₦airaland Forum

NNTR:
This plant botanically known as Heliotropium indicum, is called scorpion tail in English and called agogo igun or igbe orí àkùkọ in Yoruba, research has shown that the plant has a significant anti-cancer effect on prostate cancer.

If anyone is suffering from prostate issue, a little quantity of the juice extracted from it twice a day and that's it, symptoms disappears

cc: VBCampaign

_{Personal text: Jesus is not a theologian. He is God who told stories.}

Thank you

UnconventionalT:
Copied

"I am a Nigerian student living in Scotland, A Nigerian Christian guy got in touch with me via WhatsApp and asked for a relationship, saying he got my number off a church whatsapp group that I haven't been to for almost a year now. He said he's prayed about me and God has told him we are good to go. He is a student too.
I was single at the time and haven't been with a Christian brother before, so I decided to give it a chance. It's roughly 2 months and I am at the point where I want to quit.

We got talking on the platform and also through calls, about a week into our relationship/talking stage he asked me to come to his place and cook for him so he can have enough food for the coming week. I was surprised because we hadn't even seen each other at that at time. I told him I cannot, he made a big deal out of it and said stuff like it's not a big deal for me to do that as his wife to be. We got over that and arranged to see for the first time, he suggested my house and I said I don't feel comfortable with either of us seeing for the first time in our houses and we finally concluded on a Bugger King outlet which isn't far from my house. This didn't go well with him tho.

We met for the first time and talked, after that he said he wanted to know my place as it isn't far from Burger King. He came to my place and stayed in my bed till around past 10pm, he tried touching and kissing, I told him I wasn't comfortable and he needed to leave because of time. He got annoyed said his intentions was to stay over at my place, he already told his housemate he isn't coming back home and it's so late now to go back. I told him I cannot allow him sleep at my house for the first time we're meeting, I have a small single bed and you intentionally didn't even say you'd sleep over before. He grudgingly left and dropped 3 packs of youghurt and a bag of unfried chips which I later discovered where all expired at the time he dropped them.

I told him about it and he made a mess out of the situation. He attends a pentecostal church and critisizes other churches, he doesn't really believe in adult taking responsibility for their actions as the devil is most likely responsible for everything, we simply have to pray against the devil.
He's asked for sex multiple times in less than 1 month, I stopped talking to him one time for about 2 weeks and we picked up again. He said he doesn't have to penetrate, we can do every other things to satisfy our flesh. He said doing all that with him is the proof of my love for him which I have strongly disagreed. Sex isn't a prove of love, we are adults and can have protected sex with anyone without loving them.
The only single thing I enjoy about him is that we communicate well, he talks a lot too and that makes our communication half argument, he finds fault in any little thing and blows it out of proportion. I have told him I don't have strength for argument in marriage since we won't be arguing over minute things that get him pissed off now.

Both of us have been getting multiple 12 hours night shifts from work and two nights ago, he asked me what he was going to eat when he gets home the following morning, I knew he was up to something. I told him I can't say, we don't live together and I don't know what you currently have at home. I suggested he buys bread on his way back home. He then asked me to cook for him to eat the following morning, I sincerely let him know I have no soup or stew myself. His response changed and he later called me on same subject, citing how I don't care enough about him to be concerned about how he is gonna eat since he's been working few nights now, he compared himself to a married man that always brings food to work at his workplace. Even gave the guy his phone to talk to me, that one too said I should do things in my power to make my man happy.

I tried to make him understand he isn't married and it might be difficult to enjoy what his married frnd is enjoying. Youve never bought me foodstuff, you haven't worked before and sent me 50 pounds or less for groceries, we are both working night shifts and I sort my own food, why are you angry I can't make out time out of my rest period to come cook at your house to stuck your fridge?

I have been in relationship where I cooked, I personally enjoy cooking, but I have never been with a man that feels to entitled to me doing that for him. He says I'm supposed to be the one cooking for him. He also believes in women abroad sharing bills, but he is too traditional to share house chores"

Run

Run away from him

izonborn098:
Increasing school fees everyday but graduates can't find worker...
My ex babe who is a graduate has abandon her certificate and want to die with hookup..

Why I Support Fees Hike in Nigerian Universities

By: Deji Yesufu

Providence Reformed Baptist Church, the local church I pastor, meets at the University of Ibadan. So, quite naturally I hear a little about happenings within the university community. The latest challenge concerns hike in school fees for students – both graduate and postgraduate studies. It all started with rumours that the University authorities planned to increase fees by almost 300%. Eventually there was indeed an increase but it was not as much as students had expected. In other universities around the country, however, this was not the case: there were large increases in fees and the students are at the moment protesting the astronomical rise. In this essay, I want to explain to students and parents alike the reason why fees in Nigerian universities will be increased ultimately if the country will need to sustain the whole idea of public tertiary education.

Education is not free anywhere in the world. The biggest challenge of the average Nigerian mind is our tendency to take things for granted. It is the reason the removal of fuel subsidy had such a shock on the nation’s economy. For a long time the price of fuel had been cushioned by the government, and the masses never felt its true weight. The moment it was removed, the hues and cries began. We forget also that public tertiary education is fully subsidised by the Nigerian government. Government pay lecturers and all staff of universities, including staff working in universities primary and secondary schools, and other university subsidiaries. Government also give them funds to run the schools. Most monies made by the universities from fees and other internally generated revenues cannot pay staff salaries. If you must have an idea of how much it will cost to run a university, ask your colleagues in private universities how much they pay. Education is not free anywhere on the face of the planet. If you must get good education, you will need to pay good money for it. This leads me to my next point.

