THE WEDDING

I finally got around to writing this.
Well first of all I must say welcome to November. It already promises to be a November to remember. Yesterday morning I was opportuned to sit on a panel that examined the role of Godly connections in furthering the kingdom agenda, and it struck me that as Christians we really do need to make more connections if we are to fulfill God's command.
Well that's a full blog post in itself, I'll talk about it soon. For now back to the story.

The wedding took place in benin city, As I packed my bag to leave Lagos I thought to myself, lord, na me be Bestman again? How many wedding I go do groomsman/bestman sef before my turn go reach? and I heard him whose voice was like the son of man say. This is the last time( I hope you all know since I am made like Jesus my voice sounds like him too)  so having made such strong affirmative declaration in my spirit I prayed and set out for the park. I thought it was my assistant in the office that was going to drive me to the park but on getting to God is Good motors, I knew I was driven by a James Bond wannabe. Thanking God for safe journey (Omo na journey o, cos my heart dey my mouth all through) I waved him goodbye and whispered a quick prayer to God to keep him safe especially as he was driving my only car.

Few hours later my eyes snapped open. It was 11 and the bus was stopping. I was happy that we had arrived Benin but alas when I discovered we were just at ore. Chai since 7am? Who the heck was driving this bus, a snail or a tortoise? (The voice came again, should your assistant come take over from here?) I immediately repented and walked in to eat the not so tasty but amazingly expensive food they had to offer where we had stopped and then continued my sleep fitfully punctuated by the grumbling of the bus driver. (Ok to be fair to him, it's not good to sleep when you're the one sitting beside the driver. As it might cause him to feel sleepy also)

Well thankfully when I woke up this time I didn't need a prophet to tell me I had arrived in the ancient city. The town truly deserves that name. ( I say no more than that before I begin to receive death  threats from my Benin folks) within 20 mins of coming down from the bus I was thoroughly lost in a town I had schooled a few years ago. Thankfully after 2hours God sent an Angel (in the form of my friend who was getting married) to rescue me. God used my gsm to guide the angel to my location and that's where the story began.

At this point I'm wondering if to rename the title of this post to THE JOURNEY because the wedding itself was beautiful, but the journey before and after was hectic.

My good friend(I'm intentionally not mentioning his name, I no want make Una go find am kidnap) was running around doing all those little things people do before they get married, and some more, and by 6pm he fainted inside the printing press. Mhen see as people confuse, I just smiled and applied first aid treatment.(red ooo) and then later got him something to drink to regain his strength. He fell sick overnight and by Friday prayer warriors were attempting to bind and cast every demon that was against the wedding. I thundered amen as they prayed(make I no be like the demon wey wan stop the wedding) but shook my head as this was a clear case of misfired prayers.(thankfully they took the shaking of my head as a sign I was communicating with the heavenlies.) 

Well the prayers must have worked because strength came, (even though he had to sleep and eat and use drugs to drive out some of the stubborn demons) and then we stated running around again, the traditional ceremony was to start by 2pm but by 1:55 we were running to the tailor's shop to collect our traditional attire. We finally made it to the ceremony and the demons had reared their ugly head again as he was ill again. I had to leave the ceremony and go conclude most of the other arrangements for the white wedding. Finally after the traditional ceremony he went home to sleep.( thank God ooo).
The morning of the white wedding came again and it dawned on us we had no suits to wear.( well in fairness to us we had suits they were just in the tailor's house, even though he was supposed to bring it.) and so on sat morning we found ourselves traversing the crevasses of one unnameable community after lucky way, looking for the tailor's place. We finally got there, made a lot of noise and took the suits n trekked back home again. Almost 45minutes of hard trekking on the wedding day, little wonder we could barely stand in the auditorium as the pastor took all year to conduct the ceremony. Plus we were expected to dance our hearts out when in reality we just wanted the ceremony over.

