Posts tagged Christianity

Boasting on Instagram

Life Diary The Christian Faith 2 Comments

As I sat to type, I decided to take a picture of what’s going on over here. How is it that my laptop needs external support for everything? Check it out.



I got a wireless mouse from my dad because my laptop’s mouse just wouldn’t cooperate. Mister lover bought me an external keyboard because the internal keyboard was getting me frustrated one day and I’m not ready to send it for repairs. If then the Lord ministers to you to bless the blog ministry with an efficient laptop, do not say no to the Lord. Should I open a blog go-fund-me account?


I got a new Bible this past week. A solid leather-bound John Maxwell leadership bible. This delighted me greatly in ways greater than I can write of and so I posted a video of it on my Instagram feed.
The entire experience has led me to two questions and I want you to help me out:


1. Instagram boasting. What is considered Instagram boasting? Should we never post the things that delight us on Instagram? Is it a show-off? And is it excused if the boast is spiritually inclined, like having a new bible? What should we make of Instagram?


2. Are you a leader? What qualifies a person to self-identify as a leader? Is it being appointed to certain offices in your church group or fellowship? is it being a founder of a movement? When are you a leader? I thought of this because I wondered if having a leadership bible was what I really needed right now. Isn’t it better suited for church pastors and intending church pastors? Maybe I need another women study bible instead.
I really want to hear your thoughts on these matters. 1. Instagram and boasting. 2. Qualifications for leadership.


Now, here’s what I think:

Instagram


Instagram is visual. Its created to capture pictures of beautiful things. My C.R.S teacher in SS1, Mrs. Ibitoye, taught me something I keep remembering till today because it was such a profound knowledge for me: God created man to appreciate beauty. Prior to that, I had related to beauty awkwardly. Never one to enjoy a lot of attention, I didn’t know how to cope with it (Not sure I still do today haha), but that statement was so enlightening. You don’t have to be apologetic about beauty. My class had been a study on Genesis 1 and 2. I know now that God created man to appreciate beauty in other people, in objects of art, and in nature. Instagram appeals to that. It appeals to your innate, God-given desire to look at and appreciate beautiful things. If you have something beautiful to post on instagram, that in itself is not boasting.

On the other hand, Instagram makes you susceptible to one of the classified temptations of sin – the lust of the eyes. Oh wait, it’s two, – oh, it’s all three of them! Lol. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life.

You may spend five hours on Instagram lusting after what other people have or what they do.

You may spend five fours creating an Instagram-worthy picture or caption which will stun everyone.

You may breathe a little easier when people like your posts and comment fire on your posts.

You, my dear friend, have succumbed to these three temptations. And don’t think it’s any different because you don’t spend five hours, lol. It’s not strictly about the length of time you spend, although your time is a pretty good indicator of where your mind’s at. It’s principally about your heart.

In summary, Instagram doesn’t have to be a boastful place. It can simply be a place to once again appreciate beauty – which God created you to do! It can be a place where you learn from other people’s experiences and are encouraged by people in your community. So I hope my posting a study bible encourages someone to desire a good study bible because you need to hear this: study bibles help you study. There are bibles often carried along for outings which are often pocket-friendly ones. But we all need study bibles stationed by our desks or bedside. And when you’ve used it a couple of years, you may need to change it. Your Instagram community may inspire you in these things. I was once inspired by Ife Grace who wrote about how she saved a huge amount of money as a student to get herself a Dakes bible. That was the first time I paid attention to finding out what a Dakes study bible was.

Phew! End of my thoughts on instagram. Now it’s your turn to comment.

Leadership

Leadership! Oh mine. If you’ve ever written certain applications, you may know how hung up people can be on leadership experience. At the moment, I’m not heading any spiritual group whether initiated or appointed. Am I then a leader? Does a Maxwell leadership bible befit me? I think yes, sure. Here’s the passage that came to mind immediately after I thought of 2 Tim 3:5 “let the older women teach the younger women“. That passage has been sufficiently explained to me in emphasizing the suffix“-er”. Older women and not old women. The Lord sees me as a leader over younger women who are around me. My dad often says “if you have a younger sibling, you are a leader. They look up to you”. The question that’s then left is “am I taking on my role of leadership properly?’ am I slack about it because I think I’m not accountable to anyone? Because it isn’t a leadership experience I can pen down on my CV? You are a leader; you who has never led a group before. The Lord is waiting to see how you will approach the authority he has given you. That’s my two cents on that. Kindly tell me some more in the comments section. I’ll love to know, and I think other readers would want to learn as well.