Cheap education produces poorly trained professionals. An employer of labour in a Nigerian bank shared on Facebook some of the challenges they are having with graduates these days. The almost universal verdict is that Nigerian graduates are unemployable. He then adds that the ones that fair a bit better than the rest are those that finish from private universities. He said public university graduates are simply not what you want in your workplace. What has produced this is the cheap education that our students get from public schools. How? Simple. The best lecturers are employed by the government, yet why do they tend to produce the worst graduates? The reason is because there is no parent who will pay two million naira a year for the education of their child or ward, and then sit back and not ensure that those young people get worth for what is paid. In some of these private universities, students walk into the VCs office and report lecturers failing at their duties. What lecturer dare not come to class to teach there? And when students fail en-mass, the lecturer is called to question. Who questions public university teachers? They do and undo, then they produce unemployable graduates. Where you have cheap education, you get almost no education.

Students loan is a viable option. The Bola Tinubu government introduced the students loan facility because government knows that continual subsidy on education is not practical. In the near future, government will withdraw funding of public schools and these schools will then have to become self sustaining. The first step towards achieving this is students loans. Students will henceforth have an idea of how much it will cost them to go through school, they will obtain a loan from government (hopefully interest free), and pay the loan back so that others could use the facility in future. This way, all the funding government is putting in public schools, and that seem to be going down the drain, will be forced to circulate within the system, and be available for future generations. The only thing that threaten the loan option is the usual Nigerian administrative incompetence and corruption. But incompetence and corruption have thrived this long in this country because government has been funding it. The moment free funds are removed, every one will sit up, and the nation’s resources will be more productive.

Socialism is not sustainable. Let me apologise to this generation of students, especially when you consider that when we were in school in the 1990s, tuition was almost free. My fees all through university would not have exceeded N20,000 in total. The reality, however, is that free tuition is not sustainable. The lie that my generation and the one before me believed was a socialist worldview. The idea that the collective resources of a land should be shared to the people equally. While this is true in a sense, it is not practical in the long run. Ultimately we will have to understand that some people have been given more and others less. Everyone has a right to work and enjoy the fruit of his labour. The person who does not work, should not eat. So, the idea of a collective living off the resources of a land, will eventually give place to every man receiving his due. You may call it capitalism, but we must accept that it is the reality of our days. This will not stop charity or the support of the weak and poor, but it will end this entitlement mentality that pervade the Nigerian space. No one owes you anything – as long as they are not your parent.

Finally, understand that you are a generation reaping the results of bad leadership, so change the narrative. Children will reap the fruit of the ways of their fathers. The America and England our people are running to were built by a previous generation. The Nigeria we are running from, was ruined by a generation. A generation beat the drumbeat of war, another generation fight it. Our fathers ate sour grapes, the children’s teeth are set on edge. The good news is that adversity is good. Necessity is the mother of invention. When the fathers eat up the children’s inheritance, the children create wealth out of nothing. You are the generation that has seen a failing Nigerian state, so change the narrative. Do things differently to get a different result. Thankfully no matter how many people flee the country, there will still remain a remnant. And it takes only a few to save a failing system.

Conclusion. Many people envy the economy of Lagos, and there’s a continual exodus of people from everywhere in the country to that city. We forget that Lagos is what she is because of a thriving private sector there. The Lagos State government provide its people with functional infrastructures and the people get to work. Where there are no infrastructures, the people improvise. But no one is waiting on government in Lagos; everyone is moving. As long as government funds public universities, government will continue to fund people’s incompetence and entrenched corruption in these places. Ultimately, most government institutions in this country would have to be handed to the private sector if they will ever function properly. It has started with our universities.

Source: https://textandpublishing.com/why-i-support-fees-hike-in-nigerian-universities/

Jobs Are Not Scarce

By: Deji Yesufu

The unemployment situation in Nigeria is at an epidemic point and any government worth its salt ought to have declared a state of emergency on the crisis that has enveloped the Nigerian labour market. Now, since Nigeria has hardly ever had competent leaders, it will be a waste of time for anyone to be waiting for government to solve the employment challenge that has enveloped the country. I have also long argued that the solution to the Nigerian problem will come from individual Nigerians, thinking through the country’s malaise, and using it as an opportunity to birth workable systems from which they will profit, and the country will benefit. This essay is one of such endeavours: I will be arguing in this piece that jobs are not scarce in Nigeria, and I hope to equip my readers with the kind of mentality that will forever place them in high demand even within a country’s economy that is near comatose.

One of the best things that happened to me after concluding National Youth Service in 2003 was going to Lagos and spending almost a year attending the Latter Rain Assembly, pastored by Tunde Bakare (the church was still at their former site in Acme, Ikeja). Bakare will say “…jobs are not scarce, only faithful men are few…” I sincerely did not understand what he was saying then because it surely did not align with my reality. I was jobless and save for the monthly allowance my late mother sent me, I was next to destitute. But I felt that there was some wisdom in that phrase, and I decided to build my work-life around it. It is simple: whatever I find myself doing, I must do it so well – such that I cannot escape the sight of those seeking employees for their jobs. One day, perhaps when I eventually write my memoirs, I will enumerate how the philosophy behind this phrase has practically promoted me in life and helped me secure all the jobs and remunerations that I earn today.