Admittedly I learnt a few things, e.g how to print a cute wedding program with just 4,000, and that the most important man in a wedding is the groom, not the best man as the name implies( I wonder why that name sef)  but I also discovered the power of delegation, it would save a lot of unnecessary stress and slow down the barrage of demon binding prayers towards heaven as regards the wedding.

As I sign out I must confess that being the Bestman who doubled as mc at the reception I had a lot of fun and I wished the reception could go on and on, then I remembered I had to preach in a Benin church the next day, so I had to close on time so I could also send a barrage of demon binding prayers towards heaven as regards the ministration.(since they Don teach me say demon plenty for Benin, so I no go faint on top pulpit.)

Thanks for taking time out to read this post, thanks for stopping by my blog. Happy Sunday and have an awesome November.
Minister Effizey.

P.S sorry there are no pictures, I snapped then forgot them in Benin.(maybe those demons are at it again....)

I AM

yesso... after the amazing question i posted last week, i was opportuned to preach in a church that same thursday evening and i asked them the same question, WHO ARE YOU? well thankfully at the end of the message God helped us to be able to identify who we were and it was an awesome time in God's presence, 

well, in this post i will be answering the question as it pertains to me, and i hope many of you have also gotten answers to that question(though una no gree comment so i go know ooo) but i'll go ahead...

God revealed himself severally in the past as I AM...(THAT I AM, THE BREAD OF LIFE, THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB, THE LORD, THE TRUE VINE... ETC) and thus we have the ready made format for introduction. so when God noticed that an identity crisis was plaguing his body(the church) he decided to remind us and this he did when he first of all said... "have i not told you? ye are gods!) let's not forget that was a reminder oooo, he had told us before.

a god! ahhh no way some of you would say, well let me remind you how man came to be... you were made in God's image(to look like him) and likeness(to function like him) so that when you walked into a place, people would see God. in other words God cloned you from himself so you could represent him here on earth.
(still not sure who you are?)

let me tell you who i am

I AM A CHOSEN GENERATION, A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PECULIAR PERSON... Now if you doubt the veracity of my claim as told me by God in 1pet2:9, i'm sure God was also serious in Rev 1:6, and in Rev5:10 again where he affirmed that i have been made a priest unto God and a king here on earth.

this takes me on a journey back through history, A king is the ruler of a kingdom, however when the kingdom runs into trouble, the king is usually stumped and he sends for the priest, the only person in the kingdom who can confer with the gods and profer a solution. so the chain of authority wss
king-priest-god!

however just as God is three in one, i'm also three in one, i'm a king, a priest and a god!!! so everything responds to me. i carry myself with that knowledge, and it has changed the way i look at situations around me.

now every small god gets his divinity from a soucre, fourtunately for me, i get mine directly from whom i was cloned from, the Almighty God, the Only ruler of the Heavens and the Earth.  so he is my boss, my Father. so i dispense my duties as a priest to him,(offerring sacrifices, prayers and oblation to him) and then i rule as a king here on earth.(having dominion, rulership ans authority)

this simply means, now that i know who i am in christ here on earth, when challenges that confront kings confront me, i don't begin to run helter skelter like others, i simply settle it the way a priest would do. however this means something. my priesthood must be intact if i'm to be a successful king.

A lot of christians want to rush into becoming kings, forgetting to settle their priesthood. and thus run into trouble. the bible says i am a royal priesthood. the question is which comes first, royality or priesthood. let me use another analogy, i am a blackman. means i am first a man before i am black. the black in fromt simple qualifies the man, so the royality simply qualifies my priesthood. in other words,

my proximity to divinity will determine my royality amongst humanity.

i leave you with this... i know who i am... a king-priest, a god..... WHO ARE YOU????

WHO ARE YOU???

