouldn’t do that. Giving my Christ to life definitely does not include pride. Mr/Miss/Mrs ‘I-can-do-no-wrong’ is not giving Christ to life. There is nothing attractive about that.

By the mercies of God, we have given our lives to Christ and so Jesus lives inside us; now let us give our Christ to life. Our Christ will not keep malice, He will not oppress people who are at His mercy (at home and at work), He would completely place His trust in God to supply His needs and answer His prayers, He would politely decline being sucked into office gossip, and importantly, He would constantly remember that while character, integrity and good morals are extremely important, being a Christian goes beyond good behaviour but a deep sense of repentance, belief in the saving Name and Blood of Jesus in that only by grace are we saved through faith, and the desire to please Him daily, all of our days- regardless of mistakes.

We have given our lives to Christ, now can we please give our Christ to life?

Is the Holy Spirit nudging your heart to correct a certain behaviour that aligns Christ with your life? In what other ways can we give our Christ to life?

Have a beautiful week.

Ms. August. 

Picture from adventures of a preacherskid.wordpress.com 

Timeless: Babbie Mason was Right!

So I went for Philip’s wake-keeping service yesterday. Somehow, I was able to will myself not to cry even though my eyes watered, got really glassy and the tears almost dropped. I was able to get through it. I was relieved to know he was a committed believer. Here is why.

God's love is timeless. Picture from musicfortheworld.org

In all, I wasn’t the most cheerful person alive but that is alright. What do I expect his family to do? I can only put his wife and children in prayers-from time to time. You know, I used to think Philip was cool, but yesterday proved me wrong- he was super duper cool…by the grace and mercy of God, no purgatory for this one! Am I relieved or what!

I was talking with a friend, Doyin after the service about the questions that this incident has raised in my heart as regards life after death and such. Apparently we were in similar shoes but she was able to encourage me. She referred me to Apostle Paul who was ‘everly’ sure that when he opens his eyes in death, he would be gazing into the eyes of Jesus. You see why I make a case for Christian community. Together, we are better Christians.

Speaking of community, at the Children teachers’ meeting last week Saturday, one of the teachers expounded on her previous class lesson based on John 8. The teenagers were fixated on why it was repeatedly stated that the time of Jesus was not yet come. This led to deep discussion on how God holds our time in His hands. This concept on its own is very deep and can take a really long time to explain. But interestingly, the thought was very comforting for me. God holds MY time in His ends. He holds yours too and because of this, the cards are stacked in our favour. It cannot possibly ever ever ever go wrong for us. Why, because God hold our time in His hands.

While the teacher dwelt on this subject, one of my all time favourite songs popped to my mind. It is called timeless. I hope you know it. It used to be my morning alarm tune and I enjoyed waking up early. Yea, the song is that good- especially if you like Jazz.

Find the lyrics below but I before sign, I would like to share one of my all-time favourite Bible verses. It is found in Psalms 16:10: For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

I always like to remember this verse. I confess it into the future knowing that the grace of God will keep us to the very end- after all, even in death, His love for us is timeless.

Timeless- Babbie Mason

Before time became eternity, I was on your mind;

Now I build my world around you, since I finally found you, 

I find Your love is timeless-like the willow tree that grows

Eternal as the wind that blows

You are everything I ever dreamed and more

From age to age you are the same,

And your love will never change

Your love is timeless, like a kiss on morning dew

Your love is timeless like stars against the mid-night blue

Every moment, every minute of the day,

You show your love in a million timeless ways,

Chorus: Incomprehensible, I cannot tell it all

Oh to describe your love would be impossible

You are so beautiful to me, its in dispute of what you see

And long before I even was, you were thinking of me

Your love is timeless (2x)

(Instumentals)

Incomprehensible, I cannot tell it all

Oh to describe your love would be impossible

You are so beautiful to me, its in dispute of what you see

And long before I even was, you were thinking of me

Your love is timeless like the gentle summer breeze,

Your love is timeless like the waves are on the sea

You’re the singer whose music calms my fears

I’ll find no other love like this for your love is times (2x)

Ps: I should ‘humbly’ mention that I know the lyrics by heart and tha’s the source. Check it out anywhere. Seriously, that’s how much I love this song. I should make it my ringtone again.

That said; let us not loose the point of this post- that even in seasons of loss, confusion, doubts, and disappointments, the depth and authencity of God’s timeless love is able to keep us in the faith-Isaiah 54:10

Psalms 16:10: For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Have a great weekend. I definitely will as I am due to lead praise and worship on Sunday- for 3-5 year olds :-)

I leave you in God's care,

Miss August. 