The first thing that the phrase “…jobs are not scarce…” teach is that we must realize that life is some kind of paradox. Where there is death, you find life; the one that preserves his life, loses it ultimately; the rich also cry; in the midst of lack is plenty; within crisis, you find the most opportunities; etc. What this phrase tells us is that fundamental to a successful life are well-laid-out principles in the hearts of men. It means that men of principles are likely to trump life situations almost all the time. Many years ago, Sola Aladejebi, a leadership expert, told me that he would rather make a certain decision now that he had little means and stick by it than wait till he had lots of money to make those kinds of decisions. He said if this is not so, his decision would easily be linked to his economic situation. What Sola was trying to tell me is that life principles are more important than immediate economic challenges. Too many people make decisions based on their economic or immediate needs; our decisions should be anchored on proven principles. It means then that we must be discerning of the times. While others may say that things are difficult, we should realize that it is within the most difficult times that the greatest opportunities arise. Indeed, jobs may seem to be scarce; but in reality they are not.

Second, “…jobs are not scarce, only faithful men are few…” is a direct deduction from the biblical admonition that say “…he that is faithful with a little, will be faithful with much…” There are three things that an employer of labour is looking for the most in his employees: trust, diligence, and faithfulness. I have refused to put “competence” in this list because I am convinced that an employee who knows practically nothing about a job but who is trustworthy, diligent at work and ready to learn on the job, will soon add competence to the three. Then when faithfulness comes along these, you have an individual that an employer cannot afford to lose. Maple Dappa of mapemond.com will say that character is better in an employee than skill. He says that skills can be learnt but character cannot. Those who come into the labour market with character are likely to become very well sought after with time.

These two points will lead me to something I gleaned while reading Chinua Achebe’s book “There Was a Country”. Achebe explained that when he came into the Nigerian civil service in the 1950s, the white men were preparing to hand over to Nigerians as the country’s independence approached. He said at that time, things were working everywhere in Nigeria. It appears that the British saw the amiable climate in Nigeria as an advantage and were seeking to make the country a little London. He explained that less than a decade from the time the British left, Nigerians simply feasted on what the white men left behind – leaving for their children a country that is not functional. Now, while we could easily belabour this point, I saw something else there. The white man is still interested in Nigeria and will give anything to live here if we could only provide some basics of life: security and a few functional infrastructures. And even beyond that, many Europeans and Americans with means are looking for Nigerians to whom they can entrust resources into their hands to build systems that will work in Nigeria, and will provide jobs for people of this country.

This leads me to a word I learned from a Bayo Adeyinka seminar: “glocalization”. Glocalization is a hybrid of a word that combines globalization with localization. The idea is simple: the Western world is saturated and there are little or no ideas to break into their market over there. If anyone is seeking to make it big today, it is in investing in developing nations that have large populations and endless resources that the people are not tapping into. The white man who left Nigeria in the 1950s wants to return, but this time around they need middlemen in Nigeria who can help build their businesses and help it flourish. It is also to the advantage of the white man that Africa does well so that these endless streams of migrants that enter Europe and America will diminish. This is where the jobs are: with basic education, and with the character of trust, faithfulness and diligence, a graduate can easily enter work with these people and reap a fortune in the process. The experience gleaned from working with these people can even be used to set up your own business so that it becomes a win-win situation for the two parties.

It can be argued that one of the best things that has happened to the Nigerian economy is the failure of government establishments. There is nowhere in the world where a nation succeeds on the strength of governmental institutions. The best government can do is to provide basic amenities like roads, electricity, security, health, and education; the people will have to provide the rest for themselves. And no one can accuse the Nigerian government of not doing these things. In the 1970s, with the situation that led to the oil boom in Nigeria, the West had to buy oil from us, after Saudi Arabia had refused to sell oil to them, following a crisis with Israel. Nigeria suddenly entered opulence. Possessing more cash than it needed, the country embarked on massive infrastructural development – with the building of roads and the birthing of various government agencies. Eventually, the West settled its issues with Saudi Arabia, and Nigeria returned to the status quo.

By this time, our people had become used to plenty and had no idea how to manage resources. It is this situation that brought massive corruption into government life, a situation we have not been able to rid ourselves of to date. Now, our young people have finished school and there are no jobs for them. There are no jobs because there is no production. And when you don’t produce, you cannot sell and earn enough to employ people to produce more. And because there are no jobs, everyone is digging into themselves to produce something. Our young people are entering the field of information technology; there is a boom in the Nigerian entertainment industry – with Nigerian-made movies and music becoming well sought after; and private businesses are thriving (those of us in the blogging business are doing this because we seek alternative sources of income). I envision that this generation of young people will build a nation that is no longer dependent on government establishments and largesse; our young people will build private conglomerates that will rival what is happening in the West. This is where the hope is.

On a final note, let me appeal to our youths who are either entering the university or are within the four walls of a tertiary institution: the worst mentality you can possess while in school is doing a course so that you can secure a job when you finish school. The plain truth is that there are no such jobs in Nigeria. However, there is an abundance of opportunities that can rile up jobs for you. While in school, you will want to do a course that will allow you to learn a skill; build a network of friends that will help your professional life in the future; stop watching those movies and spending endless hours on social media; join organizations in school that will hone your skill and beef up your resume; by all means stop spending endless hours in church fellowships – you were sent to school to learn a trade, not religion. While in the university, volunteer your time and effort with worthwhile organizations. When you finish school and have nothing to do, these people will invite you to come and work for them either on a part-time basis or full-time – one good turn serving another. By all means, young people, be productive with your time. You will finish school and all kinds of opportunities will be waiting for you to latch on. While others complain that there are no jobs, you will be smiling and thankful that you took the counsel of this blogger.

Indeed, jobs are not scarce… only faithful men are few.

Source: https://textandpublishing.com/jobs-are-not-scarce/

Mynd44 consider for front page

Marvyx:
@VBcampaign the earth is actually a million years old or even older and even there're trickles of evidences in the Bible. There was a civilization on earth before Adam. Look into the Gap Theory . Shalom.