Ge geun... ge geun ge gun..(humming james bond theme song)

i'm back again with my crazy titles(this one reminds me of a jackie chan movie i watched growing up, sorry about that, i'm trying to be spiritual here,) and maddening jabs but i'm afriad i can't shy away from this... it's what i've been called to do, and i'll be making a great attempt(yes attempt, because you're the one to decide whether to receive my words with gusto or discard them.) to steer you on a path to discovery.
  just before i continue it has come to my notice that a lot of people have problems commenting on my posts, and i must firstly apologize, then also confess that i have done all in my power to rectify that and i hope it's better now, if not you could mail me your comments and i will post them for you. tgbamila@gmail.com,

back to the matter.... WHO ARE YOU? ...

i was was to preach in a meeting in benin a a couple of weeks ago when a pastor friend took advantage of the wedding i attended(yea i know i promised you all a post about the wedding, it's coming soon) and  as i climbed the pulpit(after those seriously long n practically funny accolades psts use when they want to introduce you to their church that made me wonder if i was the one being introduced or if there was another guest minister lurking in the corner somewhere, well that's a story for another day) and i could see the congregation waiting expectantly for the 'fire' their pastor promised them would fall. i watched with a mischievious face as their faces turned from expectant to perplexed to utter confusion as i shocked them with my opening question/sentence/phrase, Who are you?

i'm sure by now many of you would already be trying to phantom where i'm going to but i crave your indulgience to attempt to answer the question before you read further. my thesis/observation/conviction is simple, the major crisis rocking the 'church of God' today is ' an identity crisis'. a lot of so called believers have no idea what it means to be a believer and as a result they misbehave and act anyhow.  the Englishman would say, when the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable. same applies to us. when you do not know who you are? how will you know your purpose? and when you don't know your purpose how can you fulfill it?

most bible scholars are familiar with the story of the men beaten up by demons who affirmed that they knew jesus, they knew Paul, but the demons asked them

Who you are is your identity and that's what makes you, i remember a scene in lagos that got me into thinking mode, a young man strolled leisurely down the road in one of the surbubs and a military van roared past. suddenly the van pulled to the side and the soldiers jumped out and ran towards the man brandishing their guns menancingly at him. i then noticed that he was wearing camoflague shorts. knowing lagos i concluded that the man was a goner but drew close to try appeal to them(probably my military connections would lesson the man's beating)  when i head the leader of the patrol launch a challenge, Who are you?(is it just me or is this word reappearing in every faucet of life?) the 'goner'(as i had nicknamed him) smiled and replied a string of words, the only coherent things i heard were 'serving officer', followed by a string of numbers that sounded like reading the date in numbers and a few other incoherent mutterings, all i know was that in less than 10 seconds all the soldiers from the patrol van were at attention and he waved them to stand easy, probably for the bebefit of those who didn't understand what had just happened he pulled out an identity card and then people started smiling.(mhen the smile no reach their mind ooo, i sure say some people dey angry say them just miss free show)

still thinking or do you have your answer to the question who are you? let me tell you one more story before i take a break, some bible college students in America were trying to cast out a demon from a possessed individual, they had tried all they could to no avail, and then in comes A.A Allen, and asks for a cup of coffee, they tell him about their situation and he walks up to the person possessed, whispers into his ear and wham! the demon cries out leaving in a hurry. the zealous students were shocked and inquired, what did you whisper to him sir. his response.. "i simply said, i am A.AAllen'.

well well well... Truly until you know who you are you cannot become who you are meant to be,(can i write my name as the composer of that statement or has someone said that before?)like i said at the begining(or somewhere in the middle) the major issue the church is facing is that we don't know who we are. God himself lamented the state of the church when he said "my people perish for lack of knowledge".

i have heard many guys say this, ' i want a girl that will love me for me and not because of what i have.' sorry but WHO ARE YOU?  the main aim of this particular post is to cause you to begin to ask yourself critical questions that need to be answered, i hope i succeeded(does this spelling seem wrong or is it just me?)

well before i roundoff this post, i know some people will love to say yes i know who i am... i would love to hear and i'm sure other readers would love to be encouraged by your sharing with us so you can drop a comment here or mail me at tgbamila@gmail.com and i promise you i'll put up your comment here.