WHEN TIME IS UP! I DON'T WANT TO WAIT FOR PURGATORY

Sometime in June, I shared with us how life alarms go off to remind us of the realities of life and to keep the proper perspective in life. One of such alarms is death (of a close friend/relative), natural disasters, personal near death experiences and if I may add, whole number birthdays (30, 40, 50, 60… you get the drift). My own birthday comes up in a few weeks (*hint, hint) and I am quite taken up with assessing my life from the last birthday to now. I’m asking, “Have I just added a year without significantly improving the quality of my life in God’s perspective”? It is a sobering thought.

There is 'time' after 'time'. Pix from www.thinkpoint.wordpress.com

How did I go from yapping about Christian community to this? Well, Governor Philip died. I don’t think you know him but here is a bit: Philip was our faculty governor during my post graduate studies. Philip was a great guy. He was uber-cool, friendly without being a clown, warm towards everyone, knew us all by name and he would try to say a good word to individuals from time to time. He was a true leader. The departmental class governor was another story entirely but that’s for another day.

If good works and stewardship only are the basis of spending eternity with God, Philip has a VIP ticket and a chauffeur-driven limo ride on the streets of gold. However, that is not how it works. I don’t know if Philip was a believer but with all my heart, I hope he was. I sincerely do. I desperately do. I was so desperate that when I got the text announcing his death, I started praying for his soul-until it struck me, isn’t this rather late?

It led me to do some reading about life after death and related issues. I discovered that Catholics believe in a state/place called purgatory. This I understand is a temporal state after death from where sufficient prayers by living human beings can help propel a person to heaven. It is a sort of second chance after death.

Well, I don’t know. The concept is entirely new to me and I can’t say that I have seen anything like that in the Bible. The scriptural backup I saw for the existence of the purgatory are in the book of Maccabeus (which is not in my version of the Bible). There is also the thought that when Apostle Paul prayed for Onesiphorus here, the brother was already dead.

It sounds like a comforting idea to people who are mourning a loss but I don't believe that this concept is true. I have never been to the other side of life but my Bible says here that it is appointed for man to die once, and after that, judgement.

I do not intend to get into a debate on purgatory and other things that are still mysteries to me, but here is the bottom line: we have some really nice unsaved around us- at work, in the neighbourhood, our families and even in church. Are we going to wait till they die so we can pray for them? Wait till they enter purgatory? How much prayer is sufficient to move a person from purgatory to Heaven? 2hours? 4hours? 12 hours? If it requires 12 hours but one person is only able to garner a total of 11 and half hours, does the person get a third chance or do they get yanked off the list? At this point, is their soul doomed?

Many things that we won’t know until Jesus returns but this we know: that anyone who calls on the Name of Jesus now, will be saved, other scriptural references are here, here and here.

We are mortals bound by time. Like an examination, one day, either by death or the Second Coming of Christ, the examiner will say “time up!” After then, it wouldn’t matter that we still have a few brilliant answers to put down, it wouldn’t matter that you studied hard but blanked out 1 hour into the test. When the time is up, it is up. There is nothing left to be said.

 So I ask myself today, do I want to leave my life to chance? Do I want to wait till I get to purgatory and hope that my grieved loved ones will pause from crying to devout enough prayer to get me in? Why don’t I fix it here and now with this simple heartfelt prayer: Lord Jesus, I come to you today, believing in your miraculous birth, your death and your resurrection. I believe you died for my sins and you said whosoever comes to you, you will not cast away. This day, I confess my sins to you and I repent of them. Please forgive me, wash me clean with your blood. Make me a new creation in you, write my name in the book of life. Save me O Lord. I believe You have heard me. Thank you for saving me and for helping me grow in you. Amen.

My sincere desire and prayer is that we will lean on the Grace of Jesus that it may keep us in the Faith until His appearing. Help us Lord Jesus. Help us. Amen.

Did I get the concept of purgatory wrong? Did I misrepresent what it truly means? It is pretty new to me. Please leave a comment and share your scriptural thoughts on this issue.

God bless.

As always,

Miss August.

Wednesday Weekly Rounds: Conflict, Danfo Drivers and When to Stop Reading The Bible

Conflict is a major part of living in Lagos. If you relate with any of the following people, you know what I mean: Danfo (bus) conductors, land-lord, okada/kekemarwa (all those quarrels over change), PHCN people (especially if you are not using the pre-paid metre), I can go on sha. Sincerely, these people can test an angel’s patience- I still take the bus to work so I know what I’m talking about-and to ask anyone to manage them in Christian love is a lot to ask but I guess that is what Jesus is asking of us.

