Ablaze Magazine - Issue 3 by House On The Rock

A PUBLICATION OF HOUSE ON THE ROCK, LONDON LIGHTHOUSE

Love Come Experience

House On The Rock London Lighthouse

Sundays Two Services 9.00am, 11.00am Wednesdays 7.00pm Friends House, 173 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ Email admin@hotr.org.uk Tel 020 8782 8778 Fax 020 8782 8777 Web www.hotr.org.uk

contents

Regulars 04

Pastor Omawumi Efueye’s Message

Features 07

The Lord’s Heritage

Souls Behind The Service

Solomon’s Corner How can I be sure I’m in love?

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London Community News Race for Life: Cancer Research UK’s marathon kicks off in May

One Flesh: Challenging every marriage to be a reﬂection of Christ and the Church

Amazing Love ”Ask not what others can do for you, but what you can do for others”

Children must be taught not only to love their friends, but also their neighbours

MENTOR Another power-packed week leaves everyone ﬁred up and ready to go

A More Excellent Way – Love should be the principal characteristic of every christian

Touching The Community TA précis of TTC’s missionary trip to India

Ablaze

Dear Readers, The 3rd Issue of Ablaze brings so much fun reading. In our commitment to voicing a broad array of authoritative Christian knowledge, and advocating proven biblical ideals, this issue is focussed on Love.

Issue 3 / Volume 1 / 2008 Publisher House on the Rock London Lighthouse Executive Editor Omawumi Michael Efueye Managing Editors Alistair Frimpong Laolu Opebiyi Creative Director Tosin Lanipekun Editor Monica Omobola Bello Editorial Team Anita Amaefuna Ndidi Okezie Nonye Chidomere Admin Manager Gabbie Okiwelu Production Manager Terry Thomas Project Manager Funke Adenaike Photography Layi Rogers

L-o-v-e, the four letter word that makes the world go round. Ablaze continues the journey of discovery, and the featured theme challenges, informs, educates, yet reassures us of our understanding of what love is. I have particularly enjoyed working on this issue because as I read through the articles from our talented writers and contributors, I realised that I had not fully grasped the whole concept of Love. Now, I am wiser – that’s what we aim to do through Ablaze. Loving others is not a tough job but it is only fully love when it acts! It must be expressed in our daily actions and is usually sacriﬁcial, I was sincerely touched, and it warmed my heart to read House on the Rock’s Touching the Community missionary trip to India - Goa. Don’t miss it. Familiarise yourselves with the work HOTR are doing in the Community and abroad.

There is a lot to read on Love and enough to give better understanding, and certainly something for you! To ﬁnd deeper meaning in your being, don’t miss The More Excellent Way. We talk so much about agape love; to learn more, read Amazing Grace. We are privileged to feature the Poesy Team, one of the Outreach departments within House on the Rock. Mentor is taking centre stage again this season. Wondering what Mentor is? It’s all here for you to discover. Enjoy some more inspiring poems and don’t forget to read Dr. Chima Oti’s New Year, New You. I would like to say a big thank you to all Ablaze writers and contributors, and to our readers, thanks for your feedback and continued support of Ablaze. The most comprehensive description of LOVE is found in 1 Corinthians 13:1-7. Anyone reading the Bible for themselves will certainly ﬁnd this truth. I hope that person is you! With love, Monica Omobola Bello

Many thanks to our contributors Keno Ogbo gozi Ikeyina Banke Adelano Sharon Blankson Davelyn Thompson

Ablaze Magazine is published by House on the Rock, London Lighthouse. ©2008 All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. This work is also licensed under the Creative Commons AttributionNoncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-ncnd/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. For more information and to order call +44 (0) 208 782 8778.

Lifestyle

In This Issue

New Year, New You Health and ﬁtness are always hot topics anyday. Here’s what you really need to know

Or write to:

Reﬂections

We need to appreciate God’s love for us, only then can we truly love one another

The Richest Man Who Ever Lived by Steven K. Scott House On The Rock London Lighthouse Trinity House, Heather Park Drive, Wembley London HA0 1SU, UK. Email: ablaze@hotr.org.uk

Notes From A Cyber-Diary

What We Should Be Talking About What is “The Bible Experience?” Plus, a commentary on the US election

Love Unconditional, Sacriﬁcial, Divine and Spiritual You!

Love and social networking is on the menu. Find out the coolest spots online

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

Sowing The Seed Of Poetry Poesy expounds on their vision and discuss employing poetry as a tool for outreach

Running My Business And Loving It! Ike Okosa explains how he turned his dreams into a thriving enterprise issue 1 / volume 1 3

Pastor Omawumi Efueye’s Message

A MORE E X C E L L E N T WAY

One of the things that fascinates me most about the Almighty God is His incredible capacity to tolerate and bear long with the whims, caprices, foibles and antics of the apogee of His creation, the human being. Pastor Omawumi Efueye

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Against a backdrop of His omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, benevolence and beneficence, it is a thing of consistent awe to me that God does not instantly, grievously and mortally smite many homosapiens for their arrogance, idiocy and demagoguery. If I was God, (and it is a good thing that neither I nor you are), I would permanently cripple the fist of defiance that I created and that man now shakes at me at every opportunity.

Ablaze

od, however, operates by the unchanging inerrancy and the integrity of His Word and the immutability of His benevolent character and counsel. When He created man, He created him in His own image, which is to say that man is a free moral agent with the inalienable right to choose his actions. Do not despair however, when the powerful and the evil try to oppress the weaker, less privileged and less opportuned members of society. This is because while men reserve the right to choose their actions, salutary or unsavoury, they do not have the right to determine the consequences of their actions. These are preset by the Almighty, as indeed is the timing for their execution. This is probably the sense behind the idiom “everyday for the thief, one day for the owner”. Since the times of Cain and the Tower of Babel, man’s rebellious streak has given birth to a multiplicity of religions – the quest for a god he can put in a box, define and control. Today, with so many religions, denominations of Christianity, doctrines, sects, cults as well as spiritist and occultic groups, how does one know what is truth and what is not? What one feature marks out a true child of God? How indeed do I discern between a true shepherd and a wolf in sheep’s clothing? Some people will immediately proclaim that TRUTH is what distinguishes the real Christian. Orthodoxy, correct belief, loyalty to scriptural doctrines, they will claim are paramount. They will be quick to point out that the Bible enjoins us to “fight the good fight of faith” and that we are to “keep that which is committed to thy trust” (another version says, “Guard the deposit of revealed religion”). We are also encouraged to “stand firm and hold on to the teachings of the Apostles” while we contend for the faith that was once entrusted to the saints. Some other people will declare that the hallmark of a genuine disciple is FAITH. Quoting from the book of Hebrews and Romans, they will point out “but without faith, it is impossible to please God” and that “whatsoever is not of faith is sin”. They will also remind you that the same book of Romans outlines, “We maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing this law”.

Finally, they will seek authentication from the great revivalist/reformist Martin Luther who said, “Justification by faith is the principal article of all Christian doctrine which maketh true Christians indeed”. A third group will emphasize RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE often of a particular vivid kind, as vital to defining true Christianity. After all, Moses encountered the Burning Bush while his successor Joshua met with the Captain of Hosts. Peter, James and John witnessed the Transfiguration while Saul saw the light brighter than the noonday sun. The more practical amongst us will emphasise SERVICE especially to the poor, as the distinguishing mark of God’s people. They will seek credence from James 2:28 with the statement that “faith without works is dead”. They will refer us to Ephesians 2:10 which reminds us that we were created for good works. Most religious folks believe in EXTERNALS such as style of dress or clothing, circumcision, hairstyles, the absence of jewellery and the covering of the head as marks of true belief. These days however, more and more people when they think of Christianity in practice focus on SPECTACULAR MANIFESTATIONS OF RAW, UNADULTERATED POWER. They talk of the New Testament day of Pentecost and remind us of Luke 10:19 when Jesus released to believers power to tread on serpents, scorpions and the entire enemy’s power. Reading through 1 Corinthians Chapter 12, Paul seems to support these groups by emphasizing the importance of truth, faith, religious experience, service and power in a Christian’s life. In the last verse, he actually tells us to go for them, admonishing us to “covet earnestly the best gifts”. Then he shocks us by telling us that there is something better than all this and he calls it “a more excellent way”.

issue three

Pastor Omawumi Efueye’s Message

We must begin to show one another the love that God has deposited in our hearts at the point of our conversion. This means we must have a burden for one another and willingly and continuously supply one another’s needs as much as lies within our power. Paul is about to introduce us to a four-letter word freely and frequently used by virtually every member of the human race. Psalmists, poets, bards and songwriters alike have been inspired to extol its many virtues. Because of its abstract nature, its practical applications are difficult to define. Everyone has an opinion about it, but no two people can agree on what it really is. Of course, I am talking about “LOVE”. The protagonists of that modern classic film Love Story define it as “a feeling you feel when you feel a feeling you have never felt before”. In the very next chapter, 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, Paul begins to dismantle the arguments of the pre-eminence of truth, faith and even religious experience. “If I can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge….but do not have love, I am nothing” Paul claims So, Love is GREATER THAN KNOWLEDGE (Truth)! “If I have a faith that can move mountains,” Paul further elucidates, “but have not love, I am nothing”. So, Love is GREATER THAN FAITH! “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels”, Paul again begins to outline and “If I have the gift of prophecy” (that is, claiming direct communication from God) “but have not love, I am nothing”. So, Love is GREATER THAN RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE! In verse 3, Paul continues, “If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames” (perhaps in a heroic gesture of sacrifice) “but have not love, I gain nothing”. So, Love is GREATER THAN SERVICE! When the disciples of Jesus returned from a Mission Trip, celebrating their authority over even the demons, Jesus in Luke 10:20 says, “Notwithstanding in this rejoice, because your names are written in heaven”. So, Love is GREATER THAN POWER! 6

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Knowledge is vital, faith indispensable, religious experience expedient, service essential and power incontrovertibly crucial. But, love is the pre-eminent Christian grace. Love is the greatest thing in the world. God has many qualities but He is only one in His innermost being- Love. The Father, Son and Holy Ghost are eternally united to one another in self-giving love. God who is love has enveloped us with His love and calls us to love Him and others in return. I John 4:7, we love because He first loved us. Love is the principal, the paramount, the pre-eminent, and the preponderant distinguishing characteristic of the people of God. Nothing can displace or replace it. Love is Supreme. Love answers every question and conquers every opposition. Jesus said the first and great commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. The second, He said is “like unto it”- you must love your neighbour as yourself. In conclusion, love is not an amorphous, nebulous ephemeral ideal that can only be grasped by philosophers and utopian romanticists. Jesus taught clearly that God’s love for the world issued in the action of Him giving His only begotten Son. Love always manifests in self-sacrificing beneficence. We must begin to show one another the love that God has deposited in our hearts at the point of our conversion. This means we must have a burden for one another and willingly and continuously supply one another’s needs as much as lies within our power. Once that becomes our lifestyle, the world around us will recognise that we are Jesus’ disciples – John 13:35. “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” Then with hands interlocked, we can go out and solve all the world’s problems because as one songwriter said “what the world needs now is love, sweet love; no not just for some but for everyone”. Or as yet another songwriter said, “Love is the answer, now is the time for love”.

