Sin's Facebook Page

Often times, the Holy Bible talks of the outward beauty of the main characters. It describes their countenance as calmly to the eye, goodly. King Saul is said to have been such besides being taller than any Israelite at that time. The same is said about David, though David was an exceptional musician and dancer. He was a true warrior with a heart of a lion.

Saul’s son, Ish-bosheth asked David for a political truce and David could only say, ‘Well; I will make a league with thee: but one thing I require of thee, that is, Thou shalt not see my face, except thou first bring Michal Saul's daughter, when thou comest to see my face.’ This Michal was ‘which I espoused to me for an hundred foreskins of the Philistines.’ 2 Samuel 3v15: ‘And Ish-bosheth sent, and took her from her husband, even from Phaltiel the son of Laish. v16: And her husband went with her along weeping behind her to Bahurim.  Then said Abner unto him, Go, return.  And he returned.’

David had an option of marrying every single virgin his land produced, but he chose to get to a married woman who was given away to another man by her father. As a matter of principle, David was right because he married her and paid dowry.  You will remember how he later on married Abigail, a widower. David's appetite for mature women is evident throughout his life. 

This went a little too far when King David killed Uriah for his very beautiful wife after seeing her curves and bust when she took a bath. It was in times of political distress, David absconded from going to war, became idle and wandered at the roof top of his house. With all men gone, women were at liberty to lax their bath times and how they dressed. This was an opportune moment for sin to strike and David clicked the 'Like' button.

Eve met the snake that brought the original sin while she was strolling by and killing time. She gave in to temptation by also clicking the devil's fan page. Being idle is the sin's Facebook page. If you have spare time, read the Holy Bible and pray. You can always visit http://www.tse-dailybread.blogspot.com/

Your opinion is very irrelevant

In Leviticus 18 v22, the true and unchanging Word of The Almighty God, the Holy Bible says, ‘Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. v23: Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.’ God knows what He wants and what we should be or not be. If you want to convince him otherwise, try.

The account of the wickedness of the cities of the plain where Lot lived, is also underlined by the visit of the angels to Abraham’s nephew. Men of Sodom wanted to have sex with male angels. Lot was willing to offer his virgin daughters rather, but these men wanted men to ‘sodomise’ them. For their daily sins, Sodom and Gomorrah were consumed by brimstone and fire.

The angels saved themselves by blinding the ‘hot’ pursuers. Often, we have found pleasure in defiling ourselves with what we feel is right. It is not about us, but about Him as our Creator. So many times have we and the people in the Bible thought in making things right the wrong way. We think God made a mistake.

Lot’s daughters had sex with their father after giving him too much wine to drink, to perpetuate his offspring. That is how Moab and Benammi were born. God’s plan is always adequate. It is necessary to fear God and to give Him the necessary respect and honour, both as our Creator and for just who He is. He takes pride in us and all His creation.

Further in Lev 19v28, He forbad tattoos. ‘Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD. v29: Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.’

Man sleeping with men is a big issue with God. Lev 20v13 says, ‘If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. v14: And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.’

Unfortunately, these days marriage is neither a one man and one woman affair, but can be ‘man to man’ or ‘woman to woman’. God called it an abomination and we have ordained preists and given away children in adoption.

The Holy Bible is utterly silent on women sleeping together. It does not make it right either. In Deutoronomy 23v17, it says: ‘There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.’

Do you think God has changed that stance, or He has forgotten or retired or was joking or even say He was not aware of Human Rights and other Freedom Charters that we have made since those days? Whose words are final, ours or His? Judge ye!

Did Solomon father the Queen of Sheba's son?

The queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones, and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

There is a book of one religion that gives a story of the visit, stating that the floor of Solomon’s palace was of glass and the queen dreaded to cross it thinking it was water. It further states how she perceived Solomon would seek a gift in kind; hence she came forth right and told him he must promise not to touch her. The deal was that the promise stood on condition she drank no water at night.

