freaked out:

1.what freaks me out: Preachers who claim to be men of God and are leading thousands astray with false teachings.

2. what annoys me: the fact that we christians do not read our bibles, cannot tell left from right and are so easily gullible. Its like we forget to bring our brains to church or something.

3.what scares me: how good this false teachers are. Extremely likeable, very eloquent and use scriptures to back up their heresies.

4.what i am trying to understand? how did it get to this? when did it get so bad? How did we become this gullible?

Letting OUT

Well...there's been a lot thats been going on recently...in my mind...in the world and this post is just a major rant on several issues.

1. BLESSED
Well this week is just blessed. i feel like i have risen. I have been recieving practical answers from God on issues that have been bothering me for a while. I believe its God's mercies. I also know its not unconnected to my brothers n sisters al over the world. Lanre sent me the dvd of Dr Jonathan n Pastor Bakare last friday and i have been immersed in that. when i got it, it was in a brown envelope and my name was spelt "Micheal (its supposed to be Michael)" ...and it was put in a batman PS2 casing so i knew it had to be from a NIgerian dude hahax...well i am so grateful. The right word of God is LIFE to me!!!

2. Manchester United Sign 9 yr old wonder boy
Well when i read this i thot...there they go again...public relations campaign and all but after watching the video below, this 9 yr old kid will become a genius soccer player as long he doesnt have any prolonged injuries or attitude crisis. And guess what, this boy's dad send a dvd of his skills to Manchester United, and the club have signed him to their academy. This boy's video has been viewed on youtube close to a million times...i should try posting a video of myself on youtube too, as soon as i can figure out what i am good at doing lol



3. MONEY Still Talks
Now this is about Rupert Murdoch, the much-hated Capitalist who made a fortune on myspace. No, he did not build myspace, be bought it cheap. He also owns most of the newspapers in the world with naked girls on the front page...well, yes He does and thats what we live with over here. We all probably recieve information from Mr Murdoch's empire one way or the other. Either its American idol (fox tv) or the sun or a newspaper in new york or just plain myspace so He's pretty big.
He has been trying to buy Dow-Jones, publisher of Wall Street Journal for about 3 months...he offered 65% premium to shareholders. Majority of Dow Jones is owned by the Bancroft family...a family with a very complex family tree...owners include cousins, brothers, sisters et al. The family at a point vowed not to sell their beloved newspaper with all its legacies to this Capitalist monster, arguing that He would compromise the integrity of the paper. employees, readers, owners...it seemed nobody wanted Mr Murdoch to take over.
i have watched this develoment carefully over the last 3 months and with keen interest been captivated as brothers fought sisters...cousins fought grandparents. Eventually mo than half of the family decided to sell...because at the end of the day..its America and the $$$$ count for more than a dead great granny who left a legacy. Hmmm Interesting.




Mr Murdoch has been married 5 times but i dunno how much that counts for these days..

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4. DMX---Lord Give Me A Sign
Well i came across this video by DMX on youtube. Sometime ago, I heard he had become a christian but dint know too much.
I remember in 1999, DMX to me then was the ultimate symbol of a soul that looked God in the eye and said NO. i was crazy at the time too and i loved DMX for it.
Well times change, it seems today He's humble, surrendering and saying YES to God. I am crazier today than i was in 1999 and i love DMX even more for this. cheers Bro


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5. The Human Stock Exchange (7 for 1)
I need the help of basketball fans here. Celtic bought Kevin Garnett (10-time NBA all star player) from Minnesota in exchange for 7 players...yes the numbers are real and the figures have not been made up. Pls someone explain this to me in simple english.

a sparK of newNess

Breadth of Fresh Air
I feel like i'll be the one throwing some deadly blows pretty soon. Well i am in much better shape.. feel like a breath of fresh air. i am exactly sure why... maybe its cause i spoke to mum this afternoon and we had a couple of really good laughs...or maybe it was the odd call to my broker...or oguchi's call or ..the other calls...or your comments [ayoks, MunK, Princessa, FO, Jeff], sure felt good to hear sheep in a bright mood or maybe it was a lil bit of everything. God knows there are some battles where the strength we draw from others carries us a long way. Thats y He brings those ppl into our lives. Well i feel very close to a million dollars now. Getting close to my contagiously joyful self again


OOps
Well i missed church again today. I really wanted to go especially since i missed it 2 weeks in a row (now 3). Can't remember the last time i went on such a long honeymoon. Its a long story but they are the usual excuses...exams...then woke up late...then met up wif a fren i havent seen for ages...went for dinner, transformers...woke up late or rather went to bed late. I'll be the first on tuesday evening prayer meeting tho...ts my favourite service and i can't wait. Btw i am currently studying 1st Corinthians and i was struck by Paul's humility in Chapter 4 when the man says "my conscience is clear but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me" Its weird cos theres a general feeling that if your conscience is clear, u'r innocent, which is not entirely wrong but the catch here is the man's humility towards the only One who can truly judge.