Ablaze

This year MENTOR took centre stage again to bring men back to the heart of its very purpose: Creating Kingdom men of integrity living a life based on sound and Godly values. Last year’s conference, “Real Men, Real Issues”, was a profound experience which met the needs of the modern man by comprehensively addressing both spiritual issues and the practical applications essential to be a success in whatever area God may have placed him. Running over two days with various sessions and workshops, the conference provided an open dialogue in which men spoke candidly about issues that pertained to them and their position in today’s society. Following from the success of the previous event, this year’s forum was packed with guests like Pastor Ray Bevan, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya, Apostle Anselm Madubuko, and Pastor Omawumi Michael Efueye. If you have ever felt lost, ever wondered what to do next, or agonised on how to go about plotting a course for your next steps, this conference provided good answers. Men walked away fully grasping the fact that living without the guidance of the Holy Spirit is not an option if you want to live a life of true success and significance. The MENTOR vision is To Help Real Men Manifest. MENTOR stands for Men Engaging Nations To Optimise Resources. Yet each man must firstly engage himself and then another, and then the nations which lie in the loins of each man will eventually be engaged. But first we engage our communities.

MENTOR is the heart cry and vision of our Patron Host, Pastor Omawumi Michael Efueye, an accomplished actor, banker, author, and leader of the fast growing church, House on The Rock.– The London Lighthouse. Seeing the need to help nurture men with the right sets of values and with a personal dream to see men become strong role models in society, he commissioned the creation of MENTOR as an organisation to address this. Targeting both young and mature men who have much to give and much to absorb, he dreams that all will grow together to eliminate absentee fathers, listlessness and lack of direction in youths, and eradicate gang-related crime. The world seems to be crying out for good role models for it’s youth, and MENTOR recognises that men led by the Spirit of God and who already have the greatest role model in the excellency of Jesus Christ are the ones that should be ﬁlling these posts. And now for a snippet from one of the attendees of the recently concluded MENTOR programme.

The Mentor Conference 25th April - 27th April 2008

Men who attended the Mentor conference in April 2008 conﬁrmed that it was a truly rewarding, enlightening and power packed event. The conference was graced with the presence of Pastor Ray Bevan of The Kings Church, Newport, Wales, Apostle Anselm Madubuko, a renowned deliverance minister, under The New Anointing World Outreach (NAWO) who regularly conducts crusades, revivals and deliverance conferences throughout the world, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya of The Fountain of Life Church and Pastor Omawumi Michael Efueye, the Resident Pastor of House on the Rock who hosted the conference. Each speaker took the conference to a new dimension but with the same message on The Spirit Led Man. The focus was on men fulﬁlling their destinies as they are led by the Spirit in 2008. To order a pack of CDs for the Mentor April 2008 conference, please contact the Media Resource Centre of House on the Rock on 0208 782 8778. issue three

In This Issue

He loves me, he loves me not By Sharon Blankson

Human beings have a natural need to feel loved. God Himself created us that way and incidentally He is the only one that can fully meet that need. However, many people walk through life with a skewed image of God. Religion paints the picture of a harsh, judgmental old man, who lives somewhere over the rainbow, and is waiting for us to step out of line so he can mete out a suitable punishment. Who really wants to have anything to do with a person like that? Even some Christians still have a false image of God after salvation and they focus on ‘religiously’ trying to meet all His ‘requirements’ so that they can stay in His good books. They fail to recognise that the gospel is not a call to satisfy a set of religious requirements. God ﬁgured that we couldn’t keep them anyway and sent His Son to do what even our best intentions could not achieve. Good works are a natural fruit of a good relationship with God. The gospel is not a call to religion but to a love relationship with God. The gospel cannot be understood without an appreciation of the love of God. The Bible says in John 3:16 that ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son ...’ Love is the message. Love was the motivation. 1 Corinthians 13 is known as the ‘love chapter’ because here Paul tells the believers at Corinth how true love manifests itself. As a result, this chapter is usually read from the perspective of what is expected of Christians in their expression of love one to another. Now if we believe that God is love, as the scriptures say in 1 John 4:8, and everything He does is motivated by love, have we ever considered that God Himself would never fall short of His own requirements? 1 Corinthians 13:4 (NKJV) says, ‘love suffers long and is kind…’ If God is love, then we can use these two words interchangeably and conclude that God Himself suffers long and is kind towards us. But do we really believe that? 1 Corinthians 13:5 (NLT) says, ‘love does not keep record of wrongs.’ So why would we imagine that God keeps a record of all the times we may have fallen short? Heb 8:12 (NKJV) says, ‘For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more.’ Romans 13:10 says that ‘love does not harm its neighbour’. That means that God cannot harm us. God is not the source of sickness, poverty or any evil thing. The thief is the one who comes to steal, kill and destroy. When we fully appreciate and cherish the love that God has for us, then and only then can we begin to truly love one another. 1 John 4:8 (NKJV) says that, ‘He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.’ We cannot give what we have not received.

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Ablaze

SALVATION By Banke Adelano

Oh what a wretched soul! Lost and without hope! Condemned and encased in the chambers of death, banished forever as a consequence of my forefather’ s sins! It is a burden too great for me to cope! No way out but for the One who redeems…

‘I hear your cry; Oh sorrowful one Stop your tears for you have already won! My shed blood has washed you clean from every wrong you have ever done. I receive you now, just as you are, my precious son.

They say there is One who takes away shame

Victory is yours! The chains are broken – every last one!’

One whom they call the name above all names I ponder and think… This must be a game How can it be? Can my life really never be the same? There’s only one way to ﬁnd out… Call on His Name…

You are now reborn of My Spirit, forever a new man! Your name inscribed in the bosoms of eternity for wholeness and completeness, never to be damned! Proclaim this good news to every city!

Jesus! Jesus! Can you hear me?

Shout it aloud you have my command,

Jesus! Jesus! Please redeem me!

to keep such joy to yourself would really be a pity

Jesus! Jesus! Set me free!

and far from the purpose of The sacriﬁcial Lamb.

Jesus! Jesus! Sanctify and purify me! Jesus! Jesus! Please embrace me!

Oh my soul! My soul! rejoice in the Lord! Once I was lost but now I’m found! His Word is my shield and His Spirit my sword

‘Before the foundations of the earth I was assigned to be slain,

I can do all things through Him! Oh my soul! Shout this aloud!

to release you from your strife and your pain,

Rejoice! Rejoice all who can hear me

to bless you in abundance more than the rain,

There really is One who does redeem!

issue three

Amazing love, O what sacrifice The Son of God, given for me My debt he pays, and my death he dies; That I might live, that I might live! As I ponder on the words of this popular song by Graham Kendrick, I am reminded of the extent of God’s love for man personalised to everyone. A sacrificial love that gave by doing something without any external input from the receiver and I dare say, it’s a love that gives life to all who choose to receive it. This type of love is the template on which I want to build; it is the essence of how God shows love and by extension, how he expects His children to show love. There are probably fewer words in the modern English language that have been more distorted, misused, abused and overused than the word ‘love’. As a consequence, the word love has lost its meaning and significance. However, in Greek, the language in which most of the New Testament (NT) was written sheds light on this word love that the English language has not been able to do.

AMAZING LOVE

Feature

When the New Testament was being written, there were four primary Greek words to describe the concept of ‘love’: eros, stergo, phileo and agape. These four words conveyed four very different types of love but one of these is the type of love that the Bible describes in Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the (Holy) Spirit is love... and it is the essence of God for the Bible says in 1John 4:18 ‘... for God is love’. The first Greek word for love is eros - it refers to sexual love and is also where we get the word erotic. In Greek, this word referred to sensual, carnal impulses to gratify the sexual desires of the flesh. It shares a common root with the word erao, which means to ask, to beg, or to demand. This confirms that eros is not a giving type of love. It is not a love that seeks to give or to please someone else, but a carnal love that seeks the fulfilment of its own desires. The second Greek word for love is stergo. It pictures the love that exists between parents and children or the love that exists between members of a family. On some occasions this word can also portray the love of a nation for its ruler and consequently, the real idea of the word stergo is that of devotion. Although the word stergo does appear in the NT, it is very rarely used. We find it used in 2 Timothy 3:3 where the KJV translates it ‘without natural affection’ suggesting that a time will develop in the last days when strong family ties and devotion to one’s family will deteriorate. Apostle Paul warns that one of the principal signs of the last times will be the deterioration of the family and of traditional family values. The third Greek word for love is phileo, which describes affection, such as the affection felt between a boyfriend and a girlfriend or that, which is shared between two friends. It carries the idea of two or more people who feel compatible, well matched and complimentary to each other.