How about "I am more humble than you"?: stmatthews.org.nz

That said, conflict within the fold should be handled more carefully. That has been the thrust of series of posts the last few weeks. I have found that handling our differences with tact and patience often helps.

Few days after I wrote the last post on taking our time before correcting people (or criticising them), I found this piece on handling conflicts by Jen Smidth of the resurgence blog. While conflict is somewhat different from correcting, there are principles that apply to both issues. In my opinion, this writer took a risk I was trying to avoid (excessive word count), and this led to a detailed and insightful article on handling conflict. It is aptly titled ‘don’t waste your conflict’ and part of it goes:

“Because conflict is inevitable, it is helpful to be both proactive and reactive when it comes to conflict. There are many great biblical principles (James 1:19, Col 3) and guidelines to follow ahead of time to ensure that conflict doesn’t erupt in the first place. More helpful still may be to take a look in the rear-view mirror after a conflict has died down and examine whether or not both parties followed biblical wisdom…”

I love it when I find something that reiterates what I think or have said earlier. It sorts of make me consider myself a sage in the making. So I’m including this quote by Jen to buttress my solomonic words of wisdom on taking your time before addressing a confrontation:

“There is nothing like a little time on our knees with our heavenly Father to sort out and smooth over our emotions into something helpful and usable.”

She lists the following questions to help those in conflict:

1. Have you processed your feelings in prayer first? As Charles Spurgeon once said, “Neglected [prayer] is the birth-place of all evil.”
2. Have you put it in writing? It may be helpful to write down some of your conclusions that you’ve drawn from prayer into an “issues list.” 
3. Does each party have the same information?
4. What assumptions are being made?
5. Is it necessary for a neutral party to be involved or at least made aware? When emotion is running high, reason may need a seat at the table. 
6. Is each party showing love? Is each party receiving love? This aspect alone may be the distinguishing mark between what fuels Christians in conflict and what the world is often not concerned with. 
7. Was listening a top priority? Each party needs a voice in conflict. 
8. Did communication happen between the offended parties only in a timely and direct manner?
9. Has forgiveness been asked for, offered, and received?
10. Are both parties bearing fruit in keeping with repentance?

Conflict is painful, but conflict has great potential. Are we willing to look back over our shoulders into the wreckage of conflict to learn more about love, loss, and the lavish riches available to us in Christ Jesus to heal and mature from conflict?

My favourite tip is #1- processing your feelings in prayer. A personal experience which I narrated in the concluding past of this post explains why I think so.

Away from community and relationships, Josh Harris said this about when you should stop reading your Bible:

                “Go on reading it until you can read no longer, and then you will not need the Bible anymore, because when your eyes close for the last time in death, and never again read the Word of God in Scripture you will open them to the Word of God in the flesh, that same Jesus of the Bible whom you have known for so long, standing before you to take you forever to His eternal home." - Geoffrey Thomas, Reading the Bible

Beautiful, isn’t it? And very true too. I really do love this quote. Very much. Very very much.

Other stuff I read, loved and found useful include:

this funny post by Adetutu, a friend from UNILAG who is somewhere in the North serving God and County: I am not a danfo driver. It is not new but it is classic. It made me remember the ‘I am a danfo driver song’ and also performed the miracle of convincing me to be nice to them!

 Enjoying an abnormal normal by Internet Monk;

And The danger of Isolation by Jeff Nickles (I haven’t completely read this but so far, it makes sense).

Hope these bless you as much as they did me.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

PS: The aim of Wednesday weekly rounds is to share with you things I came across online and found useful. It could also be a way of saying that “if I can’t share it on this platform”, I should rethink reading it.

Would you be able to freely share what you have been reading online in the past week? If you consider it inappropriate to be shared amongst believers, maybe you shouldn’t be reading it to start with.

PPS: The usual disclaimer: I am not affiliated or endorsing the people mentioned in this post. As you know, they are waaaayyyy out of my league J:

HOW TO CORRECT PEOPLE WITHOUT CRITICISING THEM

Correct in love: petemaurice.com

During my NYSC service year, I joined a wonderful fellowship. There, I met people who inspired, encouraged and challenged my faith. Sometimes, I could hardly believe that these people were only fresh university graduates. I remember that one day, I bought a pack of juice for the leader (whom I will call Edet) and his deputy. The deputy was not at home at the time, so sometime later, Edet said he would like to have some of the juice now. I don’t know what came over me when I insisted that he would just have to wait for the deputy to return before he could drink it. Till date, I cringe when I remember the scene. I am not proud of it. Before I knew it, I was dragging the juice with him. Yeah, I know. It was ugly and I actually paused typing to cover my face with both hands. Bear in mind that Edet was about 12 years my senior. I still can’t fathom how it happened. After a while, He looked at me and said, “I could take and pour this juice anyway; fill my cup and pour it on the ground like David did but it will hurt you.” So he poured himself a glass and drank. I could tell that he only drank it not to hurt my feelings even though he was visibly upset himself. To say I was instantly sorry would be undermining how I felt. With one statement, I had been corrected-in compassion. I sometimes think of how I would have felt if he had actually done what he thought to do. I would have been heart-broken and I am sure that the issue may have escalated into other unnecessary issues. The best part of it was, after I mumbled an apology and avoided him for a while (I know why Adam ran from God), the very next time he saw me, he just carried on like we were good-and we were.

My point is: there is a way to correct in love and It is important for us to talk about this before we wind down the discussion on relating with fellow Christians within the local church body, small group or anywhere else.

We earlier considered the ABC of Christian community as affirming, blessing and correcting one another. The former two are pretty easy to understand but effectively correcting people in love requires tact- and The Holy Spirit.

Let it be settled that correcting one another is a basic and important part of Christian relationship. When Peter was saying stuff that Jesus wasn’t cool with, He called him to order. It is not an act of love to see a brother going on the wrong path and keep mum. But the issue here is who determines what is wrong? Sometimes, we need to step back and review if what we want to correct another person about is actually wrong or it just irritates our own personality. If we gripe about everything we don’t like in our church members, we will gradually find ourselves not correcting, but criticising. That is the issue with correcting people; it is easy to slip into criticising them. How do you know keep from crossing the thin line? Take your time.

Correction that is done in love is tempered by time. Immediacy is often a sign of anger and anger does not really speak with the intention of making somebody better but to hurt them because we feel they have hurt us. The Bible encourages us to be slow talkers. While some grievous errors (blatant sins) may have to be corrected immediately, it is usually better to back down and take some time before correcting someone.

Between the time you notice an error and when you correct the person concerned; (after pulling out the log in your own eye), do the following:

1.       Take time to think and pray: What was she thinking? Is she in trouble? Is he being blackmailed? Why did she do that? Would I do that if I were in her shoes? Many questions that only time can let you answer. Hasty confrontations could lead to arguments-arguments that you don’t need since they will eventually take you off the issue at hand. You also need time to pray about the situation: that God will help them see what is wrong with the issue, that if you will eventually speak to the person, The Holy Spirit will give you the right words. That God will engrace the person to sail through any pain or problem that you may be unaware of that may actually be the trigger of their bad behaviour.

2.       Time to NOT take it personal: If it is personal, its personal. But if you want to correct them from the stand point that the act itself is fundamentally wrong, be sure that it is not just a personal preference. You need time to sort out if the issue is really an issue.

3.      Time to build compassion: you remember what Cathy Burton had to say about this? Everyone needs compassion. Taking a while before correcting someone allows us to build compassion for them. For example, when you consider the end of the path they are taking and you see it labelled ‘divorce’, ‘ill-health’, ‘obesity’, ‘indebtedness’ or ‘hell’, you will have compassion for that person (I'm assuming you are a Jesus following somebody). When you see the end, there is an endearment, warmth that your voice will take on when you speak to them and it is difficult not to respond positively to compassion. I am not saying ‘pity’, but compassion, mercy. You are not sneering derisively and saying ‘dude, you are going to miss strolling on the streets of gold because you are going to hell and I’m not going to pass you a tiny drop of water from my mansion up above”.

I will wrap this up with a something that happened recently. My housemates and I used to hold a general morning devotion at 5:30 am, Mondays- Fridays. I am usually the first to wake up and so I wake everybody else. About a month ago, they suddenly stopped responding. I was baffled, but I was also very angry. I wanted to call a ‘house keeping conference’ and let everybody know that apart from me, they were backsliding and allowing the devil to rejoice over us! I stopped waking them up and just continued holding my personal devotion at the time. Gradually, the Spirit of God revealed the nasty contents of my own heart on the issue. Exactly why was I angry? Is it because it was my idea in the first place? The girls were still holding devotions and nurturing their relationship with God. Who made me a judge? The issue was that the time was not convenient for them. I asked God for forgiveness and later realised that I even enjoyed having my personal quiet time. I sincerely did not feel angry any more but I continued to pray that God would help us restore the general quiet time. After some weeks, one of them said “we must start devotion tomorrow morning o”. Of course I was happy but I just said its ok. Yeah, I’m petty like that, thank you very much. It may not always work out this way but here, you see how taking your time works?