The wisdom of the cunning and amorous Solomon led to his servant serving all the food that made her thirsty frequently. In her quest to quench the thirsty, she found Solomon in the kitchen and the rest is history. The belief is that the resultant child is the Ethiopian people. It is claimed the queen sent her son to see her father but he stole the Ark of the Covenant.

The Holy Bible says that when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built, the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the LORD, there was no more spirit in her.

According to 1 King 10v6: ‘And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. v7: Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.’

God had promised Solomon the wisdom and riches that no man will ever have. It is holy to assume Solomon enjoyed earthly life as much as he is in heaven. It cannot be same or worse. How much are you willing to sacrifice to live a Solomon life forever after? Repent and believe, confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour.

David’s therapy was a virgin

King David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes. 

1 Kings 1v2: ‘Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat.’

It happens with our lives occasionally and one thing to do about a situation is hastily find a suitable and sound solution as in the case above. The error associated with this is lack of faith in whatever action we take. Even dire is the confession of our faith without deeds. For, faith without deeds is dead and without faith it is impossible to please God.

God will give you the desires of your own heart, as much as the devil will reward his to compete. Usually, his gifts look more colourful and very generous. The consequential calamity is as grievous. Know that Jesus Christ came to give life and life in abundance, while the devil came to steal, kill and to destroy.

In your pursuit for happiness in this world, seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

In the verse above, I should like to mention for your information, that David did not have sex with her.

What happens soon after you die

Central to everything I believe, is the idea of a perfect environment of Christianity that is without controvesy. However, there is always debates, sometimes so large that they affect the way our lives are run and how we are governed. It is one of the reasons why Martin Luther left the Roman Catholic Church to form the Lutheran Church.

Sparing the agony of the unnecessary details, issues of the Holy Trinity and the life after death lead these debates. I will tell you what the Holy Bible says about what happens when you die. The prophecies and visions of Seers and great prophets of the Holy Bible sometime give the impression to the poor reader, that one dies and their spirit camps in some hotel or lodge somewhere for whatever reason and duration.

Amongst a few verses dealing specifically with this matter, is one where the Lord Jesus Christ said to the thief on the cross, 'Surely I say to you, today I will be with you in paradise.' People still need to disect the 'today' in the sentence. They seem to believe, Christ was 'date stamping' the saying without giving the specifics of the day of fulfilment of the promise. The Lord also implied in the parable of Lazarus and The Rich Man; 'The rich man died and went to hell and Lazarus died and went to Abraham in heaven.' There was no 'gap year' here.

In the Old Testament, you will remember King Saul had sinned a great sin and as a result, Samuel (his spirit as he was already dead) gave Saul the this assurance; 1Samuel 28v19: 'Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me.' This event, as prophesised, happened the very next day, meaning Saul and his sons met Samuel in heaven soon after his death.

For interest sake, this is how Saul died, for fear of uncircumcised Philistines; 1 Chronicle 10v3: 'And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him, and he was wounded of the archers. v4: Then said Saul to his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me.  But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid.  So Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. v5: And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise on the sword, and died.'

It is appointed that should man die, after that judgement.

Just a 100 foreskins

Cutting a fore skin is a job, but a 100? Quite tiresome, unhygienic and cruel; not for a woman though. David had to meet an impossible end of the deal with King Saul for the marriage of Michal, the king’s daughter. There were not ordinary foreskins. They belonged to the Philistines, champions of war.

2 Samuel 3v14: ‘And David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth Saul's son, saying, Deliver me my wife Michal, which I espoused to me for an hundred foreskins of the Philistines’. David loved his wife that he could have brought more foreskins if need be. He may have needed something larger to carry them.

When faced with challenges in your lives, get up and fight a good fight, the cause you believe. Kneeling down and praying will is not enough. There is always a price to pay for a good thing. Pay it, because if it’s free, it’s fake or will flee. As you make your errands, ask God to be with you and the impossible will be possible, if you believe.

What do you want for your life to change? It will cost just a 100 foreskins. 