Ok

FRANCISTOWN:
The implications of the statement above are:

1. Traditional religion does really work for him( Which is a lie, a believe in one or more religions doesn't work for anybody)

2. You are Mr. Deji Yesufu
The writer never mentioned anything like "Mr. T hires people who mount the roof in his stead" ima fact, Mr. T was barely 2months into the business and he would rather mount roof tops instead of sitting by doing nothing.

See the words of the writer again.



Mr. Tee lives in a humble abode, he installs solar system because he would rather find himself doing something than sitting at home.

Don't speak on the writer's behalf. Though the writer wasn't explicit enough but comprehension skills should tell us who was mounting them roof tops.

Ok

Image123:
Lol, it's not a game of numbers. Otherwise, you can't compete in the sense. Nonetheless, few are the people that find the way to life, broad is the way of unbelievers. Y'all are grouped with your brothers in the original list.

Image123, you're still in this arena.

I used to be one of your transducers in the Tithe debate.

Good to read you though

FRANCISTOWN:
I just read the part 2.
Christianity didn't work for Mr. T, same as it hasn't worked for anyone except for those who were/are in delusions.

He is now a Traditionalist yet at 51 he still mounts roof tops to fix panels🤣🤣🤣

He'll soon try Islam and finally he'll discover the truth, only thah it'd be too late.

Dear atheist brothers, let's welcome a new member in advance 🤣🤣🤣

Thankfully he hires people to climb the roof for him

I Met a Traditionalist (Part 2): What I Said to Him

By: Deji Yesufu

The first part of this article narrated my encounter with the traditionalist. I explained what led him to renounce Christianity and I shared a few of the questions he asked me. In this piece, I want to narrate what I told this man and then I will venture to provide answers to his questions.

No one who hears this man’s story will blame him for the conclusion he reached as far as the Christian religion is concerned. God says “My name is blasphemed among the gentiles” because of the actions of his people (Romans 2:24). The 16th century Reformation was sparked over the contentious issue of money. The Pope was building St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and needed money badly. He then began to send out his emissaries all around Europe, promising that if people gave to the church, God would suddenly release the souls of their loved ones from purgatory into paradise. Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, challenged this thesis from scripture and the result was a reformation and the creation of the Protestant churches. When men face difficulties, they find a way to think through the philosophical bases on which their lives stand. Mr. T reached his conclusions based on the available data in his hands.

After hearing his story, I began to show Mr T that his situation was not unique. In fact, I am in ministry for this very reason. I then told him the story of the birth of Providence Reformed Baptist Church, Ibadan. Our church was founded on the principle that church can be done differently. In a recent dialogue with members of the church, I explained to them that while the church is a Reformed Baptist assembly, only the people who will enter the ministerial cadre will be required to subscribe to the confessions of the church: The London Confessions of 1689. Those who will become members will be required only two things: first that they are born-again individuals and second that they hold the Bible as the sole authority over their life and faith.

I then added that in my ministerial experience, money was the last thing needed in the church. I showed him that since Providence Church has been meeting in 2019, we have not collected a Tithe or an offering. Yet we have an bank account that has never turned red, we support church members financially and we have enough to pay for our meeting space. We have people who give but we do it biblically: with utmost secrecy, such that the right-hand does not know what the left is doing. The implication is that our finances are low, but it also means that we can trust God more and wait on God in faith to meet our needs – just like any other organization within the Nigerian system. When money issues have been removed from church leadership, the people you find left there will be genuine.

Afterwards, I endeavoured to provide Mr. T with answers to his questions. To be sincere, I cannot argue against the Old Earth theory. I’ll rather put this in God’s hands, with the belief that what I cannot explain today, we can know tomorrow, or in eternity. The biblical position is one of a young earth. From Adam to Moses is approximately 2,000 years old. Moses to Jesus is another 2,000 years. Jesus to us today is 2,000 years old. Making the age of the earth approximately 6,000 years. I cannot explain how artefacts are found to be tens of thousands of years old. I cannot explain the presence of dinosaurs. I have a dogmatic commitment to holding scripture as true and I am convinced that what cannot be explained today, will be sorted tomorrow.

As to the position that Christianity was a white man’s religion, I have sufficient data to dispute this. Probably the best course I read in seminary was Church History, which traced how Christianity came to us in Africa. The Christian Faith started in Jerusalem, following the death and resurrection of Christ. After Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in AD70, Christians dispersed all over the Roman world – with key Christian leaders, like Paul and Peter, going to live in Rome. But Christianity was mostly in the Eastern nations and in North Africa (Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia). The rise of Islam in the 8th century began to eat at the Christian presence in the East so most Christian thinkers began to emerge from Western Europe. It took military might for many countries in Europe to ward off the encroaching influence of Islam on European countries in the medieval period.

And with the fall of Constantinople in Turkey to Islam, the only other Christian power left was Rome. The Roman Catholic Church ruled most of Europe until the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. The protestants took their evangelism zeal from Britain and America first to the Indian nations in the early 19th century, before heading to Africa later that century. Thus, it is safe to say that two kinds of white men came to Africa: the colonisers and the evangelists. And because of so few human resources, these two groups often relied on each other for the success of their missions. The colonisers used the preachers to reach the natives. The preachers used the colonisers for protection. Regardless of motive, we received the gospel and today we rejoice. So, Christianity’s primary centers moved from the middle east to Europe and now to Africa.

What will make a grown man renounce Christianity and then lead his wife and children out of religion into traditional practice is not a small matter at all. I trust God that in my third instalment on this subject, I can lay out a philosophical defense for the truth of the gospel, while at the same time defending it against the fraud that much of religion has become in our day. My aim in the first part is to show our sins to the churches and to call those with ears to hear to repentance. This second part aims at answering Mr. T’s questions. The last instalment will be a worthy summary of it all.