it's turned out to be a much longer post than i planned and i haven't even started... it would be lovely to hear feedback from you all and i intend to continue in my next post.  Titled 'I AM'

AN ICON IS 40(HBD REV LAURIE IDAHOSA)

wow wow wow....

wasn't gonna blog but i just couldn't let today slip by without writing this...

dunno if to call it a birthday wish post, or a tribute or a thank you post... but one thing i can assure you is it's about Rev Laurie Idahosa...

well in case you don't know who she is let me give you a quick preview
Rev. Laurie Whetstone- Idahosa was born in Wilmington, Delaware, USA. Along with her one brother, Eric, she grew up in a Christian home with parents who are Pastors. She married the love of her life, Bishop F.E.Benson Idahosa in 2002 whom she first met at the tender age of 13. They have been blessed with three sons, Feb Jr., Nathaniel and Judah.

She has travelled to over 40 countries with renowned ministries sharing her faith and preaching the Gospel. She graduated from the School of Biblical Studies and the School of Ministerial Training in New Castle, DE and received her Bachelors in Christian Ministry from Chesapeake Bible College and Seminary in Maryland, USA. She trained with Living Water Teaching in Guatemala as a missionary and worked as an Emergency Medical Technician with the Wilmington Manor Fire Department in Delaware for several years. She functioned as a First Aid and CPR instructor with the American Red Cross and was also certified in Disaster Relief through the International Disaster Relief Organization in Oklahoma City, OK. She is a gifted event manager, real estate investor and has owned several successful businesses. She is bilingual in Spanish and English.

Rev. Laurie has worked at Benson Idahosa University since 2003 initially as the Director of Spiritual Life and later as the Director of Campus Life. She currently serves as an executive member of Christian Women Fellowship Int’l. (CWFI), is an active board member of the Faith Mediplex Hospital (Benin City) and serves as a Pastor in Church of God Mission, International. Along with her husband, she founded the flourishing “Big Ben’s Children’s Hospital” in Benin City, which was established after the tragic loss of their first son, Benson Idahosa III.

She is a strong, hospitable, visionary woman whom has blended beautifully with the Nigerian community where she currently lives with her family. She is a Pastor, a motivational speaker and a mentor to countless people around the world. She is a warm and caring soul. When you know her, you feel as if you have met a lifelong friend.(well i bet a lot of you didn't know this about her, it's all on her facebook page) 

well i met her when i became a student of benson Idahosa university, but didn't get to know her closely until i became a chaplain in my 200 Level, i remember all school leaders had to resumeearly and after the anointing service at faith arena we took a prayer walk around the school premises and then ended with a dance at the common room, as i danced with gusto, Rev Laurie pulled me out to the centre of the circle formed by other chaplains and resident Advisors and she danced with me. i was so shocked(as in like, the Almighty Rev Laurie can dance with me? chai my own don better ooo,)

thus i discovered that she could be so simple in ways that amazed one, then came an event (i dey try remember the name, either tradefair or something like that) where all sort of games were organized and lo and behold most of the games were bought by President Feb and Laurie from America, they even brought games from their personal house to school for us all to play(those were fun times) i remember playing Their Nitendo wii(that was my first time ever of touching the game ooo, but i couldn't show it na, i no fit fall my hand,) well i won many prizes that day.

Another example was during my third year as we registered students in the spiritual life division(now it's campus life divison i hear... mhen i miss SLD) when Rev Laurie would open up her office to use to rest and gist with her, wow, and then that same year i did something(i'm not telling you what it is ....) suffice to say other chaplains were pointing fingers at me and it got to a point i said i was going to step down as a chaplain if need be. The school pastor then (God bless his soul) reported my stubbornnes to the authorities, and instead of rebuking me or asking me to go ahead and step down if i wanted to, she simply took me to the scriptures and i saw things the way i had never seen before,  her insight into God's word is uncanny and all my stubborn resolve melted away and i was broken, thank God i didn't step down as i would have made a mistake i wouldn't have recovered from.