The games we played, Joshua played

Whatever your background, one of your favourite games as a child would be hide and sick, whatever the reason. Besides that, there would be ball games of differing variations. Dodge ball would be a common one among many people, then there would be one where a team aims at stacked 6 or cans to totally dismantle the assembly with a single hit, and then try to build the same pyramid dodging the ball.

The other version consisted of emptying a litre of sand from a tight necked bottle and then refilling the same amid ball fire. It always was fun despite the noise always associated with bullies who never lost graciously. The best part was that both boys and girls were involved and everything was legal.

There were games our mothers never allowed us to play. They always involved entering into a pact, loosely referred to as ‘joining’. In one, the rules were simply that whosoever was seen holding whatever item on their left hand at anytime and a code word was said, the holder gave the item away to the caller, regardless to whom the item belonged. The dangers here are obvious.

Along the same lines, was a pact of just ‘grab and dash off’ with whatever is in the other person’s hand. There would games of a similar nature where a punishment was meted upon the loser by bringing both hands together in prayer-like manner, but pointing forward and stretched. Depending on the offence, one hot claps without moving the hands away. After the mandatory hits, the victim had to try to evade the hit once and it would be over. Failure to act fast enough meant immense pain.

The most unfortunate was simply ‘Bend over’. After entering a pact, bending over invited a simple ‘free kick’ to the back side. It was the pleasure of the kicker however he executed it. As you can imagine, the mechanism of the whole idea was detrimental to the girls. Our moms never allowed such games for neither boys nor girls.

Though a little civil but very silly, was ‘Statue’. Usually, a member would be in an awkward position when the code name ‘statue’ is called out and one had to freeze at that very moment, until released. The great Warrior and man of God, Joshua, played this one with his maker. Joshua went to war and had his business unfinished as the day went by. Joshua said to the sun, ‘Freeze’, and it was so until he had killed all his enemies. The sun and the moon stood still in excess of about 12 hours and never before and after was that ever seen again.

Do we have faith to ask the impossible from God? He promises that when we seek first His Kingdom, all things will be added unto us. All.    

Talk and wait but patiently

One man God called friend, was a murderer, but you do not have to be one to know God. People God punished the most, were sinners who forsook Him and never repented of their iniquity.

God always had a plan. The Holy Bible does not mention any plan B for any of His desires. He wants His plans executed well by us. He always chose people to do his deals and with specifications.

It is easy to look down, feeling beaten, because you ask yourself who you are. Who was Moses? God chose a man ‘baby-dumped’ by his mother to do wonders, treacherous against his master, Pharaoh, but he a revolted man, which God loved. For all his stammering, he became the only man God spoke face to face by mouth.

There are things you will do at work, school, home and everywhere that God would never trust other people you envy to do. Moses had a special relationship with God and received direct orders and the tablets of testimony, the 10 commandments that He had hand written for people who are like me and you, gone rogue.

Exodus 32v7: ‘Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves; v8: They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt; v9: And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people.’

In his case, Moses had his hands full because the people of Israel complained like a pregnant woman. He took a swipe at God, telling him that it was His people that he had brought them out of Egypt. It sounded like Moses was reminding God who was God, actually, that Moses was not the creator of God’s children and therefore He must deal with them because they are his. He was almost counseling God Almighty.

Ex 32 vs11 ‘And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? vs12: Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth?  Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.’

Often we pray and forget to praise and worship God. We have to put him in His place. He is our Creator. Moses went on to say Egyptians would think that He was a ‘mischievous’ God, if God did not ‘repent and withdraw anger’. Wow. And God did repent. After pleading and winning the case for the Israelites, Moses broke the tablets of stones God wrote with His finger. He found Israel worshipping idols. It is the patience we lack after we make a prayer. As the answer is on the way, we make decisions that anger the messenger who eventually does not bring the answer to us.

There is only one Moses, but you too, can plead your case sincerely and in faith, and be granted the wishes of your heart, the salvation of your soul first and then everything else.

Is this us or what?