I will also request that good-hearted Christians should pray for Mr. T and his family, that God will open them to the truth of the gospel.

Amen

Source: https://textandpublishing.com/i-met-a-traditionalist-part-2-what-i-said-to-him/

FRANCISTOWN:
I cannot lie. I enjoyed this 🥰🥰🥰

CC: Seun, Lalasticlala

Acehart:
“He explained that somehow their association with the new Pentecostal phenomenon had made them believe that the little challenges they were facing in life could be traced to their father.”

This is one of the scariest experiences of the Nigerian form of Christianity- the destruction of homes and villages. Some homes will never be whole.

Very true

Image123:
LoLz, the joke though pathetic is on anyone who chooses dead gods and ablutions to Jesus Christ. Thankfully, he didn't leave church or disbelieve God because of God or the Bible. He left because of his irresponsible colleagues.

He still believe in God

IconicR:
I didn't read , it's too long.

Ok

I Met a Traditionalist: What He Told Me

By: Deji Yesufu

Those who follow my writing on social media will remember that in the past few weeks, I have been complaining about this matter of power supply in the area where I live. Well, I finally found a way around it. Someone suggested a very affordable solar system for me, where I could even pay in instalments to defray the cost of the whole installation. The man who came to install the system in my house just yesterday was a traditionalist and I want to use the first of a three-part essay to tell you what transpired between him and me. I met a traditionalist, and this is what he said to me.

While installing the system in my house, Mr T (I will recognize him anonymously) asked if I was a pastor. I told him I was; how did he know? He said he just knew – that my mien showed it. He then said that he was not a Christian; he was a traditionalist. He used the time to install the system to tell me his story. Mr Tee is a 51-year-old man who lives in a humble abode here in Ibadan. He has been installing the solar system for two months now because he would rather find himself doing something than sitting at home. He is a graduate of Engineering and has lived in the city of Portharcourt for many years working for an oil company. It was his experience living in Portharcourt that led him away from Christianity. I told him that I had only recently visited Portharcourt and when I mentioned the place I lived in, Rumoadara, he said he knew the place well – even mentioning neighbourhoods that were close to that place.

Life in Portharcourt was good until he joined a Pentecostal church there. We’ll call this church PFFG. While in PFFG, Mr T became an ordained pastor and rose through the ranks to become a senior Pastor. He was a pastor in this church for 18 years. He told me that he spent practically everything he earned in his days working in Portharcourt building the PFFG – that he single-handedly built two churches for them. He looks back now and is thankful that he had the sense of judgment to have bought a house for himself while there. And that even this happened by chance. He had gone for an overseas training that was to last for six months and he suddenly discovered that if he could take advantage of a facility a church was offering in that country, he would be able to save money and bring home for a large project. He said that his senses began to open after he travelled out. That church offered a living facility for people with low income. So, rather than spend money on rent and feeding, he saved all that money and returned to Nigeria to buy a house – the only property he took out of his labours working in Portharcourt.

Mr T, the traditionalist, explained that after he returned from his training overseas, two incidents occurred that jolted his faith. The first one concerns a young lady in the church who found herself in a financial mess. This lady had procured a generator set for the church – although she took money off her company’s finances to pay for the facility. She planned to pay the money back bit by bit. Unfortunately for her, there was a sudden arrival of an auditor, who demanded to see the books of the company. At this point, the lady had paid back most of the money but there was remaining a N600,000 to balance the books. The auditors asked for the money, and she told them she would get it for them in a day. She rushed to the church and explained to her leaders her peculiar situation, and requested to be loaned the money so she could pay her company back and not lose her job. Her leaders refused. When Mr Tee learnt of the situation, he gathered a few friends, and they gave the lady the money. The lady never got over that incident. She left the church, although she remains a friend of Mr T to date.

The second incident had to do with a mission outreach Mr T and a few friends were involved in. This initiative was something outside the purview of PFFG and it required that they travel to a village in the deepest interior of Niger State. He explained that the village was so backward, some of the people wore no clothing. After the outreach, a medical doctor and his family volunteered to remain in that village to cater to the health challenges of the people, and at the same time share the gospel with them. Mr T returned to Portharcourt and reported this initiative to his leaders at PFFG, Portharcourt. He also told them that to put things in motion at that mission, they needed six million naira to sort out that missionary and other things. He said his leaders showed no enthusiasm for the project. He then went to different branches of the church explaining this need to them. No one responded. Everyone said they had one church project or the other they were pursuing and could not add this to their financial burden. Then this happened.

Mr Tee was discussing this challenge at the office and one of his bosses heard about it. Now this man was not a Christian. He had some deep moral flaws that I dare not even mention here as this essay could reach his table. It was this man who kicked started the mission work by donating a sum of three million naira. Mr Tee said he also put a million naira into the project, while others in the mission group raised the remaining and the work in that interior village in Niger State was kickstarted. Mr T explained that many such experiences led him to the conclusion that churches were only stealing from their members. It was about this time he began to examine the religion of his father.

Mr T’s father was a traditionalist. But he had practiced this faith along with his attendance at the local Anglican Church. His four children, of which T was the last born, were raised in a Christian environment. T explained that as they grew older, three of the four of them became ostracized from their dad. He explained that somehow their association with the new Pentecostal phenomenon had made them believe that the little challenges they were facing in life could be traced to their father. He said that it was only one of them that stood with that man till his death and that that is the only one of the siblings that is doing well now. The rest of them have either lost their jobs or facing one life issue or the other. He said he is thankful that ten years to the end of his father’s life, he realized his mistake and retraced his steps. That it was during that period, he learnt the traditional religion that his dad practiced. Then he confronted my Christian faith – because I told him his experience with PFFG should not be enough for him to renounce Christianity. He then asked me a few questions.