By Kennie Ibikunle

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Our focus is on the fourth Greek word for love, agape, which is the word mainly used in the New Testament to depict the love of God. This is what I call the highest and purest form of love, for there is no more excellent love than agape love. The best example of agape is found in John 3:16, ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life’. In this text, ‘For God so loved the world,’ the word love is the word agape. The human race was so precious to God and He loved man so deeply that His heart was stirred to do something to save man. In other words, God’s love drove Him to action. Agape is a love so profound that it knows no limits or boundaries to the extent it will go to show itself to its recipient. lovequotes |

Love is... the heart of God – Nike

Ablaze

If necessary, agape love will even sacrifice itself for the sake of that person it so deeply cherishes. It’s a selfsacrificial type of love that moves the lover to action. It is a love that has no strings attached. It isn’t looking for what it can get, but for what it can give. This is the profound love God has for the human race, for the Bible says that God loved man when he was still lost in sin with no ability to love God back. Agape love is an amazing love that loves simply and purely – the God-kind of love. It is important that we’ve spent some time understanding these forms of love that the English language could not capture in its definition of love, as it will open our understanding to what true love is in God’s eye. True love, by Biblical definition, must first be directed toward God. Jesus said, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’ (Matt. 22:3738). He tells us, ‘this is first and greatest commandment.’ The second is to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ (vs. 39). If our first commandment as Christians is to love God, it is then important that we know what that means.

What does it mean to ‘love your neighbour’ in the way Jesus commanded us? I cannot show true love to my neighbour without first loving God. Apostle Paul says that it is possible to give all one has to the poor and even sacrifice his life, but have not love. 1 John 3:16 says ‘By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.’ Personally, I used to think this was too tall an order, as I really didn’t feel like dying for just anyone, although I felt I could contemplate doing it for my husband, children or close family members until the Holy Spirit shed some light on it for me in some practical ways. Laying my life down in practical terms then meant that I was willing to lay down my fleshy responses when I am offended or hurt, I didn’t always have to win an argument, I am not looking for what others can do for me, but what I can do for others even if they don’t say thank you. In a nut shell, the Holy Spirit was saying that if I could learn to demonstrate the ‘character’ of love to others as described in 1 Corinthians 13, then I was effectively laying down my life as Jesus commanded. In 1 John 3:18 it says ‘My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.’ The word love here is again the word agape, which tells us that when agape is at work, it is a love so strong that it demonstrates itself with deeds and actions.

I am not looking for what others can do for me, but what I can do for others even if they don’t say thank you. Is my love for God shown through my ‘excitement’ about the Lord? Is it shown through my theological knowledge? Is it shown by my involvement in church activities? All of these things are good, and they should be a result of our love towards God. But there is only one right answer scripturally; Jesus stated the matter plainly, ‘If you love Me, keep My commandments’ (John 14:15). I John 5:3 says, ‘For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.’ To love God is to love and obey His word, His law, and His commandments. Our love for God is only demonstrated by our obedience to His Word. lovequotes |

Another point to note is that, agape love is the love that Apostle Paul urged us to pursue when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 14:1 ‘Pursue love...’ We must hotly pursue it! It must be the focus and aim of our lives.

You may ask, “But how can I demonstrate this agape love? Is it really possible for me to regularly exhibit such love in my life for other people?” What I have found out is that if you try to walk in agape in the power of your ﬂesh, it would be impossible; but because the seed of God’s word has been sown into our human spirit, the potential for this divine love is within us, all the time. Now it is up to us to put our ﬂesh aside. However, if the cry of our heart is the painful cry of someone who has never experienced the pure agape love of God and you can’t even begin to imagine loving yourself or anyone else for that matter, as you read this article I want to assure you that God loves you and His arms are outstretched towards you. If you will receive His love today, your heart will be healed and this will enable you to be the conduit of this love to a heart that needs it.

Love is….. subjective and what we choose it to be. Love is God – Karan

issue three 11

Lifestyle

New Year New You! Love is caring and sharing and there is no better time to express this than over the holiday season when loved ones get together. Gifts are exchanged and people congregate to wish each other well and with this comes food, food and more food! With all the good food comes unwanted calories and subsequent weight gain. It is estimated that on Christmas day alone, people consume as much as three times more than the average man needs a day. A few days later, we enter the New Year and make resolutions. A popular one is to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle than previous years. Many people rush to join gyms, and it has been reported that millions of people take out new gym membership during the ﬁrst two weeks in January. None of this would matter if we turned up to the gyms, but sadly attendance reduces signiﬁcantly as the months go by. By December as much as 2 in 5 people who joined gyms at the beginning of the year have stopped and the whole cycle begins again next January.

By Dr. Chima Oti

Healthy living is a vast and important topic and I intend to answer the questions on the left column over a series of articles. Let us start by determining the ideal body weight. Most people would not have given this much thought, but this could be the first step to healthier living. The term body mass index (BMI) is the most common way to tell how healthy a person is. It is the tool for working out whether you are a healthy weight for your height. This involves a simple calculation – weight (in kilograms) divided by square of height (in metres). For example, a 70 kg man who is 1.78m tall will have a body mass index of 22 i.e. 70/ (1.78 x 1.78). A BMI of 18.5 to 25 considered an ideal body weight for that height. If it falls in the range of 25 to 30 then the person is considered overweight. A person is considered obese if their BMI falls between 30 and 39 and very obese if the number is over 40. Take out time today and work out your BMI and find out if your weight is ideal for your height. Now before you go rushing to pay for a gym membership, think first. A lot of people join gyms because they feel that paying all that money will act as a motivator to keep exercising. If a gym membership is taken out without being thought through, guilt will inevitably set in, when the motivation to keep going wanes. At this stage, people continue with their membership as cancellation may indicate defeat, so they continue to spend money even though the likelihood of turning up diminishes each week. I must confess that I did look into the new gym that has just opened beside my son’s nursery, so I can clearly identify with how some people feel. Staying focused on BMI’s, if you have a BMI of over 25, you need to think about losing weight, as you run an increased risk of developing serious health problems such as heart disease, diabetes and various forms of cancer. There is also an increased risk of arthritis and some people start to feel generally unhealthy. If your BMI is over 30, you need to consider making immediate changes to your lifestyle in order to lose some weight. This should be done safely and your GP should be able to help you with this.

The following questions then arise:

To lose weight by any method you choose requires discipline and it needs to be carefully thought out.

1. Should we be worried about weight gain and what body weight is ideal?

In the next issue of Ablaze, I will talk more about the health problems associated with being overweight and safe methods of losing weight. I wish you all the best in 2008.

2. What are the adverse health effects of excess body weight? 3. What can be done about it?

12 www.hotr.org.uk

If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised here please feel free to contact me via e-mail at ablaze@hotr.org.uk or chimaoti@doctors.org.uk. Dr Chima. A.Oti is a Specialist Registrar in Anaesthetics and Intensive Care Medicine in London.

Ablaze

Book Review Henry Pedro

Sound Bytes Nonye Chidomere

The Richest Man Who Ever Lived: King Solomon’s Secrets to Success, Wealth, and Happiness (Expanded Edition) by Steven K. Scott, WaterBrook Press 2006

It was a crisp Friday lunchtime and my journey to CLC was to peruse the latest offerings and make a purchase. As I was leaving the outlet, a book caught the corner of my eye… the only copy on the shelf, and the subtitle ‘…Secrets to Success, Wealth, and Happiness.’ caught my attention. My first thought was ‘clichéd!’. How many times have I heard such a phrase only to be disappointed? But something inside me told me to flick through the book. So I did. After reading a few paragraphs, I made a quick decision to buy the book and add it to my reading list for the month. It was not until a few days later, reading the foreword and the first chapter that it became obvious that this purchase was money well invested. In my honest opinion, it was the best purchase I could have made for the year amongst all the other purchases that I have made. CDs (and I love music), clothes, gadgets, nothing could beat the purchase of this book. Why? Simply put, the book was a blessing in addressing the character traits that would not only aid my Christian walk but also improve me as a person. The book basically teaches the principles of becoming a better person based on the entire thirty-one chapters of the book of Proverbs. Written by Steven K. Scott, it’s based on his life and how he had failed in all of his jobs in the first six years after attending college no matter how hard he’d tried. After receiving a challenge from Gary Smalley who writes the foreword, for Scott to study the book of Proverbs, Smalley promises Scott that in studying the entire book, he would achieve greater success and happiness than he had ever known. That promise came true for Scott who is now a multi-millionaire. The foreword and the first chapter perfectly set up the mood of the book, its purpose and benefits. Scott gives practical advice throughout the book and uses the illustration of each of Solomon’s insights and strategies with anecdotes about his own personal experiences and that of famous people such as Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates and Steven Spielberg to reinforce the wisdom and teachings found in Proverbs. The book also talks about how Scott was able to understand and breakdown the wisdom of Solomon by ‘cracking’ the Solomon Code - you have to buy and read it to find out what it is. He then transforming it into ‘simple but powerful steps’ that anyone can take in solving any problem and achieving ‘true fulfilment and extraordinary success whether it be at home or at work’.

The Fight of my Life

Kirk Franklin Wow! Kirk has done it again. He never fails to impress!!!! This album (his 11th) is so close to home and addresses the struggles we have as believers in accepting God’s will and purpose for our lives not to mention dealing with faltering faith in the face of trials and adversity. He also introduces an 11 year-old boy (Donovan Owens) in one of the tracks, addressing the plight of our young men with absentee fathers in society today. Kirk, who wrote and produced the album has expertly intertwined all genres of music (you name it; from praise & worship, pop, funk, rap, RnB, rock, hip-pop, jazz) making it appealing to all age groups, especially young people. Needless to say, some of his high profile friends such as Rance Allen, Isaac Carree, TobyMac, Da’ T.R.U.T.H, Doug Williams and Melvin Williams are featured on this album. I must say that Apostle Paul would be so enthralled and proud of the way Kirk has revolutionised Romans Chapter 7 for the Christians in this present era. With a powerful intro that is so spot on and matches the album title and cover, Kirk concludes that “the battle is for the mind and whoever controls your thoughts controls you. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood and as a man thinks so is he”. Tracks worthy of mention include Declaration (This is It), Help me Believe, Hide Me, How it Used to Be, Jesus, I am God, It Would Take All Day, A Whole Nation, Still in Love, I Like Me, Still (In Control) and The Last Jesus. I anticipate yet more accolades in the offing for Kirk but regardless, I was truly blessed and encouraged by the album and I am sure you will be blessed too. So get your hands on a copy. It’s flying off the shelves so fast these days – even after several months of being released....

Although the book was written by an American, it could easily sit along side contemporary wealth-creation classics such as Think and Grow Rich, Rich Dad Poor Dad and The Richest Man in Babylon.