The Israelites were bondmen and bondwomen in Egypt for 430 years. They suffered great proportions building pyramids and kings tombs. They were greatly oppressed to the extent of causing 'pain' to God.

God took their suffering away and in the process, showed them first hand, His mighty power and presence. Before they even departed Africa, they had seen the plagues and then saw the Red Sea open for them to cross and how the Egyptian army drowned.

Amongst other things, they saw food fall from the sky, without any need to irrigate for 40 years, and yet starved not. They saw water coming off a rock twice. They saw God at the foot of Mount Sinai as a heavy cloud and a thunderous sound, that they even said to Moses, ‘Tell God we do not want to meet with Him again, He may kill us’.

Despite all this, they complained, comparing their situation to the one in slavery. They would ask Moses whether there were not enough graves for their burial in Egypt because he wanted them to die in the desert. After one such incident, when they said Egypt had meat for them to eat, and that they were tired of manna, God said he would provide them meat for them to eat ‘until it came out of your nostrils’.

This was His order to Moses; Numbers 11v18: ‘And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat?  for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye shall eat.’

‘ v19: Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days; v20: But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the LORD which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?’

This sounds like us sometimes. God takes us out of one bad situation so we can rise and grow to another level. When we face a challenge, instead of fighting to push through, we take the very fighting energy and strength for regret and self pity, regressing and wanting to get back to a worse situation. God’s heart bleeds exceedingly at this ungratefulness.

They really loved their wives

Jesus was at the Gathesmane garden when He left the 3 disciples, asking them to ‘watch and pray’. That time, they found praying hard because they could not watch. They slept.

Nowadays, it is easier to pray. We just use words and words. We sing and dance without a deep thought of the words we say or sing. Basically, we pray and sit on our bums and wait. This is not enough. We need to ‘watch’.

For a long time I wondered how the Mighty God of the Holy Bible took the children of Israel out of Egypt to the Promised Land, doing all wonders amongst them, that at the final stages, He asked Moses to send spies to see Canaan.  

They were not an army or military trained. So spying is for war. If God gave them the land, why the war? This teaches us that no matter God’s work in our lives, our contribution matters. It may mean just showing face, but we must ‘watch’ and see. We must seek.

You cannot pray for a job if you present a bad CV and are not responding to job ads or even walking from door to door. Laying on your back all day and night, depending on prayer alone is a non-starter.

If you do not have a drivers’ license, do not pray for a car. You must do things and do them right and then pray for them to come true. It is both illegal and dangerous to drive without a license and if you get a car before then, it could be from God, but I doubt it.

The spies went to the Promised Land and brought back grapes as proof that the land was indeed fertile. Numbers 13v27: ‘And they told him (Moses), and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.’

This was a good report and surely exactly what God had always said, but there was as much Thomasism here as in the New Testament, when they began to describe the giant sons of Anak and how the cities are walled. Things in life are hedged and that wall in your life can be broken by you.

If you have to look for your own job and work well to keep. Your marriage is your own to maintain, and you must keep a positive image of yourself to boost your own self esteem. People are pre-occupied to see your world with your eyes or to praise you and admire whatever you do. It is your life and hence your responsibility.

Never be negative or speak ill of yourself. Caleb wanted the Israelites to go straight away and take that land, but the rest that were with him chickened out. Numbers 13v31: ‘But the men that went up with him said, we be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.’

‘v32: And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, the land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. v33: And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.’

If you see yourself as a grasshopper in the world of problems, you are a grasshopper in the world of your problems and no one will convince you otherwise, but yourself. The next verse tells how all the people started to lift their voices and cried. Imagine that, even those who did not see the giants were wailing, but why? Crying for the death of their wives that were still amongst them?

Wow, they loved their wives

If we are faithful ....

Paul always pointed out to the churches of old, to stay away from lying. It was one of his biggest concern, that people get idle and then go around gossiping, either and the givers or receivers. He was pained by idolatry and sacrifices to the devil. Even as much was the issue of adultery and fornication.