He asked how old the earth was. I explained that I was a young earth believer and that the earth could not be more than 6,000 years old. He said I was wrong because even in Yoruba land there are artefacts that are up to 30,000 years old. He explained that Christianity was a white man’s religion imposed upon us by those who came to colonize us, etc. In the second part of this essay, I will tell you how I responded to Mr T’s enquiry. But for now, I think it is safe to examine the merits of this man’s story.

I have long argued that the Pentecostal religion was producing a mass of atheists among Nigerians. My thinking then was that these people abounded among the youths who had been in these churches and had turned their backs on them. I am now realizing that even older people have their experiences too. People invest their livelihoods in churches and when they lose their jobs or retire, these churches turn their backs on them. The story is everywhere. My response to Mr T was that church could be done differently. I hope those who are in the leadership of these churches read this essay and learn something from it. I also hope that all these young people investing their lives in churches will take a cue from this. When you are old and should be earning a pension, these churches will not be there to help you. I will stop here for now. Watch out for the second part.

Source: https://textandpublishing.com/i-met-a-traditionalist-what-he-told-me/

Gbadebo19:
You actually expected us to read all of that

Yes

The Heart of the Christian Faith

by: Deji Yesufu

Many years ago, I visited the Mass Communication Department of my alma mater, Ahmadu Bello University, and someone shared a basic idea behind newspaper publications. It is this: grab the attention of your readers. Publishers do this through headlines, pictures and most importantly, writing your report so that the first paragraph grabs the attention of your readers. This is why a good blog either begins with a captivating headline or an interesting thought. This is why, although I will be writing about an essential gospel theme, I want to introduce it with a rather gripping story. Some people might be uncomfortable with this narration; I’ll however request you bear with me as it is very important I state it this way so as to prosecute my theme well.

Skit-making is the newest venture Nigerians have entered into now. While most of these skits are not helpful, I found one that is a little different. This gentleman is called upon to solve a problem. He comes in with a camera and mic, and after a little discussion, he resolves deep-rooted family issues. Thankfully most of the problems are sorted. This particular one, though, was not resolved. A 33-year-old lady had invited this man to resolve a problem in her home. This woman is in an incestuous relationship with her father. She’s his only child.

They have been sleeping together since she was 14, a few years after her mother died. Now, the man wants to get married to another woman, so he can have a child to keep his name. The lady will have none of it. As far as she is concerned, her father is both her lover and husband and cannot marry someone else. Incidentally, I am presently reading Leviticus in my personal Bible reading and the words that God gave Israel not to behave like the nations – with their despicable sexual perversions come to mind (Leviticus 18). Perhaps I should worsen the narrative by saying that the father, in this story, is a committed Deacon of a church. As I said, this particular problem remained unresolved by the time the skit ended.

This story and others like it, remind the Christian minister of the awesome responsibility of gospel preaching. When we speak about the problem with Nigeria, we forget quickly that at its root is a moral bankruptcy that cannot be compared even with the Leftist madness of the West. Ours is a situation where religious profession combines with the most obscene sinful practices. It is the reason why, while many people in the West can be open and honest about who they are, we dare not. The depth of the sins we practice here is unimaginable. And the story is the same for those within the church as well as those outside of it. How can this matter be resolved? Gospel preaching.

This Sunday, 16th July, 2023, at Providence Reformed Baptist Church, Ibadan, we will be doing a review of all that we have been teaching since December last year.

In the final weeks of December 2022, I started a series of topics on the foundations of the Christian faith. Using the book that comes by the same name and written by Roger Weil, I have been trying to help my listeners appreciate the heart of the Christian Faith. We began by examining Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus in John 3, where I taught on the topic “YOU MUST BE BORN-AGAIN” for five weeks. I had those sermons recorded but lost them when I purchased a new phone. This is why all my sermons are now stored on Audiomack.

So that after examining the foundation of the Christian Faith for seven months, I have come to the healthy conclusion that there are essentially two things that must happen to an individual if they will be useful Christians on earth and redeemed souls in heaven. These two are: 1. God must save a sinner by his sovereign grace. 2. That the Bible must govern the life of the redeemed. Every other thing we do in church; any other battle we fight as Christians; any association we enter as saints; etc, must have these two themes at its heart.

The doctrine of God saving sinners sovereignly makes our church distinctively reformed. It is the only way to explain the words of Jesus to Nicodemus: “…Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” (John 3:5-7).

Our Lord is saying that there is no religion, except God himself takes the initiative of starting it. The man who is born of the Spirit comes to spiritual life via the supernatural and sovereign work of God. It must all start with God. This is the reason why any genuine work of God must be premised on what God is doing and not the works of men, which undoubtedly will be an operation in the flesh. I’m always glad that God gave our local church the name “PROVIDENCE”. Nothing describes the sovereign works of God better.

After the man is born from above, the rule of that man’s life must now become scripture – the Bible. Now, this is where all the problems begin because men will forever bring different interpretations to biblical texts – leading inevitably to different denominations. I think that denominational positions are not necessarily harmful, as long as the denomination remains biblical. The problem arises when a denomination claims to be obeying the Bible but in actual fact not doing so. Men of good conscience must rise up at that time and oppose such actions.