I hope to see you next week Saturday. Enjoy your weekend.


Knowledge and Growth,
Debby.

Our response to Corona Virus and Ebola

The Christian Faith 14 Comments

I read The Circle by Ted Dekker last year and did in fact review it on this blog this year. In book 1, Black, a virus is released upon the world – The raison Strain. Unlike Corona virus, its completely airborne and within the shortest possible time, everyone has caught it.
In Black, when a certain charming reporter first catches wind of the fast-spreading virus through the mouth of his scientist girlfriend, he jokes, “how bad is it? The Ebola?” To which he is told, “Even worse“.

 

Ebola.

But first,

Corona Virus.

Before Corona Virus hit Nigeria, I had began studying the book of Job. Reading through each verse of Job’s calamity and pondering.

Hold that thought still, and let’s discuss bedbugs as the prelude to this.

Bedbugs.

 

Some weeks ago, I obeyed the clarion call to serve my nation in the compulsory one year youth service, and I was thrust in the southern part of Nigeria – Rivers state.

 

In the capital city, my first night at my lodge was a living hell. I got awful reactions from bed bug bites; my body was swelling all over and itchy. I was most uncomfortable and the room was very hot. In the initial misguided notion that it was mosquito bites, I had slept (well, the closest I could come to sleeping) under a small mosquito net drawn over the slim mattress placed on the floor. It was the worst night I’d ever had. I couldn’t turn on my side without bodily discomfort. In accidentally touching the mosquito net in that heat, the itch would burn even worse. By the time we discovered they weren’t mosquito bites but bedbugs bites, my reaction was very far gone.

 

It all got settled finally. I was treated that night. Lacking the right drug and cream in the clinic, I was alternatively helped with drips and injections until the swellings were down the following morning.

 

Now, I write all of this to tell you when I read Job chapter 7 vs 4-6, I could picture it mentally. I could relate. The night of the bed bug infestation, I couldn’t sleep. One minute was like an hour. Four hours like twenty tortuous hours.

 

Here, Job speaks of his turmoils, worst being that his own days are spent without hope. I had hope. Follow Job:

 

When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? And I am full of tossings to and fro until the dawning of the day. My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken and become loathsome. My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle and are spent without hope”.

 

I had nothing close to what Job went through. My flesh wasn’t coated with worms and clods of dust.

How did Job in the midst of what he went through (not for one night, but) for weeks on end, not curse God?

Or
How did Nigeria’s Igonoh hear the heart breaking words “Your blood tested positive for Ebola” and not curse God?
Dr Ada Igonoh was twenty eight; young, brilliant, beautiful, bright and full of ambition. How could she go into isolation and there watch people with the same condition she had, writhe in pain and bleed through their eyes, noses and mouths till they die.

These were people occupying the beds to her left and right, other health professionals like herself who got infected when striving to do their jobs. How?
Igonoh would come out to testify that her faith kept her through. Her faith. This is the subject matter.

 

So with Covid-19 pandemic ongoing, what if, my friend, the news wasn’t that anyone was recovering, what if the news wasn’t that there could be an escape from death? What if the situation is that you caught it?
What then? Do you curse God?

 

Selah.

 

Will you, when God appears to be silent about your matter, refuse to be silent to him?
Will you say like Job:

 

I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause. Job 5:8.

 

For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace

Hebrews 13:9

 

Christian, at what point do you really curse God?
You can read Dr Ada Igonoh’s Story online and when you do, read carefully of how her exposure came from working professionally as a doctor. Experience through reading, the deserted ward she was placed in, read of her young husband and ask yourself at what point you would blame God.