Adultery is extra marital sex while fornication is pre-marital sex. These issues were so much of a concern throughout his preaching as also evidenced by the mention of them by others wherever they preached. Jealousy and coveting other people’s things was as bad.

There were issues concerning all moral behaviour and being good to other people. He even mentioned several times how much important it was to give attention to the Lord Jesus Christ’s greatest commandments to ‘love one your neighbour as you love yourself’ in which case, most these issues will not be done.

The law of the Jews limited them to following these and many others and then, at an appointed time, animals were slaughtered for their blood to wash away the sins under the laws of the Priests. That was enough for them, and they wanted to continue with this as it was a law given unto Moses by God.

Therefore, believing is mandatory for us to be saved. When we have that faith, to be truly following the Lord Jesus and completely believing, we cannot be found wanting in character, hence the verse of ‘faith without deeds is dead’. We must show both to others and God that we believe, as it is also said that ‘without faith it is not possible please God’    

As I read through, these issues are like flesh onto faith as the requirement for salvation. There is no other name under Heaven wherein humans can be saved. But then, you have to act the faith. In believing in the Most High God, and being forgiven sins, actions must follow you all the days of your life.

If we are faithful and righteous, he is faithful to forgive our sins.

Stop your ADDICTION to suffering

Paul travelled the length and breadth of the New Testament world on foot and sea in very precarious and dangerous proportions, escaping death by a whisker on far more occasions than most people experience in their entire life time. So painful is his account of what he went through. Imagine, he had no Twitter, Facebook, cellphone or internet to reach his audience but he could dial his 911, Jesus Christ.

Read this account in 2nd Corinthians 11v22: ‘Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. v23: Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. v24: Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. v25: Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep.’ He even forgets the venomous snake bite.

For me, 2010 was ‘low gear’ year. It was like travelling 1200 miles on gear one, the whole year. So much joy was taken off me by the devil, especially my finances. The determination to 2011 a better year is even greater. I wish my revolt would infect you as well. The Apostle Paul suffered more for the cause of Christ and never gave up once.

v26: ‘In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; v27: In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.’

Do not be addicted to suffering. There is an answer for all your problems. Jesus died and rose again. So then, what is being broke? What is disease? What are family or marital problems? They are not greater than He. No. Dial Him and give Him your story. Jesus is on-line ready for a live chat with you.

Be blessed!

A champion, a pain.

‘We find this man a pestilent fellow’ Acts :24:5: ‘For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes’.

He was said to be a stirrer of troubles by the very people who needed Jesus in their lives. He was labelled a heretic and a blasphemer. Paul was given a name of the Greek god Mercurius because he was a chief speaker when he preached and performed miracles on his journey with Barnabas, who was referred to as Jupiter.

Moses used to have very strong words with God in the desert when God would ask him to tell his people blah blah. He would then say to him, you cannot give and leave your creations to die in the desert. What will they say? What will our enemies say? Who brought us out of Egypt?’ At that point would concede that he will do something, but they are ‘a stiff necked people’.

Throughout Paul’s story, it was sad to see that from those days of Moses, to the times of the Lord Jesus Christ through to the beginning of the church of Christ, they never believed. God had however made special arrangements with them for life. For this reason, they were more jealous to share any platform with us ‘of uncircumcision’. This was the borne of contention, if ever they wanted to believe his story.

There are times people actually thought Paul was possessed by evil spirits himself because of the miracles he performed. He was bitten by a very poisonous viper in Malta after their shipwreck on his way to Rome as a prisoner to be tried by Ceaser. The locals first said he should have been a murder as after being in trouble in the sea, the snake does not want to spare his life.

Felix actually called Paul mad, saying in Acts 26:24: ‘And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.’ His response was genuine and defensive, saying in verse 27: ‘King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.’

 and in v28 Agrippa said unto Paul, ‘Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.’ Agrippa was married to a Jewess called Bernice.

Paul had a very bad record against Christianity, yet he became its greatest instrument ever. So can you

Early church; Paul was so cool.