It is the reason why reformed people hold the position that reformation never ceases. We continue to hold all our actions and beliefs in the light of scripture. No man is Lord of Christ’s church. Jesus rules the church by his word. And these words of God in the Bible rule both the church and the people in the church. The whole process of bringing men to faith in Christ, and teaching them God’s word to grow spiritually, is what Christian living is all about. Conversion and a commitment to a sufficient scripture are the heart of the Christian Faith.

I do sincerely hope that we use the story of the incestuous relationship I narrated above to understand the gospel need of our day. While Nigeria faces economic challenges, there is a deeper need that we have. It is moral bankruptcy that has enveloped our youths, families, and institutions. Genuine gospel preaching will birth repentance in the heart of the sinner and cause conversion to occur. After which one hopes that the church such people join turns out to be gospel churches at heart.

Providence Reformed Baptist Church, Ibadan, is labouring to be that kind of church and we will love to have you in our membership.

Source: https://textandpublishing.com/the-heart-of-the-christian-faith/

This thread...

https://www.nairaland.com/7700304/not-feel-loved-wife-enough

I have decided to share this story both in response to the thread above (where a wife is denying her husband sex) and to educate both husband and wife on the health implications of sex in marriage. I will use my story as an example. I hope the moderators of Nairaland.com will put the thread front page for people to learn from.

A few months ago, I suddenly found a growth at the edge of my anus. When I visited the doctor, I was made to understand I had pile. That modifying my diet and exercise can fix it (I also employed some local remedies). I did this and in two weeks, the pile was gone. But the doctor did something else: she felt that at my age she may need to physically check my prostrate. When she did, she thought they were enlarged. She then referred me to the Urologist and also to do a pelvic scan.

The result from the scan showed that my prostrate was OK. My PSA was also OK. But I still needed to see the Urologist. The implication of an enlarged prostrate is that it could either be benign or cancerous. The Urologist saw me and said his examination showed I was OK. I was however to see him again in a year. But he said something to me that warranted this thread.

He said that his summation on modern marriages is that many women are killing their husbands slowly. He said that while this happened in the days of our fathers, they easily solved it by marrying multiple women. Today, however, religion is constraining a lot of men and limiting them to one wife. The implication is this: a high libido man lives with a low libido woman. When men have sex, the Urologist said, their PSA reduce considerably. When they don't, it builds up and can result in an enlarged prostrate and then cancer. That if women will keep their men alive, they must have sex with them atleast twice a week. Anything short of this is sure death.

He gave me examples. A young man of 37 reports in with high PSA. He calls the wife and recommends the sex therapy. His PSA drops drastically in 3 months. Another case: a man of 70+ complains of being denied sex by the wife. The man develops enlarged prostrate and is dead between 5 years of making the initial complaint. Etc.

The natural solution many proffer is promiscuity. That's not I am suggesting. I am simply telling the wife: if you have the means to care for your children when your husband dies, deny him sex. If not, do the needful.

End of discussion.

Carry-Overs: Dealing with a Student’s Nightmare

By: Deji Yesufu

I saw an article on social media a few days ago. A young man in one of Nigeria’s universities is in depression. He is weighed down by multiple carry-overs and is at a loss as to how to handle the situation. The incident was being reported by his elder brother, who was calling on the public to save his brother. There is no one in a Nigerian university system who doesn’t know what a carry-over is and the psychological way it drains a normal human being. But if you happen not to have schooled in Nigeria, this is what the carry-over is all about. A normal degree in a Nigerian university will require between 4 and 5 years to complete. Each year has two semesters. And in each semester, you will be required to do an average of 10 courses. In the lower levels, you do more courses and at the higher classes, the courses reduce so you can face your project and conclude them.

The carry-over is actually a fail on a compulsory or elective course, which you are required to pass before graduating. The trouble is not in the failing, especially when you consider that anyone can fail. The trouble is that the more carry-overs you have, the more courses you are left to do in school. And in some cases, there are prerequisites. To do certain courses in 200 level, for example, you have to pass some courses in 100 level. A student may even end up being forced to repeat a class because he failed so many core courses, he finds himself unable to sit in the same class with his mates in subsequent years. It is one reason why carry-overs lead many students to sometimes commit suicide. Few things are more depressing than a carry-over in school. In this essay, I want to suggest some practical ways to dealing with this grave evil. I will be writing from experience, having battled carry-overs myself in my student days.

The first step at avoiding failure and being ladenned with some debilitating carry-overs is to enter the university with a business mind-set. Too many times young people enter school with a carefree attitude, basking in the euphoria of being on campus; enjoying newfound freedoms and forgetting too quickly what they came to the university to do. Before you know it, the course work days are over; exams are at your feet; and students are at a loss as to how to respond to the situation. University life is a microcosm of what life will be for an individual after school. If you are unable to deal with school issues, you will leave school and life will remain a mystery to you. University is serious business.

A wise student hits the ground running. You must attend all your classes. Ensure your notes are up to date. And you must read EVERYDAY: I cannot emphasise this enough. What will save you from reading a mass of texts as exam draws near is having grasped a working knowledge of what your course is all about long before your exams begin. When exam arrive, all that will be left will be to study past questions, discuss with your mates and stroll into the exam hall and nail the course. I remembered that in my first year in school, all the guys that had either attended polytechnics or remedial schools had a better grasp of handling school than those of us coming straight from secondary school.

Now, if you are in school already and you are weighed down by carry-overs, do not worry – there is nothing that cannot be solved. There are options: you could either shelve all your new courses and face the carry-overs square, or you can leave that course of study and do something else. You may require to see a school counsellor, talk honestly with your parent or somebody who knows these things well. There is no point sometimes flogging a dead horse. Carry-overs may be a pointer to the fact that you were not designed to do the course. These days young people enter school very early. If you drop out and start a course afresh at 22, by 26/27 you can be a degree holder. Many people have started afresh and gone on to do very well in life.