Transformers vs ShawShank
Well, Transformers was animated, flashy, action packed, full of effects but it din't win me over. Story seemed patchy at best. I enjoyed the comedic parts tho...the indian call center, robotic humour et al.



I did watch ShawShank Redemption this weekend too...bought the DVD. This is an old film, i think early 90's cos i was in high schl when it came out. Its a beautiful story of HOPE and it obviously was the blueprint for Prison Break. if u have not seen this movie, pls watch..its a thrill and it delivers as it voyages round hoping against hope and the human search and ability to deal with freedom.
And while u are at that, the book, "the Burden of Freedom" by Myles Munroe is a good read anyday, in the same line. Its one of those books Myles wrote when he still used to write in simple language. In a scene in Shawshank, Morgan freeman finally lives jail and gets a job. The following dialogue ensues between Morgan Freman and his boss:
Morgan: Boss, can i take a break to piss?
Boss: (waves Morgan to come closer so no-one can hear)"You don't have to take permission from me everytime you wanna take a piss?"
Morgan: (speaks to himself) "For 40 years i have taken permission to piss"

The point is that freedom comes with responsibility, with choice..what we do with our freedom in Christ determines our destiny. Nobody bosses you around anymo or chains you with bondages, depression or whatever issues. But now, we have a responsibility of how to handle the new found freedom...what we do with our lives....

Have a splendid week!!

Almost There

Exams have been much better than i expected. That was such a blessing. Considering my Tennis-styled exam preparations, the first 3 papers i took were really good (din't think i was gonna say that hehe).
i have got one more to go tomoro...hope the streak continues

Spoke to parents yestada, turns out dad had to go for surgery on saturday. Mum was tellin me the name of the symptom/condition/case but i frankly have no idea (u know what medical conditions sound like). I was quite pleased to learn that dad's ok now, surgery went well. i spoke to him, his new car is also here. My God knows all and is strong enough to keep my folks hail, healthy and hearty.

I have been thinkin a lot about hope the past 3 days. I remember situations in my life (not too long ago) when i felt hopeless but today its a whole different story. Hopelessness is real, you have to look no further than rates of depression and suicide. You begin to get the feeling that that's it, you can't make it, you'r stuck, dreams are crushed, its like u loose the will to live. But the joy of the Lord can swallow all hopelessness.

With Jesus, there is always always a case for hope. You just have to think about the last time you were in trouble and thought you wouldn't make it through BUT you made it through somehow and today you probably have forgotten the ordeal.

On a lighter note, i got tagged by Jeff whose blog is quite interesting(http://psychosomaticwit.blogspot.com/) so my next post is 8 random habits/facts about myself...and i will be taggin some unfortunate bloogers.

UntimelY UpDatE

Of course an update is overdue
So many missin links...lets tie it up now

double swoop
i have got two new housemates, the best part is one is from Malaysia, the other is from Nigeria that's even mo interesting considering its coming at a time when i am contemplating
moving to a new house so i am thinking.... do i still wanna move?
Hold the thought.......

exams? what exams?
can u imagine that my exams are in a month's time...gosh!! how time flies.. and assignments still piling but its no point moaning over exams anyway.

England vs Brazil?
i did not want to watch this match even tho ppl were goin crazy over this match in London. Anyway a lot of strange things happened.
1st: i supported England, that is so weird cos i never support English national football team,
i guess i felt sympathetic.
i went to the the nigerian embassy n i decided at the last minute to giv myself a treat and watch the match at a sports bar ...which was not bad. (everyone who was not British was supporting Brazil...erm except yours truly)

Miracles
this week, i have had phone calls waking me up with good news.
on monday i think, a fren from malaysia woke me up with some real good news that i was excited throughout the whole day..days lateranother call from nigeria..
this morning, someone called and gave me a gift of 300 pounds (incidentally, i had gone to bed thinking about money hehe). God sure knows how to surprise. erm...btw keep the calls coming lol

Grandma farewell
Well my grandma passed away about a month ago, but it aint so sad cos she was quite old, a strong woman who lived a legacy many of which i admire. she also knew God. Anyway mum called, and she wants me to write a farewell greeting on behalf of all the grandsons which will be in the program notes later this month at the final burial ceremony.