Paul was a bitter and energetic destroyer of the early church. Peter and the 10 remaining disciples of Jesus, after the ascension of our Lord, as ordered by Him, remained in Jerusalem for 40 days and gathered in the upper room in the day of Pentecost, where they received the Holy Ghost and spoke in tongues.

The disciples had to find a replacement for the dead Judas Iscariot, and did that by lot casting and Mathias was chosen. The Holy Spirit inspired great works of Jesus Christ through the hands and words of the disciples in a way that shook the ancient world. For this reason, they were like the ‘enemies of the state’ of the Roman Empire colonised Jews.

One Saul, heard about the new doctrine and was vehemently opposed to its existance. He carried the clothes and lunchboxes for the murderers of the first matyr, Stephen and went on to ask the High Priest for special permission to cause havoc, arrest and imprison the preachers of Jesus Christ in the early Church. He said in Acts  22v4 ‘And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.’ and Acts 26v11: ‘And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.’

Through the miraculous work of God, Saul was converted becoming Paul. Gal 1v13: ‘For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it’ also mentioning in Acts 9v3: ‘And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven.’ and was the biggest character of the New Testament, beside the King, Lord Jesus Christ. But then, who was Paul?

Paul (formerly Saul) came Tarsus (no mean city), a town known for its high class education, probably the best private schools in the history of the Ancient times. He was an Israelite, a Jew, a born free Roman, a Pharisee, an orator and probably a lawyer who was multi lingual, speaking and able to write Greek, Hebrew, Latin and probably other languages. He could ride a horse.

Paul spoke well and was very bold, though not very big physically. His boldness can be seen when he stood up against Simon Peter for saying something he did not agree with, despite Peter having seen and been with Jesus Christ. Despite not having met Jesus Christ in flesh, the Holy Spirit drove him more than any other person known.

For the Lord Jesus that he ‘prosecuted’, Paul suffered physical brutality of the highest degree for a learned man and a man of his reasoning capacity and stature. He suffered humiliation and pains of indescent proportions and never gave up. What a man!

You do not have to be Paul. Just believe.

Moses to God, ‘Hey dude, wanna see your face my man’

I would have loved to start with the Old Testament issues to maintain a chronological order of things, and because of the very fascinating characters and events that always blow my mind with every read. Nonetheless, Christianity as we know it now, and the Church, are of the New Testament.

From both historical evidence and writings, as well as spiritually inspired prophesies, the Gospels carry Jesus Christ's ministry, which I will spare you for now, as you may know them by heart, and start with Luke’s writing of the Acts of the Apostles. Like Solomon, in the Old Testament, his writing inspires me to great levels.

Luke was a Gentile (non-Jew), a medical doctor by profession and had an esteemed friend called ‘Excellent’ Theophilus, (Luke 1v1: Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us.

v2: Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; v3: It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, v4: That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.) to whom he writes both The Gospel according to Luke and The Acts of the Apostles.

Luke wrote his books with a great details and marvel of the experiences of people that had been with Jesus Christ, Son of God, from the beginning of his birth to his crucifixion, death, resurrection and ascension, i.e in the Gospel, especially the healing and resurrection of the dead.

In The Acts, he also wrote witnesses accounts and even more so from first had experiences as he actually travelled with the Apostle Paul in the some of the major journeys. (Acts :21:1: ‘And it came to pass, that after WE were gotten from them, and had launched, we came with a straight course unto Coos, and the day following unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Patara’. This is just one one several ‘WE’s by Luke).

In the Old Testament, there is no doubt how much important people like Abraham, Gideon, Joshua, Samson, and David, among others, shape the faith.  The most charismatic for me was Moses. This is the only man in the Bible to have talked to God face to face – no ‘in-betweens’ nor dreams. God called him ‘friend’ and for his part, Moses had the audacity to say, ‘Hey Dude, we always chat and I wish to see you live my man.’

God was so moved by this and told him that no man sees his face and live. God compromised for his pal, made an appointment and told his to close his eyes. God actually came, covered Moses’s face with his hand and walked past and had Moses open his eyes to see his back.