Now knowing her more personally meant more checks on me, (made me behave myself compulsorily) because as friendly as she is, rev Laurie can be strict attimes though slow to anger (if you get to that stage where she get's mad at you then the devil must have literally pushed you over the edge) also it meant getting to know her more, and i discovered the selfless nature in her, she would forgo food to make sure everyone around her had eaten, she would never give a job to you that she couldn't do and of course while i know a christian should live in divine health, if you must fall sick, make sure it's when Rev Laurie is close by.(you go well with overdose of care and of course food.) lolz.
those of us who rarely went home during holidays knew what it felt like to have a home away from home and in Rev Laurie we found a mother.the amazing thing was how she would take care of other people's children when she didn't have any of her own.(No wonder God blessed her with three amazing boys... maam it remains girl ooo)

As i conclude, it's been 5 years i graduated from Benson Idahosa University, and Rev Laurie is more busy than ever, with her pastoring a church fully, three young men to keep up with, Campus life, CWFI, Big Ben, and many more, yet she finds time to still chat with me, i am humbled, she somehow finds time to also respond to facebook posts and messages and i'm sure by the time you check her wall tomorrow or latest by next(depending on how overwhelming the messages are) she would have liked every single post wishing her happy birthday

.
the bible asked... "A Virtuous Woman who can find? i know the answer, President FEB Idahosa found one in Rev Laurie Idahosa.

Happy 40th Birthday ma... Like i said earlier today the only words that can really capture things is I LOVE YOU MA. more grace...
many happy returns of the day... WE celebrate you and we celebrate with you...

THE GREATEST WRITER EVER

hello my people... i don miss una small oooo, been AWOL(away without official leave) i hope while i was away you kept yourselves busy by going through some of my other interesting posts? well i was in a discussion with a very good friend, younger sis, padi, inspirer, pst, colleague of mine, when the inspiration for this post hit me, (Pst Debby Adeshina i sight you,) truly iron sharpeneth iron.

well during the past week i journeyed across several cities on my way to the ancient city(Oba A Tokpe EEE) for the wedding of a friend where yours sincerely was the best man... (yes ooooh imagine me, best man... mhen the experience na something else... but that's a story for another day)

back to my story, you all know i'm a fan of great writers and some of my favourite writers are the best that have ever lived e.g
Sydney Sheldon
John Grisham
Jackie Collins
Richard North Patterson
James Patterson
Steven King, who also writes as Richard Bachman
Fredrick forsyth
Robert Ludlum
Wilbur Smith
of course,  JK Rowlings
J.R.R Tolkien
and several other Authors of Newyorktimes bestseller novels,
you see that i have read books written by the very best? the creme de la creme of authors...

when these writers write they captivate you in such a way that their writing has a profound influence on you and minutes after the close of their books you could be left gasping for breath cos of the breathtaking way the book ended.
however i stumbled upon the greatest writer ever.... he's the greatest not just because his book is the most sold book in human history,(over 5billion copies sold) or because his book is captivating and practically moulds you into a new person as you read, or because he tells the most amazing stories, but because he takes part in writing the story of our lives, filling it with so much suspense, intrigue, twists and turns, and then because he is an expert at spinning out the most beautiful of endings out of seemingly hopeless situations.

of course i'm talking about Jesus Christ, the one who can turn your Mess into a Message, who can trade your Ashes for Beauty, Who can be your Refuge in the time of trouble and who is the Author and Finisher of our faith,

is the story of your life getting sour? why not hand over the script to the greatest writer and let him work his wonders, watch him as he rewrites your story and takes you from zero to hero...
and by the way if you haven't got a copy of his best selling book of all time, "The Bible",
i would be giving out 20 free copies, just holla at me by geting my details from the contact Minister effizey section of this blog.
God bless you
have a fulfilling week.
stay tuned for a very interesting episode of  "The Wedding"

HYMN FOR THE WEEK

1. The great Physician now is near,
The sympathizing Jesus;
He speaks the drooping heart to cheer,
Oh! hear the voice of Jesus.