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Love: An Act Of Your Will By Banke Adelano

Love. I guess this is a timely topic to ponder, with recent events just gone by; Valentines Day being in February and Easter this year in March, both of which give us an understanding of love; one as the world deﬁnes it and the other as God deﬁnes it. But the question to ask is: what is love?

The dictionary’s general definition of love is a strong liking for someone or something. It is a strong passionate affection for another person. To feel romantic and sexual desire and longing for somebody. I would like to put it to you though, that Love is in fact an act of your will. It is far more than the butterflies in your tummy when Prince Charming walks into the room! Far more than the flutter of the heart when you see her in that stunning black dress! In fact love is much more than the overwhelming feeling. Indeed, love is simply an act of your will. Love requires you to make a determined and positive effort for it to be executed effectively in the way God expects. We know this because the Bible tells us this in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8, we can see that it infers a need for an active engagement of the will of the person loving. Let’s see what the Scripture says: ‘Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

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It does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never ends.’ Now you’ve probably read this portion of scripture many times and in reading it again, you have done a quick mental checklist on which of the traits you have. Perhaps you hold the view that you are a naturally kind person and as such there is no need to activate your will to be kind, or perhaps people are always telling you how patient you are and how polite and truthful you are! Well, it is good that we can spot things in this scripture that forms part of our make up and personality. However, how many of us can truly say that we have ALL these characteristics? None of us can conﬁdently say that we have all the things described in 1 Corinthians 13. This is not a criticism or a judgement on us; rather it is a simple and real fact.

The moment that Adam and Eve sinned, we took on a sinful nature, we became people, who, even with the best intentions in the world, still missed the mark by a long shot every time. As a result of this historical event which changed the nature of mankind and with the free will of man causing an inevitable struggle between right and wrong, there are just some things we don’t have in our personalities. Without making an actual effort to get these things, showing love would be an impossible task for us. Love is not 2 or 3 traits out of the 16 listed in the above scripture; it is all of these things. The fact is, on our own we lack many things but with God’s grace and His spirit we are able to deal with our shortcomings and seek His face for help. Another reason why love is an act of one’s will is because the greatest impact of love is not actually on the person or thing dear to you. It is in fact on the person or thing that generates in you an utter dislike and to some degree may even generate hatred! Christ said this in Matthew 5:43-44, ‘I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use and persecute you.’ This alone is enough to make the hairs stand on the back of the average person’s neck , as it seems such a difﬁcult thing to do! But the Bible goes further, Paul in Romans 12:14 says almost the same things as Matthew 5. It says ‘bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse’ further down in this same scripture Paul gives the command that ‘if your enemy is hungry feed him, if he is thirsty give him a drink for in doing so you will heap coals of ﬁre on his head’ (Romans 12:20)

This latter scripture emphasises the point about the impact of love. Doing well to an enemy rather than seeking revenge has the kind of impact that might lead the enemy to repentance or at least to take note that there is something distinctive about you. This is the power of real love. You see, you can only be kind to someone who has hurt you and disappointed you when you determine in your heart to do so with God’s grace. You can only truly love when you make that determined effort in your heart to do so, it does not come naturally; it comes from acting upon your will through God’s grace. I would not have given the complete picture of what love is however, without expanding on the point of forgiveness which I believe epitomises what love truly is. That person is Christ. Christ embodies love. Everything He ever did on earth was in love. When He died on the cross, He did it out of love. He took shame, sin, wickedness, hurt, pain and much more upon Himself because He loved us that much and wanted to save us. Even those who killed Him, He still loved and forgave them. When you are able to comprehend how deep the love of God is, you will be able to operate in love according to God’s deﬁnition. You will be able to understand that because we are not perfect as God is, we need His help to love perfectly rather than naturally. And so when next you think of what love really is about, think about it in God’s terms and not on the world’s understanding of it. Remember that love is about our actions that are long lasting and not about our emotions that change as frequently as the directions of the wind. With much love in Christ, Banke Adelano

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Feature

Benazir Bhutto Daughter of the East – A Sacriﬁce of Love By Gabbie Okiwelu

ne of my most favourite taglines is this simple one-liner: ‘fear can hold you prisoner, but hope can set you free’. Its appeal and beauty lie in its simplicity & depth. Unfortunately, fear has become a constant in the world we live in today. We have come to accept fear as being rational and acceptable. Therefore, whether it be fear of the unknown or fear of failure, we are confronted daily by varying degrees of a ‘fear factor’. When what we see as unacceptable levels of fear are reached or exhibited, we then veer into the realm of irrationality and talk of phobias such as Claustrophobia and the tongue twisting Mageirocophobia.

Some birds are not meant to be caged; their feathers are just too bright. And when they ﬂy away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up in the ﬁrst place... does rejoice! Ellis Boyd ‘Red’ Redding (Shawshank Redemption, 1994)

Hope on the other hand is not as celebrated. Despite the fact that there is both strength and freedom to be drawn from hope; many a time in speaking of hope, we merely pay lip service – ‘I hope you are okay’ (Oh, that was simply my ice breaker), ‘I hope you’ll come visit sometime (My siesta is non-negotiable, please stay away), or the classic ‘I will …hopefully’. I don’t know about you but for me, when used in this latter sense, it is almost always meant as a flak jacket. Therefore, if I do not deliver on the goods, I have an escape clause because I said ‘hopefully’. Thus, in a world that is defined by doom and gloom and belief in the very worst that can happen, we are immediately star-struck (at least I am), by those who dare to dream, those who dare to believe, who dare to be different and who dare to hope. The late Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan was one such person. Born in 1953 as Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto to an extremely wealthy land-holding family, Ms Bhutto enjoyed a privileged childhood spending her formative years at a Catholic Convent school despite her Shia-Muslim roots. She then went on to Harvard and Oxford Universities in the United States and United Kingdom respectively where she not only excelled academically, but also made her mark extra-curricularly; bearing the singular honour of being the first Asian female to be elected as chairperson of the prestigious Oxford Union Debating Society.

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Ablaze

About the same time, political changes took place in both Pakistan and Britain – the one, a necessary ally in fostering relations between the West and the Middle-East; the other, a fast emerging European superpower In Pakistan, General Muhammed Zia Ul-Haq had assumed power and introduced martial law. He promoted the islamisation of Pakistan and encouraged private investment to gain local political support. In Britain, Margaret Thatcher had taken over leadership of the Conservatives. She was against the Soviet Union and unrelenting in her opposition of Soviet rule and dominance; It is likely that this hard hitting image struck a chord with Ms Bhutto. On her return to Pakistan; Ms Bhutto was faced with the tough choice of cowering in silence at the injustice of Zia’s government or speaking out and endangering her life. The Nigerian playwright and dramatist Wole Soyinka, in his autobiographical prison diaries The Man Died, upheld free speech as the definitive weapon in fighting political injustice; asserting that ‘the man dies who suffers in silence’. Ms Bhutto certainly subscribed to this philosophy and succeded in increasing followership and support at the grass roots, as she denounced Zia’s government. This effectively launched her political career in 1977 after her father was removed from Government. Unfortunately, the players were mismatched; a female rank outsider seeking to fight an incumbent military government armed only with the innocence of youth (or naiveté) and powered by notions of the political ideals of democracy and free speech which she had discovered in the West and so desperately wanted to import to Pakistan

Understandably, the battle was over long before it even started and Bhutto spent the next 7 years in and out of incarceration. She went on exile in the UK for two years, was appointed Prime Minister in 1988, ousted and then elected to a second term in Office in 1993. Her government was credited with improving Pakistan’s foreign & trade relations and on the home front, working for the advancement of women and women’s rights. But, Bhutto’s two terms in Office were also tainted with allegations of corruption. Her joining forces with Nawaz Sharif, her former arch-rival, against President Musharraf in true my-enemy’s-enemy-is-my- friend style is indicative of her human failings and suggestive of an instinct for self preservation through all and any means necessary. However, Ms Bhutto remained unflinching in her fight for democracy, unwavering in her love for her Country and unfaltering in her hope for a truly free and independent Pakistan throughout her near 30-year political career. She bore the responsibility thrust upon her with grace and stoic resolve and eventually paid the ultimate price. In December 2007, Mr Nawaz Sharif described Ms Bhutto’s death as being not just a sad day for the Nation of Pakistan but indeed the darkest gloomiest day in its history. I cannot agree more! As the airwaves re-echoed with news of Ms Bhutto’s death, I was overcome by a sense of grief – grief at the circumstances of her death and grief that democracy had been dealt a staggering blow. As the conspiracy theories filtered in, I was also plagued by questions of my own and looked to my TV screen for answers. Alas, no answers were forthcoming, at least not from my TV screen! The closest I got to an answer was an admonition from my friend Onny ‘to fight an enemy within, you need also to fight from within’. I have since tried to overcome my pain by watching the drama that is the American Primaries unfold. The next time you read from me, we should have ourselves a clearer picture of who gets to run for Office of the 44th President of the United States of America...hopefully! -

issue three 17

The Lord’s Heritage

Lord’s Heritage

The

GOD IS LOVE

By Olabode Animashaun

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I remember the ﬁrst time I used the word “love”, I was ﬁfteen years old having been smitten by a lovely young girl. Believe me, I felt ten feet tall, not the four feet eleven inches that I was; it was however a surprise to me that she did not feel the same way. I was heartbroken. Looking back, I really did not know what love was. At university, I met a lovely girl whom I thought I was in love with. I paid her a visit at home and on this occasion, I met her father and the following conversation ensued. “Do you love my daughter?” the father asked. He had a stern look on his face. “Yes sir” I replied. He continued, “…enough to die for her?” I was quite scared by this question and stammered as I gave my answer “eh, eh, eh…yes sir, but I’ll rather live for her?” The girl’s father then started to laugh; I guess my answer was very funny but it was also sincere. The truth is, I was not ready to die for anyone.

Ablaze

Many years later after becoming a Christian, looking back, it dawned on me that such a conversation may have taken place in heaven with God telling his son Jesus Christ, to come to earth to die on the cross, a shameful death, in our place. This shows the magnitude of the love God has for us, that he was ready to give up his precious son that we may be saved. It also shows how much Jesus Christ loves us that he was ready to do what His father wanted him to do. As Christians, it is imperative that we let the world know how special the love of God is. The love of God knows no bounds. There is nothing good that He would withhold from us. For He so loved us that He sacriﬁced his only son for us.