He is the only man to have physically seen God while on this earth. I know that despite this, for a different reason, God forbid him to reach the promised land.

My point is that, Paul for me, was the Moses of the New Testament, i.e as an instrument of King Jesus Christ. Of course there was John the Baptist and the disciples.

Teachings of Paul in The Acts and Epistles

These days, new churches and TV programs teach chiefly about prosperity, and I think the message of the early church has been made to lose sting. I like these churches and their message and I am a member of one. I have managed to steer my thinking in a way of giving and I surely receive. If that could be then, end of things, then many are doomed.

Like the Epistles written by John and Peter, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the key. Rom:3:27: ‘Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. v28: Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.’ Jews wanted the law thing to be paramount, primarily circumcision. If you cut a fore skin you would be saved. Sad.

Faith is to believe in the ability of God to give you anything you want without doubting. That is Biblical. The early church preaching, days, weeks or months after the Lord Jesus Christ defeated death and ascended, was that as in 1 Cor :2:5: ‘That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.’ Paul went on to say in 1 Cor :13:13: ‘And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.’

A line after that, he explains that faith should be based on the resurrection of the Lord, because if Christ never rose, then everybody is wasting time. Historically and otherwise, the overwhelming evidence of the resurrection and ascension is every where. Many people would fancy it being easier to believe in those days.

After going through scriptures earnestly several times, I found two options to deal with matters of time. Either I took and placed myself in the shoes of people of ancient times and then ask myself what would make me different from them. Most of these guys went about their sinful lives as if there was no tomorrow. Somebody pops up and tell you someone was born and then died and then rose.

Or I would take the times and bring them forward to the time I started to be a man, say of 18, and I knew all the details of what Simon Peter and Paul of Tarsus were preaching. With all archaeological and historical evidence we see on the History, National Geographical and BBC Channels and the like, it would be folly to ignore them.

Now with all we have, we have to believe these things happened and that, as says in Gal:3:25: ‘But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. v26: For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.’ The faith in Jesus is something one has to confess by their own mouth and truly believing that whatever they confess is honestly true, that Jesus is Christ and Lord. This, Paul and others mention at all times.

You can do that right here, right now. God loves you.

When bad is good.

I had the privilage of not having internet, cellphone coverage, TV or newspaper somewhere between the 2 years, ie the end of the last and the beginning of the new. I thank God for that, as I had the rare chance in this busy and hectic world to strongly reflect on his Word, the Holy Bible.

I made all the effort not to feel pushed into it, but consumed the words thereof as it were research, like just for fun. Having read the Holy Bible so many times before, and having been taught so much from Sunday School days, it amazed me how much stuff one missed. Even passages I thought I recently read, were like new. I picked up a different pespective with each reading. I suggest you do the same.

I realised that either by the paraphrasing of my previous teachers and preachers, not so many stories in the Holy Bible are really as I thought. It may be that I overgrew the readings that I got then. I really enjoyed it in a way that many think the Holy Bible can not be so enjoyed. If you could, read all the Bible in its chronological order and get amazed.

The first 5 Books of the Bible are an amazing account of the true existance of God. From my youthful life experience, the common man has an issue with God's existance to start with. If I were you, I would forget that and find something else to dispute. The account of Genesis to Deutoronomy has life true stories and places that I have been privilaged to be close to, by virtue of my work.

First and foremost, God is real and it is one arguement one should cease wasting their breath on. The debate can dwell on the numbers, places and names or spelling in the Bible, period. The accounts therein, not to make you feel pressured, should be first read as an account of events gone by. God will provide the intended divine intervention, if it be necessary.

I read with a lot of interest all the way, and came to a valuable point of seeing the power of God in the lives of people He loves. You may not get the same result, but if you can, read the Bible and we will discuss what you think and feel about its contents and stories. As it is, I do not even know whether to start discussing its issues from the beginning or from the end, surely, we will begin.

For now, chill, relax and be blessed. God loves you.