 

Chorus: Sweetest note in seraph song,
Sweetest name on mortal tongue;
Sweetest carol ever sung,
Jesus, blessèd Jesus.

 

2. Your many sins are all forgiven,
Oh! hear the voice of Jesus;
Go on your way in peace to heaven,
And wear a crown with Jesus.

 

Chorus: Sweetest note in seraph song,
Sweetest name on mortal tongue;
Sweetest carol ever sung,
Jesus, blessèd Jesus.

 

3. All glory to the dying Lamb!
I now believe in Jesus;
I love the blessèd Savior’s name,
I love the Name of Jesus.

 

Chorus: Sweetest note in seraph song,
Sweetest name on mortal tongue;
Sweetest carol ever sung,
Jesus, blessèd Jesus.

 

4. The children, too, both great and small,
Who love the Name of Jesus,
May now accept the gracious call
To work and live for Jesus.

 

Chorus: Sweetest note in seraph song,
Sweetest name on mortal tongue;
Sweetest carol ever sung,
Jesus, blessèd Jesus.

LOCATION FOR ALLOCATION

hello folks, i'm sure you need no reminder that it's friday but all the same i'll scream it out TGIF... lolz, please remember to always leave a comment after reading, you can also drop a testimony on the testimony section of my Blog. God bless you and as you read, may your lives be transformed.

It is an open secret that when God is set to bless a man he usually positions him at a spot where he can be divinely located. A lot of people have remained in poverty and penury for so long because they have stepped out of their point of divine location.  A classic example is that of Gehazi, Gehazi could easily have been the greatest prophet that ever lived.  

Look at it this way, Elijah was a great prophet and is still being spoken about till date,  we remember vividly when there was faminie in the land and God sent him to a brook, and there ravens fed him, (when you are in your place of divine location you cannot go hungry.)  In 2kings 2:9 when he was to be taken up to heaven, Elisha his servant ran after him and asked for double portion of his anointing, Elisha did not stop pursuing his master, despite various persuasions to stop, until he got to his point of Divine location. Elisha then became one of the greatest prophets that ever lived with his bones raising the dead, Gehazi his servant was next to become a great prophet, but we see in 2kings 5:20 how he ran off after Naaman, unlike his master Elisha, thereby leaving his place of Divine location, and the consequence was  he became a leper. His destiny got truncated because he left his place of Divine location.

Abraham couldn’t get blessed as long as he remained in his home town. God had to tell him. “get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father’s house unto a land that i would shew thee and I would make of thee a great nation, and I would bless thee and make thy name great and thou shalt be blessed.”  (Gen 12:1-2.) His getting blessed was tied to him getting out of his comfort zone and getting into his point of divine location. Abraham still made a slight error by taking his cousin with him and sooner than later they began to have issues, so they eventually had to separate, Lot took the land that was seemingly greener and was to fare better, but because Abraham was at his point of divine location he flourished and was richer and better than Lot who eventually lost everything he had.

Acts 1:4-8 Jesus told his disciples to tarry in Jerusalem, and they would receive the Holy Ghost. They needed to stay in their place of divine location to get allocated with their portion of destiny. They obeyed and stayed put and had an encounter with the Holy Ghost that took them from zero to becoming heroes. Just a few weeks earlier we saw peter vehemently deny that he knew Jesus but after that divine encounter on the day of Pentecost, Peter turned into a fearless apostle who kept preaching Jesus even to the point of death.

People of God, it’s your season of Divine Location, and i emplore you to take care to listen to  all divine instructions seriously this season, you don’t want to be missing when it’s your time to be located, be prayerful and don’t leave your point of Divine location.. and if you're in the wrond place, Begin to ask God to lead you to your point of divine location. because  

YOUR LOCATION DETERMINES YOUR ALLOCATION.

God bless you... Have a lovely weekend