At The Lord’s Heritage, we inculcate into our children the need for them to ﬁrst love themselves and then love one another.

õ QUIZ ù Read the following passage and see if you can ﬁll in the blanks. You have some clues to help you out but they have all been mixed up. Good luck! 1

Dear --------, let us --------- one another for -------- comes 4

from -------- ----------- who loves has been ------- of God

Having established this fact, how do we relate this to our children? For children to grow and fulfil their full potential, it is of utmost importance that they are ensconced in a loving environment. It is not enough for them to be loved; they also need to see love being showered on others and they need to be taught to love themselves. We should not in any measure underestimate the importance of love to the development of a child in terms of their self-confidence, self-respect and self worth. At The Lord’s Heritage, we inculcate into our children the need for them to first love themselves and then love one another. The children are also made to realise at a very early age that they are very special, a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and a peculiar people [1Peter 2:9]. We try to ensure that they know who they are. The children need to know that not only are they loved by their parents, they are loved by those that surround them and most importantly, they are loved by God [Matthew 19:14]. Love is the foundation on which the Lord’s Heritage is built. Even those who work in the Lord’s Heritage are there because of the special love they have for children. Encouraging one another and promoting God’s love is the tenet we hold utmost in our hearts; this is reflected in our communication and interaction with the body of Christ. Finally we believe that the children are born with wings; it is our duty to teach them how to fly. Love is the wind under their wings that will make them soar to the heights above.

and they --------- God----------- does not love does not 9

know God, because God is --------. 10

This is how God --------- his love among us. He --------12

his --------- and only --------- into the world that we might 14

--------through Him. 1. This is a four-letter word that means to be familiar with something or somebody. 2. God demonstrated his love for us by sending Jesus Christ. Think of another 5-letter word that also means ‘demonstrated’. 3. This is another word for ‘All’ or ‘Everybody’. 4. The kind of relationship David and Jonathan in the Bible had. 5. Prince Charles is Prince Harry’s father. What is Prince Harry to Prince Charles? 6. God teaches us not to hate people but to do the opposite. 7. The past tense of ‘send’. 8. This is another word for ‘anybody’ and sounds like ‘whosoever’. 9. This word has already appeared 4 times. 10. This Person has 3 personalities – The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit. 11. This is what happened to Baby Jesus at the Inn and we celebrate it on Christmas day and you celebrate yours on your own birthday. 12. If you multiply this number with another number, you still get the same number you multiplied it with. 13. Read the word ‘Evil’ from the last letter to the ﬁrst and you will get a new word. 14. This is what God felt for us and decided to send Jesus to save. us (Read John 16:3).

issue three 19

Love – Unconditional, Sacriﬁcial, Divine and the Spiritual You! A simple message from my heart

By Monica Omobola Bello

When I look around at the world today, I often wonder where Love has gone and if it has a place anymore in our society, and in our lives as individuals. I ﬁnd myself asking this question. Does love not exist anymore? Or, is it that we do not understand the meaning of love? There are many love songs that are written, are being sung and heard, and in most cases, love in itself is linked to a feeling, a desire and a need. Many worldly deﬁnitions are born out of personal experience and observations. When I look around me today, our society, the people around me that I interact with in my walk through this life as a Christian, a mother, a friend, a sister, a worker, a colleague and the list is exhaustive, it is my belief that we do not lack love, but there is a misunderstanding of what love really is.

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To me, it is more than affection, more than sentiments and certainly more than romantic attraction and it is certainly important that we do not mistake “feelings” for love. Lets explore this together. I have come to realize that one of the best gifts that God has given, in His creation of man, is that of sacrificial love. As a Christian, my understanding of love now is based on the promise of a firm foundation, and an original source. If God is not the source of love, nothing can bring us closer to Him or even still, closer to ourselves. If you are not a Christian, but have children, you probably are familiar with that deep-seated love that is so strong that at times you literally ache. A good and loving parent would not hesitate to sacrifice their own life to save their child’s. If you feel that way, and can get in touch with that feeling, then you have inkling of how powerful God’s love, as expressed through Christ, is. I truly believe that we, as human beings, can never have a sustainable loving relationship if it does not come from an overflow of the love that has been freely given and freely received. It is out of the overflow of the love that you have received from God, that you are able to give. If you have not freely received, then you have nothing to give. I now understand that human love is conditional and that sometimes we place on each other an expectation or the burden of responsibility for humans to fill the role of God in our lives and as a result of this, we get our personal relationships, church relationships and every other relationship wrong. An acceptance of God’s love brings gratitude and an acceptance to others. God’s love is truly unconditional. We need to acknowledge that there is only one true love that satisfies and this is the love of God. Once you as an individual are in acceptance of that, then your expectation of another human being fulfilling that role will not be relevant.

Ablaze

Those whose perception is unconditionally loving will receive unconditional love enough for themselves and enough to give to others. The bible tells us that greater love has no one than this…(John 15:13). Jesus was teaching his disciples about His purpose, His mission – to lay down His life as a sacrifice for us. Read the passage in the context of surrounding verses and you see that Jesus was giving us a commandment; to love the same way He loves us. You can actually measure how great your love for others is by whether or not you are willing to love to the point of laying down your life for your friends. God’s love is very powerful as expressed through Christ. “His life as a sacrifice for us”. Sacrificial love is self-sacrifice with the pure motivation to alleviate the suffering of others. Jesus Christ, offered his life to redeem sinful humanity. What deep love. When you decide to follow Jesus there is a sacrifice. That choice is not an easy one and it involves a cost and making some tough decisions. You may find yourself having to give up things to follow Jesus. You may have to sacrifice sleeping with your boyfriend or girlfriend. You may have to sacrifice getting drunk at the weekends and so much more. When we sacrifice something for the benefit of others we extend God’s love to the world and the people around us. I put it to you that to develop spiritually, we must begin to truly love others and stop loving ourselves “only”. Not an easy transformation, but a necessary one if we are to experience eternal love. Human beings are God’s greatest creation in the universe. He loves each of us equally and sometimes we fail to understand and appreciate His boundless love for us.

Loving others than oneself, becoming self-serving and genuinely desiring the happiness of others is a reﬂection of the divine love and wisdom that our Creator has given us. Divine simply means heavenly. We are called to love one another and serve one another with a genuine heart. In Matt 22:34-40, Jesus gives us the divine perspective of the importance of agape love. This then helps us to develop a scripturally correct view of love. I Corinthians 13:4-8, 13b. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not selfseeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails. Here’s the challenge. How do you want to be remembered? As someone who was out for themselves or as someone who always saw the best in people? As someone who put others first or as someone who helped other people? What about me? What do I need to do to show sacrificial love to the people around me? Simply put, love unconditionally and sacrificially. Very tall order but not an impossible task. Sometimes, we think we have to put effort into love because our heart is perhaps not open to everyone on this planet. But love is easy. It is not an effort of will or determination. One thing I do know is I cannot grit my teeth and love at the same time. Bringing it home, the message simply is this, we must love the un-deserving. Even Christians can be hard to love and that is the reality. But, we must love in the spiritual growth of oneself and another, independently of reward or the behaviour of others. Unconditional, sacrificial, divine and spiritual love is love that continues regardless and in our love to one another, the world must be able to glimpse His surpassing love.

issue three 21

Feature

Love is... By Gabbie Okiwelu

Largely misconstrued, often misunderstood and no less loosely defined Full of contradiction and controversion – a plain but yet intricate emotional blend Often abused, regularly berated, sometimes a bit chary and at other times, most daring Emotive, characterised by fervour, overt gestures and dare I say, a bit of hankering Very seldom insistent on its own way but is just, patient, kindly and forgiving A ‘good faith’ contract of offer and acceptance which when nurtured, is enduring Exhilarating – energising the weak and invigorating the faint hearted Strengthening the weary, serenading the distressed and soothing the broken hearted Inexplicable – aggrandised in adversity, calm in crises, triumphant in tribulation Not deterred by difficulties, not put off by put downs, not vexed by vexation Seeing the good, weeding out the bad, chiselling off the rough and beautifying the ugly Knowing when to speak or be silent, looking beyond the façade, avoiding the illusory Unwavering, unrelenting and unflinching as the 3 Hebrew boys and God’s love for me Voracious and wildly intoxicating as the love for money, power, position or fame Not about admiration, fascination, glorification or idolisation So much more – a delicately woven tapestry, an artfully drafted composition Exemplary – when we show love, we sow love Holding on when all else fails, keeping faith when no one else does New every morning, stronger with the passage of time As wine that matures gradually, titillating the palates, one taste bud at a time Demystifying mysteries and simplifying complexities Christ’s birth, death, resurrection and ascension - his deity Impassive to impossibilities and loathing of limitations Believing and hoping in all things – democracy, peace and understanding among Nations Never ending, never doubtful, never tired Purposeful, resolute, unyielding, unshaken and never stirred Giving your all and your best for as long as it takes If it hurts and when it hurts Some say, It is better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all But I say It is best to love and be loved in turn, because true love conquers all!

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Ablaze

Notes from a

Cyber-Diary Keno Ogbo

The website was set up by Gary Chapman, the author of the New York Times bestseller, ‘The Five Love Languages’. PS: The ﬁve love languages are: words of afﬁrmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. CHOICE SITE http://www.streetbrand.com/

Love is in the air... We all seem to think that February is the month of love. In fact, activity on internet dating websites rapidly increases in the weeks coming up to the ‘much anticipated’ Valentine’s Day - which in truth is only really ‘much anticipated’ by card and gift shops. Valentine’s Day does give an opportunity to show and receive love. However, 1 Corinthians 13 seems to take a long term view of love which has little to do with red roses and chocolates. These excerpts from my cyber diary introduces websites that are committed to helping love increase gradually over time rather than promoting a one day wonder cure. Friendly advice to men: red roses and chocolates on February 14th greatly smoothen the way to long term love, so get with it!! http://www.family.org/ Focus on the Family and the ministry of Dr James Dobson has helped millions of couples ﬁnd fulﬁlment in their marriages and family lives. Their website supports this work by providing help and articles on six different channels: relationships and marriage, parenting, faith, entertainment, life challenges and social issues. This one stop website has an excellent range of resources. You can even register to customise your home page and sign up for a range of e-newsletters. For information closer to home, also bookmark the ‘care for the family’ website at www.careforthefamily.org.uk.