 

We are a generation of them that seek Him even when his face appears to be (hidden).

 

Whether we have a reaction to bedbugs, or a physical ailment, or corona virus disease, or Ebola or the Raison Strain, we are convinced that no physical ailment can separate us from the Love of Christ.

 

Psalm 27:13,14:

 

” I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the lord in the land of the living

Wait on the lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the lord.

 

Job 19: 25-27

For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

And that, friend, is a Christian’s response.

Have you read Dr Igonoh’s story? What’s your comment? Don’t forget to share this post with your friends.

 

As always,

your friend,

Debby.

BOOK REVIEW– Bridge To Haven

Book Reviews 6 Comments

Title: Bridge to Haven
Author: Francine Rivers
Publisher/Publication date: Tyndale House Publishers Inc./2014
Edition: 1st ed. Paper back copy. 459 pages.
ISBN: 978-1-4143-6818-4

What does Haven signify? Literally, it is a place of rest or safety.
In this book, Haven is the name of a town. The book title signifies a place of grace and mercy for each person. Literally, to enter the town of Haven, you must pass through a particular bridge. Abra Matthews found it hard to come to that bridge once again.
Metaphorically, she also found it hard to pass through that redemption bridge which only Jesus provides.
The Story.
Abra doesn’t feel like ‘somebody’. She feels neglected and unloved. She believes she was adopted at age 5, out of a sense of Christian duty, from the couple who had earlier rescued her when she was found abandoned as a day old baby.
With Mitzi though, she feels differently. Old Mitzi shares her taste for music, is fashionable and doesn’t hesitate to give a piece of her mind.
Pastor Zeke has this to think of Mitzi:
“




Zeke knew Mitzi as a woman of wits and wisdom… Life experiences didn’t always bring wisdom but in Mitzi’s case it brought a great deal more. She said she’s been passionate in sin, but she was even more so in repentance. She had the gift of compassion for outcasts to prove it.

“
At age17, this growing red-haired beauty gets lured away from the ones who love her to a place of fame- Hollywood.
She think she’s found love but she is in for a rude awakening. She thinks she’s finally become accepted and respected but finds out fame comes at a terrible price.
Review:
I’m afraid of giving spoilers but I find the plot to be predictable in any case. Inspite of this, it’s a very loaded book, with lots of suspense.
I find the root of Abra’s problem to be the thought that she is unloved. Several references were made as to her thoughts of being a castaway even though she was hugely loved.
We get to contrast love and lust. For one, love is patient.
Francine is good with evoking emotions and well, emotions matter greatly.
It’s a lovely and warm read. I think lots of lessons can be gleaned from the book ranging from patience as an attribute of love, to parenting, and life choices. The Story also had to do with the war between North and South Korea and America’s involvement owing to the United Nations.
Francine Rivers brings it as true and as hot as it gets again. I respect the writing process of this book. Francine always appears diligent with her research and I respect that. Fine details of the Hollywood life and fine attention to every character.
The main characters are Abra, Joshua, Pastor Zeke, Penny, Ryan and Franklin Moss. My favourite character is Joshua.
I think this is a good read. I’ll buy this book for every young and ambitious girl with stars in her eyes. I’ll also recommend it to everyone for its central theme which I deduce to be “Love is patient”.
I recommend it very greatly to teenagers and to everyone at large. I rate it 4.0/5 stars.
On the war:





“




Every soldier who goes looking for comfort, comes back with VD…I have my pocket Gideon bible on me at all times and read it every chance I get. It calms me, gives me hope. Men call me “preacher”, and not in the mocking way they did in boot camp. When death hunts men, they look for God…”

“Being with Gil made Joshua remember the things he’d been taught. “I forgot the rules” he’d addmited to Gil once during one of their early conversations.
“What rules?” Gil had asked.

Rule no one: young men die. Rule number two: you can’t change rule number one. I heard it in training, but forgot it in battle.”

“Sometimes God has to destroy in order to save. He has to wound in order to heal”

 As always,
Debby.
Have you read this book? Are you interested in reading this? Do you have another recommendation for share? Pray tell…