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'