If you have teenage children or know any young people, the February love guide from Streetbrand media is one not to be missed. Features include: Valentine’s Day shopping ideas for him and her; Confessions of a Christian serial dater; An interview with author Christa Ann Banister; What I wish I knew about love when I was… Your favourite Christian personalities share some life lessons; So what’s so good about sex in marriage? -Three couples tell us; How do I know if he/she is the one? - Finding love the Godway; Romantic evangelism - Are you a mission dater? Plus lots of items to give away. Bonus link Are you single? Check out the updated Spiral Guide for Single Christians for links to Christian dating sites, events, initiatives and information. www.spiraluniverse.org

http://www.ﬁvelovelanguages.com/ Although primarily set up to promote the author’s books, this website has a great 30 seconds quiz entitled ‘Looking at ways that people reﬂect and receive love’. The assessment examines the various ways people respond to expressions of love. Once you identify your primary response, the quiz links you to a short excerpt from the book which analyses your behaviour and also provides practical tips for you and your partner.

Contributor notes Keno Ogbo is the founder of www.spiraluniverse.org, a unique online directory and networking forum providing free classiﬁed adverts for Christians. In creating the site, she found herself spending well over 20 hours a week on the internet and believes that the internet presents a ‘parallel world’ that can inform and affect every area of our everyday life.

issue three 23

Souls Behind the Service

ONE FLESH The One Flesh vision is to challenge every marriage to be a true reflection of Christ and the church One Flesh is the London Lighthouse arm of ministry that caters for the peculiar needs of married couples, both home and abroad. From its inception in 2000, the Couple’s Fellowship as it was then known has remained strong even in the face of the very same vicissitudes that have affected the church generally, largely bordering on the repeated venue moves over the years. It was relaunched and rebranded in 2004 as One Flesh, and has recently taken on parental responsibilities of the Marriage Advisory Board, which is the team dedicated to facilitating the wedding ceremonies of all church members, officiated in London by HOTR ministers. The One Flesh vision is to challenge every marriage to be a true reflection of Christ and the church according to Ephesians 5:26. To this end, One Flesh meets every month for a variety of activities, and it currently has an active core membership of 20 couples, and an executive team of 4.

How to have a Romantic Marriage by Pastor Bimbo Odukoya

When you think about romance, what comes to mind is someone who makes your day, makes you happy and fulfilled. When you think about marriage, you think about a blissful life, heaven on earth. Some people wonder why we have to bring spiritual things into LOVE. It cannot be separated because living a romantic life is knowing how to obey God. Proverbs 18:22 says that “he that finds a wife finds a good thing”. Deuteronomy 30:19 also says “I call heaven and earth as witness against you, that I have set before you, life and death and blessing and cursing, therefore choose life that you may live.”

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In the Bible, when the lawyer asked Jesus “what can I do to have eternal life”? He replied, love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might, and love your neighbour as yourself. Another scripture says that love is a fulfilment of the law. If there is no law, there cannot be love. Yet love is so difficult, it can cause you so much pain. It seems so easy, but it is the most difficult thing, to love another human being you need to be submissive to God. Why is marriage said to be the most difficult institution ever established and how can love be difficult? Someone said, “Marriage is demanding, that is, it takes everything in you to be able to give, express and receive love.” The way to heaven, that is, the way to having the greatest pleasure is narrow and difficult and the way to hell is wide. A man or woman who does not know how to submit to God cannot have a good marriage. Ephesians 5 inferrs, to have a good marriage you must have two people committed to doing things Gods way, saying things God’s way, responding in Gods way in spite of the fact that the spouse is doing everything wrong, and despite what he or she feels or thinks. Marriage shows each other’s nakedness. You will be exposed to the nakedness of your spouse both spiritually and intellectually in every respect. The reason why you are called to see the weakness is because you are to build. If you are not submissive to God, you will criticize, pull down, and disrespect your spouse for the very weaknesses that God called you to strengthen in them. It takes the Spirit of God to submit to and love your spouse regardless of what they do or are doing. The highly romantic man or woman therefore is one who knows Jesus and does the work of the Father. Growth in God is a growth in your love walk. It is difficult to have a romantic marriage without God because romance comes from the spirit and not the body. Proverbs 6:16-19. The seven things that God hates are the things that would seep romance from the marriage, namely a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift to running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies and one who sows discord amongst brethren. As we grow in love, we grow in the spirit and we are a lot more poised to be the romantic spouse that our spouses expect us to be.

Ablaze

London Community News By Anita Amaefuna

Race for Life Race for Life has kicked off again across London since 7th May and continues until 20th July. Many of you have probably heard of this event or have sponsored people that have taken part. This women-only event is organised by the UK’s leading charity, Cancer Research and gives women, young and old alike, the opportunity to raise money for cancer research. Race for Life is a 5000 kilometre race and can be completed by walking, running or jogging. There is an entry fee for this event which covers the costs in organising and running your Race for Life event. If you want to show your support for this charity and are unable to take part, you can show your support in other ways by sponsoring a friend, family member or colleague who is taking part or making a donation online. Since it began, millions of women have raised over £200 million work from their Race for Life events. This has been a significant in helping Cancer Research beat cancer and save lives. Here are some examples: • Almost two thirds of women diagnosed with breast cancer now are likely to survive for at least 20 years. When Race for Life first began, less than half this number could expect to survive this long. • The death rate from bowel cancer has dropped by over a quarter in the last 14 years. • The incidence rate for cervical cancer has dropped by 30 per cent over the last ten years, largely due to screening. Cancer Research UK contributed to the development and improvement of cervical screening. This year Cancer Research hopes to raise £50 million to support the work of scientists, doctors and nurses in finding new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer. Cancer Research UK and Race for Life have made a significant achievement in preventing cancer and improving survival for those diagnosed with the disease. If you are interested in supporting this Charity either as a participant in Race for Life or through a donation, you can find out more on the following web link http://www.raceforlife.org

(Taken from the Cancer Research UK website)

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Touching The Community

TOUCHING THE COMMUNITY

Missionar y Trip to India The aim of this trip was to encourage members of House on the Rock to get out of their comfort zone and think of other ways to express their faith. People showed their support for the vision by giving generously and helping in whatever ways possible. This journal gives a brief account of their experiences on the trip. Day 1 We arrive at Terminal 4 Heathrow Airport; a little apprehensive that our luggage will be overweight because of the extra things we had packed. God grants us favour and our bags are checked in with no hassles!! As we eat breakfast, Gwyneth shares a testimony about her visit to Holy Trinity Brompton Church to purchase books for the trip. She describes how she manages to persuade the shop attendant to re-open the shop (even though she had closed up) and sell her the books. Unbeknown to her, three people behind her had overheard the conversation and proceeded to pray for her. They prophesied that a path would open up for the team and that God was excited about the trip, confirming the same word Pastor Omawumi Efueye had given at service earlier in the day. The team were encouraged. The flight to Mumbai went well but due to an error on our tickets, we called again on God and Pastor Kayode’s technology expertise to get the connecting flight to Goa. On arrival Pastor Paul Marsh Malkani met us, originally from Bromley Kent, he has been with Mission India for two years. The missions group had two apartments, one of which is a newly built bungalow, originally built as a family home but given as a gift to further the work of the kingdom. A few weeks before our arrival, the monsoon rains caused the roof of the bible school (also their former accommodation) to collapse, leaving them homeless. The bungalow has replaced what they lost and is in a much better part of town – God is truly faithful!

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Later that evening, we attended a house fellowship at the bungalow and met the rest of the team. We worshiped and prayed for members of the group and words of knowledge and prophecy were used to encourage the group. Day 2 This was the ﬁrst of our daily visits to the Children’s Ministry, run by a group of North American Missionaries. We were warmly received and encouraged to take part in all the activities. The Ministry involved teaching the children about Christ in song and stories with a time for colouring, play and learning some English. Our next stop was the home of a member of Mission India’s house groups. He had lost his mother shortly before we landed in Goa. The pastors prayed and encouraged the mourners. The opportunity was ripe to also talk about the Lord and a brief message on salvation was given. For the remainder of the afternoon we did some sightseeing where we saw the rich architecture and Old Catholic churches that now lie empty as monuments of the past.

Later in the evening, we attended a house fellowship in Margao at the home of a brother called Alsino. Various people seeking to know more about Christ attended the fellowship. Goa is a stronghold for Catholics and a number of born again believers have been persecuted by the Catholics and some even beaten to death. In one of the Cathedrals lies the Casket of Saint Francis Xavier (a Catholic missionary

in the 16th century) – we were told his coffin is brought down once a year for Catholics to pay homage. The sad truth is that the great monuments built to represent Christianity have taken the place of Christ and become idols of worship. As we continued our journey, we stopped at a beach in Candela that was packed with people. Many were receptive to hearing the gospel, particularly the young men. We distributed literature, spoke to families and used their curiosity about us, how we looked and where we were from to share the gospel. Having not seen many people of African descent, we were often asked to have our pictures taken! Before we left some made commitments and accepted Christ as their Lord and Saviour. On the way home, we stopped to visit a family who had grown weary in the work of God and stopped fellowshipping with other believers. We shared scriptures with this family, prayed against the spirit of depression and discouragement. We sowed into the family using some of the money donated by the House on the Rock members. Day 3 We tell the children the story of Zacchaeus and how he changed when he invited Jesus into his life. We told the story of creation and the children are invited to accept Jesus as their personal Saviour. They were also taught about different ways to worship God, which was a very interactive and joyful experience. Later in the evening, we attended a house fellowship in Margao at the home of a brother called Alsino. Various people seeking to know more about Christ attended the fellowship. Paul had asked Pastor Kayode to talk about healing in particular on that day, as a lot of people were sick. We planned some activities with the children for the next day before turning in for the night. Day 4 The House on the Rock team split up - the ladies minister in the Children’s Ministry and Pastor Kayode and Paul went off to do some door-to-door evangelism and invite the neighbours to the evangelistic film show of Luke’s Gospel later in the evening. The ladies taught the children more songs and acted out a short sketch showing how Jesus called the first two disciples when they were fishermen. They could relate to this as many lived in fishing villages. We took pictures with the children and promised to send back to them. issue three 27