Finally, sometimes, no matter what you try, some people will still feel judged and get defensive when you correct them. But when you know that you are doing it for the sake of their soul, you know it is not your correction that will change them. It is God. So you plunge into sincere, love-inspired prayers for them for as I have heard Arome Osayi say, “People may refuse your counsel, but they can hardly refuse you prayers”-especially when it is love driven if I may add.

Bottom line: in correcting one another, let love lead, let the Holy Spirit lead.

Blessings,
Miss August. 

A man called Pete Maurice explains the issue of correction in details here. I copied the picture from his site

FREE FRIDAY MUSIC REVUE: IF WE ARE THE BODY…

I changed my job earlier this year. Before I resumed, I anticipated a bit of stress in adjusting to the new environment and job responsibilities. I also prayed about it and asked for God’s wisdom, love and patience even as I ventured into unknown waters. I prayed to be an exceptional employee (I remember saying I wanted to be to my boss what Joseph was to Pharaoh) but most importantly, I remember praying specially for wisdom to manage the dynamics of human relations that I would experience there.

If we are the body...:www.calvaryinglewood.org

Thankfully, I remember that few days before I resumed, my pastor was saying something I can’t really remember when he mentioned the words of Jesus “wise as a serpent, gentle as a dove”…immediately, I knew that was the formula I needed to apply. I really wanted to get along with my colleagues but stay out of the politics common in workplaces these days. I really did try to prepare but nothing could have prepared me for the degree of strife, hate, gossip and bad blood that I met there. The first few days were frightening! You practically couldn’t talk to one person who was not trying to report someone else or gossip about someone else. I say people within the same gossip network gossip about co-members behind their backs…it was a zoo! I don’t remember ever seeing this level of negative workplace relationship. The ladies took malice to a whole new level and they guys weren’t so much better.

When I began relating the weird events to Isabella, my housemate, I realised she had someone similar at work herself. The only feature that we had in common is the fact almost 95% of us are Christians. The non-christian at work was one of the most amiable.  If I were a non-christian, none of these people could successfully witness to me. I didn’t want anything they had. I don’t mean to sound self-righteous. Just bear in mind that I relate this story as an observer who was new in the environment and therefore too unqualified to take sides.

Knowing that we couldn’t go far as an organisation with this kind of setup, my major prayer point switched from productivity to peace. Afterall, I had heard that among Jews, the same word for peace, ‘Shalom’ is the same word for prosperity and that with peace comes prosperity.

Unfortunately, after a while, the strife led to a permanent shut-down on our staff general devotion. Another potential church dismembered and certified dead. If we are the body, we should be one as the Son and the Father are one. I am pretty sure the trinity do NOT gossip about one another. It is extremely unthinkable for me to imagine that God the Father was busy snitching on Jesus behind His back while He was away…busy saving the world.

What’s the point of this narrative? The body of Christ needs peace. In relating with one another, we have to show grace, mercy and a little bit of compassion especially in our speech. Rev’d Scott Web came to Lagos this May/June and he talked a lot about love and relationship among Christians, especially in the local church. He narrated 2 sobering stories from his own church. The first was about how they lost a member of the church who was terminally ill at a time that the church was strongly divided and members were bickering. In his opinion (and I agree), all the strife made the church weak and near powerless. The second story was more uplifting, the same situation with a member (cancer to be exact); but this time, they had a strong, loving and united church that stood together in prayer. Gradually, God perfected the sick woman’s healing. Strife really does kill the power of the Church and even Jesus consents that the icon and stamp of Christian community is unity-not strife, malice and quarrelling.

So before y’all get tired of reading about community and Christian fellowship, I think this may be the last post in the series…except of course, I can think of something I left out. The truth is there is a lot to be said on this topic. So much.

There is a song that aptly expresses my thoughts on this song; it is by casting crowns and it is titled ‘If We are the Body’…great song. By the way, with time, you will find out that Casting Crowns is one of my super duper favourite music groups. Here is the text of the song.

If we are the Body- Casting Crowns

It's crowded in a worship today
As she slips in
Trying to fade into the faces
The girls' teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know

But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?

And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them
There is a way? There is a way?

A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat
And quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgmental glances tell him that his chances
Are better out on the road

But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching? 

And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them
There is a way?

But Jesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the body of Christ

But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?

And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them
There is a way?

If we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?

And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them
There is a way? As Jesus is the way

From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/c/casting-crowns-lyrics/if-we-are-the-body-lyrics.html

I leave you in God's care.

Miss August.