Going to manchester
One of my mum's frens is having a birthday 5 hours away in manchester,
i have been sent a return bus ticket to go join them for the weekend so iam really looking forward to that. besides manchester is where my favourite football team is so there'll be no shortage of sight-seeing.

MUSCLE
Men Under Spiritual Construction and Life Empowerment.
thats the name of my church men's group and we have a meeting in 30 minutes.God has been veryfaithful to me the last few weeks even in the frequency and power of His revelatory word.


i'll be stopping here for now...hopefully this is a return to active blogging.
love you and stay blessed

the spirit of Balaam

This posting is for you who love the word of God. Its a posting from my heart, about what God is revealing to me.

In the book of Jude verse 11, we are warned against the way of Balaam. A superficial look at the story tells us that Balaam was a prophet of God who was hired by the King of Moab to curse the Israelites (children of God) because the King of Moab was very scared of them. Perhaps if they were cursed, he could defeat them in battle.

God told Balaam very clearly that the Israelites were blessed and could notbe cursed. More money was offered Balaam and to cut the long story short, he accepted. But he could not curse them, he found himself blessing the Israelites more and more.

How amazing that whatever the enemy tries, we are blessed, a chosen people, royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that we may declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvellous light.

You wish the story ended there....

Reading Further on the last chapters of Numbers, we find a dark twist to the tale. Balaam, knowing that these people were blessed and could not be cursed resulted to something that the book of Proverbs tells us leads to the grave.

He advised the people of Moab to seduce the Israelites, seduce them into sexual relatons with their women, into worshipping their gods, into becoming like the moabites, seduce them into separation from their One true God. If they could seduce these children of God, surely this holy nation would lose its holiness. Sadly this devious plan worked, it took a plague from God and the death of over 24000 Israelites for sanity to be restored.

The spirit of Balaam is the spirit of the enemy, its the spirit of the devil. It is still at work today trying to destroy the children of God thru subtle ways just like it did Eve in the garden.

Let those who have ears listen.

This story can be found in Numbers chapter 22 to chapter 31.

The place of exchange

it is a place of transition
a place where inhibitions give way to release
in the face of an awesome God
my weakness gives way to His strength
my frustrations for untold joy
its hardly a mystery,the good book says,
"His strength is made perfect in my weakness"
"the joy of the Lord is my strength"
it goes on,
"in His presence, there's fullness of joy"
in the twinkling of an eye
in that moment
the sadness and weakness of the human spirit
is exchanged for strength and JOy immeasurable
of a loving and mighty Creator-God
those are the moments when u dun wanna leAve.
the place of exchange,
it could happen in a service
in your room
or just somewhere, anywhere really
its not the physical place
its that junction in the spirit
where i have come again and again
after the world drains me of vigour
How i love that placewhere it all happens,
How i love even more,
the One that makes it happEn
if u have been there,
u know what i'm talking about
if noT, u need to find it

iN puRsuiT of happYness

TodaY was an amazing day for all sorts of reasons..got up very early, rushed all chores, got out of the house b4 8 am, had a job interview at a place i was unsure of ,for a job i was unsure of.
i found the place and saw that everyone who wanted the job had somethin in common with me, all students from other nations...bangladesh, germany, mauritius, india, greece.

..... ..... ..... ..... .....

At the end of a day when i had made some little money, there was a lot of reflection goin on in my head in the bus ride home. A certain Michael Temitope had seen more than enuf for one day. From expensive non-essentials to promiscous media, wise evangelism to philosophic jargons...forgive my over-the-edge grammar..

i started to consider questions or rather, answers, or maybe they r jus realities.. and in that state of deep reflection, it came to me...all men have dreams...but life has enuf wiles to suck out desire and leave only a desperate fight for survival..what man trades off in the pursuit of happyness..why many give up their dreams..why many cling on to hopeless addictions..how distraction ceases to become a luxury..

BUt caN oNe reallY gamBle wiTh desTinY? the consequences are grave.. we livE in a world where what we beliEve iS Not what is POppulAr..but can there ever be an excuse to deny our calling? Can wE tell God that the sinfulnEss of tHe croWd made Us compacent or even disTraCted? yEt Jesus lived, preached, performed miracles and died amidst the orgy of the crowd of siNNers chanting "cRuciFy hIm!!"

Now i almost feel as if i see what wAs goiN on in tHe background wheN josHua challenGed, "ChoOse yE tHis dAy wHom yE wIll seRve, aS foR Me and mY housEhold, we will seRve tHe LoRd"..JosHua 24:15

sO heLp mE GoD.

p.s. i'm not always this serious but at times its helpful to take a more introspectful approach on tHe biG issues