Touching The Community

The team joined up together at a Christian bookshop to buy books and fellowship with the owner. He told us how a few years back, there were very few Christian bookshops and he was looking forward to opening more branches so the material could reach many people. We found out the ministry had been living by faith on a budget of £250 a month. When they started 2yrs ago they had a bicycle and God later blessed them with a motorbike. Now they had been blessed by House on the Rock to get a van. Paul said he was very grateful to God and the generosity of the church. Later that evening, we showed the evangelical film of Luke’s Gospel on a laptop and this was of interest to those seeking to know more about God. Pastor Kayode spoke briefly at the end and we prayed for people. Day 5 Our day started very early and we travelled by van to visit a Pastor who was holding a house fellowship in Sanguim. One of Paul’s main initiatives is to set up various house groups across Goa and use them as a means to spread the gospel. On arrival at the village of Sanguim, we entered a room filled with people (young and old) who had been invited to come and hear the message of Christ.

woman. Another woman had chronic pains in her arm due to the nature of the manual work she was doing to support her family of three – sadly; her husband had also left her. Alcoholism is rife in Goa amongst young men and we had to pray for many families who had been separated due to this spirit. One other key issue noticed, was that the people were very religious and some had very little understanding of the finished work of Christ. It is common practice for people to mix Catholic and Hindu beliefs together – this is their understanding of true faith. With the power of God, we were able to pray and plant the seeds that would break the yoke and bondage of the enemy. We also prayed against the spirit of poverty, as there were many poor amongst the group. Paul mentioned that he needed people to help spread the gospel and teach in similar villages like Sanguim as there are a lot of areas in the north of India that have not been touched with the message of Christ. Despite the open persecution some Christians face, India is very ripe for the gospel. As we left to return to Colva, the van finally gave up the ghost and refused to start! We headed to the bus station and had our first ride on public transport, which was an interesting experience. The day ended with a meal, a good time of sharing and laughter. Day 6 This was Pastor Kayode’s last day in Goa and he preached prior to leaving and getting his plane back to London. He prayed for the nation and gave words of encouragement to the ministry. After service, several testimonies were shared.

Praise and worship was in Hindi, English and Konkani. Following this, House on the Rock team blessed the believers with an evening meal, after which they carried us home on their scooters. Pastor Kayode preached a message to the group about salvation. Some people gave their lives to Christ. Gwyneth also gave a speciﬁc word of encouragement to the women. The team were then asked to pray for the sick and for people going through difﬁcult situations. The women present particularly sought out the ladies in the House on the Rock team to pray with them. Pastor Kayode prayed for some of the women with various needs. One of the women had a daughter who was very ill and had been turned away by the hospitals because she didn’t have the money to pay for an operation. Her husband had also left her for another 28 www.hotr.org.uk

George spoke about when he was attacked in North India by Hindus, and thought he was about to be killed. However, two men came to rescue him as he prayed for help. He marvelled at the fact that as a big man, two small Hindu men were able to carry him to safety. He described himself as feeling completely light as the men who saved him lifted him. Another brother, told about an incident during a Christian march where some anti-Christians hired some youths to stand on a hill and throw broken glass down on the Christians as they passed.

As the youths attempted to do this, their hands froze and they were unable to attack the Christians. As a result, many of those young people became born again Christians. Later, we bade Pastor Kayode goodbye and attended the evening service. Praise and worship was in Hindi, English and Konkani. Following this, House on the Rock team blessed the believers with an evening meal, after which they carried us home on their scooters. Day 7 We say goodbye to the American missionaries and the children leaving behind the rest of the Christian materials we bought for them. They asked us to sing songs in our language, so we sang some choruses in Yoruba and some with a Caribbean ﬂavour. We prayed together and promised to pray for each other and stay in touch.

Ablaze

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Slum areas and poverty

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The people we met (Rajesh, Alsino, Wolsey, George etc…)

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Healing Ministry, praying for the sick

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Goa time – the people were so relaxed

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Tandoori chicken/ﬁsh at the 49’ers (we ate here almost every evening, the service was appalling but the food was great!)

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Little Hindu boy who made a cross and became a Christian – His mother (still a Hindu) referred to him as the ‘Jesus boy’

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People who accepted Christ

The poverty of the village deeply affected us. The children taught us choruses in Hindi and we sang some together in English. After the ﬁlm the children were given the opportunity to invite Christ into their lives.

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Spontaneous meetings (reminded us of the early church) / house groups

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Church persecution - being made aware/George’s & Gerald’s testimony

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People’s hunger for the word / seeking God and the truth

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God’s protection nobody got sick/harmed

We say goodbye to the American missionaries and the children leaving behind the rest of the Christian materials we bought for them.

The trip to India was a wonderful experience - we were reminded of the things we take for granted in the West and given a fresh perspective on life. “Godliness with contentment is great gain!” Whilst it is God’s will for us to prosper, it is also His desire for us to seek ﬁrst the kingdom of God.

We then went to Margo to meet a brother from the house group, who took us to the shopping area and market. We ate together and paid a brief visit to his family before leaving. The team then rested for a couple of hours. An evangelistic ﬁlm was shown that evening in Birla, a slum area, where there is little water and electricity. This was held at a home of the only Christian in that village – someone who had graduated from the Bible school.

We had our last meal in Goa on the beach before retiring to bed, and preparing to leave the following day. Day 8 We bid our goodbyes to the Mission India team, took pictures and head back to London.

There are multitudes of unsaved people in the world – India, the world’s second most populous country, has its fair share of this number with an estimated population of 1.12 billion. God was faithful in allowing us to serve Him; we were indeed watered and God opened up a way for us to do His will. We saw why God was excited about us going to Goa and believe this will be the start of many future trips supported by HOTR. Thank you for reading, some more to come in the next issue.

Epilogue… All thanks to God, the team returned home safely and met up later that week to reﬂect on events, incidents and emotions of the trip. Some of the things that stood out for us on the trip were:

House on the Rock Missions Team are Pastor Kayode Adisa, Gwyneth Boynes, Ngozi Nwadia, Sonja Warden and Tayo Olagunju.

issue three 29

What We Should Be Talking About

What we should be talking about...

What is The Bible Experience?

Inspired By The Bible Experience is a 70-hour dramatic audio performance of the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation.

Barack Obama vs Hilary Clinton

The first Black president or the first Female president? Either way if the United States democratic party have their way - history is about to be made. Why should you care? – Well the American President is traditionally seen as the most powerful ‘man’ in the world. We are all still living with the consequences of decisions that American presidents in the past have made and now the world is poised to witness the reign of a candidate that represents so much more than just a political party. Is society really ready for such a paradigm shift? Critics say that no matter how much attention these new wave candidates are getting, America will never vote either of them into office. Who knows, we can just wait and see; if history has taught us anything, it is that we should never make the mistake of counting the underdog out.

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This project of biblical proportions is done by 80 black celebrities reading, singing and performing background music to the Bible. In all, more than 250 cast members, all African American, contributed to the project. Listeners will be able to hear Denzel Washington and his wife, Pauletta, give voice to Solomon’s Song of Songs, Robert Guillaume build the ark as Noah and Angela Bassett portray the clever Jewish heroine Esther. Producers hope the all-star cast of The Bible Experience will attract younger listeners who avoid the printed page like a biblical plague. “They have fan bases who will check out anything they do, even if it means listening to the Bible,” said Kyle Bowser, one of four Los Angeles executive producers. Just released by Zondervan, “The Bible Experience” assembles some of Hollywood’s top talent and renowned clergy to bring the Bible to listeners’ CD and MP3 players. Underwood as Jesus, Samuel L. Jackson as God and Cuba Gooding Jr. as Judas are among the stars who bring the Good Book to life along with Bishop T.D. Jakes, TV personality Star Jones Reynolds and recording artist Donnie McClurkin. The all-black cast was designed to attract an urban audience as well as other fans of some of Hollywood’s biggest draws. Producers also wanted to break the traditionally white mold of most Hollywood Bible productions. “We said it’s high time this community have an opportunity to represent itself as part of that experience,” said Bowser, a veteran TV and ﬁlm producer.

Burnt Roses When love first assails you, It has the tender intensity of the fragrance of roses, The gentle compulsion of a soft summer breeze. But as time goes on, it becomes all consuming And we, we become like pious priests at a temple, Stoking the fire of our most sacred desire at love’s altar; Offering up, as incense, like priests of the calibre of Moses, The sweet fragrance of burnt roses. But Love is not content with offerings of mere garlands at His feet, Rather, He craves the sweet meat of the priest upon the altar. For the more sacred sacrifice of self, alone, will sate His hunger. Ngozi Ikeyina © June 2005

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issue three 31

Solomon’s Corner

Solomon’s Corner Wisdom is the principal thing...

Q: How can I be sure that I’m in Love? How do you really know that you’re in love? I’ve been with my girl for almost a year now. She is pretty, funny and very caring. Most of the time things are ﬁne and I’m happy enough. However, if I am to be honest, there is no real passion there. I remember past relationships that used to excite me much more than this one does. Women that I could never stop thinking about and I would do crazy things just to be around. Should I end things here in search of greener pastures or just settle for my comfortable relationship.

A: My head is screaming with so many questions, the loudest one is ‘how old are you?’ Your dilemma reads like someone who is still quite young and is therefore prioritising emotional highs over companionship. Love is not a feeling, it is a decision; one that you make every single day. The highs you remember from those past relationships cannot be sustained for a long time. I would wager that this is the longest relationship you have been in and the truth is you are simply embarking into more mature territory. At this level, you go beyond how your partner makes you ‘feel’. What you need to ask yourself is “what do I want” and “why”. If passion is solely what you’re after, you’re clearly not ready for the reality of a real relationship. Passion is ﬂeeting. It’s the person that will stand by your side in the most tedious of moments; that’s the woman that should make your heart skip a beat.