At this juncture, I want to enumerate a few things that will help you to fail in school. If you love failure, by all means when you enter school, find one or all of these things and indulge in them.

Young person, if you want carry-overs plenty, by all means when you get to the campus, find a young man or woman (as the case might be) and begin a love affair. This is what such relationships do to your thinking: they occupy your mind and the time you should be thinking through a course of study, you will be worrying over a guy or a girl. You will fail. Some will argue they did it and passed. You were lucky and would have done better if you had a clearer mind. Shelve relationships till later. Or, do not seek a man or woman in school. If you are destined to find a partner in school, it will come naturally and it will add to you; not subtract. When you do well in school, you will get a good job and then can have whatever relationship you want.

Beware of revelling, carousing and binge partying. It will destroy your stay in school. Separate from friends who do it and find those who will help you study. Revelling are activities that will kill your time and leave you drained, unable to study. The flip side of drunkenness is indulging in campus fellowship. Some even become pastors while in school – you will have carry-over plenty. For a Christian student, the two times you should gather with others is on Sunday and at a mid-week fellowship. Each of these activities should also be heavily timed. Any gathering that will exceed 2 hours is not good for your studies. Avoid tasks in fellowship that will impede on your studies. Leave pastoral duties to ordained pastors who have finished school. This nonsense of students gathering and praying for hours by the school Chapel is a sure way to carry-overs. Pray in your room and then head to class!

I believe this last point need no mention but for those who may need to hear it, I will touch on it: avoid cult membership on campus – it will not only save you from failure, it could save your very life. Young men could grow to be tremendously strong and handsome, and one of the ways some seek to vent off some energy is to join these cult gangs. To control the young man’s energy and ego, people invented something called sports. Sports range from the ones that are extremely energetic like football and basketball to the ones that are purely intellectual like chess and scrabble. Find one of these sports and burn your energies there. Avoid cult membership like a plague. If you are in one, you may need to leave school, report yourself to your parent and have them change your school entirely. If they have the resources, you can leave the country and school abroad – it is that serious.

The carry-over is not the end of the world. I had them plenty and I overcame all of them. In my first year, I failed Maths 107 – Calculus. It was a prerequisite to all my maths courses in subsequent years for four years in a row. That course was what led me to stop over reading. It was the only exam I did on campus where I read overnight and went to the exam hall without sleeping – and still failed. The following year, I attacked the course with a vengeance and scored an A. I never failed any maths course again and never read into an exam hall again. I stop reading the previous night and go to the exam hall trusting God and never my reading. This may not work for you but after a while of trying, you come to know what works best for you – them keep doing it.

One day, while we were in four hundred level, our class representative told us that most people failed a course and that the lecturer was offering the whole class to rewrite the paper. The brilliant students among us will have none of it. I wasn’t sure of what to do with the information. Then one of us stood and told the class: he said that we have all just returned from our 300 level industrial training. Our experience out in the real world was not based on how well we were doing in school but merely on God’s mercies. He appealed that we should all rewrite the course for the sake of those who failed. I’m not sure if his advise was taken. We didn’t rewrite the course. I escaped with an E. But I never forgot that incident. In real life, we are not distinguish by As or carry-overs, it is God’s mrecies that distinguishes us.

The student weighed down with carry-overs today can become a Soyinka, Dangote or Peter Obi tomorrow. Carry-overs are not the end of life; they are only a bitter taste of what life can be in Nigerian universities. Your battle and victory over carry-overs can become the impetus for your success in the real world. And you can surmount that carry-over.

(The attached picture is a lecture hall with my classmates and I at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, sometimes in 1999/2000. We might have been attending a Maths class)

Source: https://textandpublishing.com/carry-overs-dealing-with-a-students-nightmare/

OkCornel:
Same logic applies to Romantic/Erotic novels. It’ll sound divine to anyone in a bad marriage.

That being said, people have been mentally programmed to defend Songs of Solomon because it’s in the Bible. If it wasn’t no one will even consider it as anything remotely divine.

Still waiting for concrete explanation as to how these erotic words are profitable for

1) doctrine,
2) for reproof, for correction,
3) for instruction in righteousness.

Thanks sir 🙂

Those who have ears to hear, will hear. Those who don't will keep asking these kinds of questions. I've been here long enough to know those who are true seekers and those who are here to waste one's time.

OkCornel:
How can these verses be used for doctrine, reproof, correct and instruction in righteousness?
Songs of Solomon 4 v 3-5;
3 Your lips are like a scarlet thread, and your mouth is lovely.Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil.
4 Your neck is like the tower of David, built in rows of stone; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors.
5 Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, that graze among the lilies.

When you find yourself in a bad marriage, you'll appreciate that these words are indeed divine

CC: Seun, Mynd44, Lalasticlala

Kobojunkie:
My intention is not to hold brief for any person here.
The verses you quoted do not say that your Bible is the Word of God, as it instead points to Scripture being inspired(not necessarily of Truth) of God, and we know that even the words of Satan(the father of lies himself) are recorded in Scripture.

The words of Satan are in scripture is a pointer to the fact that we live in a world full of demons and Deception. But the Holy Bible are the very words of God bc the Bible, as a collective, do not present the words of Satan but the words of God, especially such as point us to salvation to come.

When Selman teaches that the Bible is not the word of God, and adds that Paul's words are not necessarily the words of God, Selman is contending against God himself who says Paul's words are Scripture: 2 Peter 3:15-16.

GodHimself:
It is a fact, that not everything in the Bible is the word of God.

Really?!

2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Discuss the above scripture in the light of your submission