Q: Money Money Money This is a rich man’s world and I’m sick of it. I can’t seem to get a break, everything I seem to put my hand to, ends up failing and I’m ready to just quit at this point. When I hear people talking about the God of provision – I can’t help but wonder if I’ve got the wrong God. Because – brace yourself- I don’t feel provided for.

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I believe he loves the sparrows more than me, because yes they always seem to have enough, but I can’t make the same claim. I’m sick of seeing others prosper, while I line up to sign on week in week out. Go on.. preach to me now…

A: I’m not going to preach to you. You seem to know enough word – well at least to be able to complain about what you lack. I’m just wondering, do you pay as much attention to the parts of scripture that speak of sowing? I didn’t say struggling, I said sowing. Ok, how about the parts that speak of having a pure heart? rejoicing with others? being thankful? etc. Any of those ring a bell. It strikes me as problematic when Christians chastise and berate God “for not coming through” when in reality we are trying to play him for a fool. “God you said you would give me this and this and this.. well here I am, with my bucket.. come on down”. Our God is a faithful, and just God but above all else, he is a God of principle and process. He can not be mocked. When things are not working right in our lives.. sorry to say it… but we have to look to ourselves; why? Because he doesn’t change. Watch this same sparrow you are comparing yourself to. He knows process, he honours it. Can you say you do the same? Are you in a relationship with God for what he can give you or for who he is. Ok let me break it down further; would you want to be with someone that treats you the way you treat God? Are your motives pure? Do you spend time just celebrating who he is, or does your “give me now list” take up the full 5mins you spend in prayer? Let’s get real for a minute and stop pimping God. Why settle for a quickie when you can marry him and indulge for eternity.

SOWING THE SEED OF

POETRY By Davelyn Thompson

In our current society, some people may look at the world and see it deteriorating. Nations are ﬁghting, families are dividing and people are dying, so it is difﬁcult to recognise love, let alone digest the reality of God’s love. Every February 14th, members of society try to recapture what love really is. Men rush out to buy the reddest roses and women are given the opportunity to recapture and feel how the media and their environment depict love. With all of this going on, trying to explain to someone that the love of God is deeper than any red rose and longer than any 24 hour day is almost impossible. This is because the challenges within our society cause us to ask the question, “Where is God’s love?” From the beginning of time God’s love was present. It was present when He created Adam and Eve, present when He sent Jesus to die, and is presented to us through His words in the Bible. What people do not realise is that God loved us so much that He made it possible for all people regardless of race and creed to read the Bible and experience His love on a daily basis. The words within the Bible are God’s own hand-picked words and promises, given to be sown into our ears and hearts. Every time you open the Word to seek solace or to just bask in the wonder of God, realise that God is providing you a helping hand that promises to ‘make the dry land springs of water’ Isaiah 41 v 18. Yet in order for that to be accessed you need to know how to access the tap and for many this is not easy. Jesus said ‘he who has ears to hear, let him hear!’ For many of us, when we read that verse we smile widely and pat ourselves on the back because we know that this verse refers to us. Yet, for others, the same does not apply. It is not that they do not want to hear, but when the sower was sowing His seeds ‘some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it’. The gate of these same peoples hearts are open wide for the birds of life to come and devour what God had attempted to sow. This suggests that we need a new way to communicate the Word in order for it to be understood and kept in hearts and minds.

Poetry is a creative form that does just this and Christian poets are emerging and taking God’s word to the microphone. They are doing this in an attempt to make the many promises that are written down in the Bible digestible and clear for those who are not fully able to grasp the seed. The use of poetry is nothing new to God; the Bible is infused with poetic language and metaphors that grace the pages. But, sometimes all the Thee’s and Thou’s can make it difﬁcult for people to understand what God is communicating about His Love. Due to this realisation, under the Outreach directorate of House on the Rock, Poesy is back! The Poesy team, which comprises of Bola Fakorede, Samiat Pedro, Egbe Osakue, Henry Pedro and Davelyn Thompson, all believe in the Word of God and the power that is within it to change lives and reveal what real love is. Poesy will be hosting a series of public poetry and jazz nights for its members, members of the church and acts from all over London to perform exciting poetry and music whilst spreading the true Word of God. Similarly, it is the respect that both Christians and non-Christians have towards poetry that will ensure that the usual barriers will be broken and thus creating a laid-back and inviting atmosphere. The poetry and jazz events will comprise of a mixture of exciting themed poetry nights including: Cultural Night, Open Mic Night, the Poetry Slam, Sketches, and Comedy & Dance on selected nights. The spirit-led vessels will use their creative minds to produce work that will reach out to the nations, plough the land (the minds of people) and sow a seed in a hope that a proper relationship and realisation about Jesus Christ will be birthed. Come and be blessed.

Gift Box A love like His is so beautiful and pure. I feel His love reaching my innermost parts. Moving in circular motions to reach the heart, entwining a tight knot around the arteries, ﬁlling up my whole body. Filling up my heart. One soft word –‘beloved’ And the next calm word -‘my child’ stir up an aching to be near Him as His love allows me to give up the pretence of independent strength. Prepare me oh Lord and cause my eyes to see Your love that you will place neatly in my lap like a gift box ready to be unwrapped. Unwrap my heart oh Lord so that when your gift comes I’m able to wear your love like a jacket, zipped up, ready to face the cold.

issue three 33

Feature

What’s Love Got To Do With It? By Ngozi Ikeyina

Love is hackneyed. Even the notion of love as an overused thing is itself worn out and wasted. That’s why I don’t like writing about love. What can be said that hasn’t already been said? How can everything that has been said about love from the conception of man be improved upon? I have trapped myself in a corner with these words now. My readers are expectant or maybe so unconvinced by my opening that they have flipped over to the next page in the hope of finding an article about something less insipid. But don’t be deterred by my apparent cynicism. I am, in fact, a great consumer of the doctrine of love. To me it is not trite at all, just, dare I say, misunderstood. Perhaps it would help if we could come to some consensus as to what love really is. Margaret Atwood is quoted as saying that “Eskimos have 52 words for snow because it is so special to them; there ought to be as many for love!” I think that would just add to the confusion. As it is, we hardly know what we mean when we use the word love. “I love you” is as baffling a statement as “I don’t love you anymore”. Is it a thing you just tumble in and out of, this love thing? Is it the sort of love that makes a woman enthuse over shoes or chocolate? “I love shoes!” she gushes, or “I love chocolate!” and, following on from that, “I love you”. Does that mean she wants to wear you out and discard you or worse still chew you up and toss away the wrapper?”

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There appears to be another brand of love. The love that pulsates unabated for all of ten years and then disappears, leaving two bemused lovers with nothing else to say but, “I don’t know what happened, we just sort of grew apart” and (the clincher) “we will always be best friends”. What kind of love is this? The brand of love that burgeons, matures and then dies of natural causes? I once read an article about a pair of superstars who had fallen victim to this brand of love and were left to explain the exact nature of their failed marriage to the world and the particular circumstances that brought about the death of the love they once shared. The article suggested that when the ill-fated couple went into marriage, they had the notion that they were embarking upon a journey and they would just “see where it leads them”. I often wonder whether they worked that into their wedding vows. “I take you to be my lawful wedded wife, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health…till, well, let’s just see how it goes.” In the words of rock legend Tina Turner “what’s love got to do with it?” What indeed! English language does not lack words for this thing that we have erroneously labeled love. Words like attraction, lust, affection, obsession and desire would do nicely. These, like the straw huts of fables, are built on whimsy: the sweetness of a woman’s smile, the brightness of a man’s eyes, the glow of a woman’s skin, a particular pitch or tone of voice, an impeccable manner of speaking, wit, charm and all the sorts of things that cause a certain giddiness or light-headedness that is at once magical and confusing and thus branded as love.

Love is tireless. Love is commitment. It is a willingness to go the distance. Jesus went all the way. Sometimes we build these emotions on something a little more substantial like, friendliness, supportiveness and good-naturedness. But, like the house of sticks in the fairy tale, it still only takes one huff, puff and blow from the big bad wolf to bring the habitation of these very potent emotions crashing to the ground.

A love that is impervious to the wiles of wolves and undiminished by age. From this love I have learnt three things: Love is baseless. It is founded on nothing and therefore it is indestructible. By this I mean the object of its affections does not fuel it. You do not need to do anything to earn this brand of love. In Paul’s letter to the Romans he points out that “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Love is tireless. Love is commitment. It is a willingness to go the distance. Jesus went all the way. He knew that there was no other way to save us but to exchange His life for our own and that is how far he was willing to go. All the way to the bitter end, to taste the sweet “joy” – our salvation – “that was set before Him”. Love is selﬂess. Again, Paul points out that Christ did not consider himself when He poured out His passion on the Cross. Rather He “despised the shame”. He disregarded pride, dignity, the bruising of the ego, the worthlessness of the object of his affections and mankind’s propensity to sin and said, “I will pay the price”. That is love for you. I love you means: “You will always have another chance with me” “You will always have grace with me” “You will always ﬁnd favour with me” “I will consider your needs above mine” “I will always forgive you” “I will go the extra mile for you” “I am with you till the end”. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13) “I don’t love you anymore” is an anomaly. Ngozi Ikeyina © Feb 2008 “Ngozi Ikeyina is a member of SALT (Single And Living Today), the singles’ fellowship of House on The Rock. SALT vision is for every single person to achieve his/her full potential in Christ and to grow up to Him in all things. For more information on SALT please contact Jide Bada @ babaj2000@yahoo.com”

The ultimate model of love has got to be the unquenchable passion that Christ exhibited on the cross. Now that is love that endures, stands the test of time, does not shirk responsibility and does not get sidetracked by giddiness.

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Business

Running my business and loving it! By Ndidi Okezie

So many of us think about it, dream about it and some even attempt to actually do it! Yet there are few people that can claim to have made a real success of running their own business. Consequently when we see a young, black man doing something positive with his life – we are compelled to celebrate and turn the spotlight on him. All in the hopes that someone out there can see his example and realise that you can break through the conﬁnement of your past; a good mantra to live by is “excuses are for the inherently lazy” Regardless of his start in life, a real man (you too ladies) will continuously strive to carve out a positive legacy for himself. “Motivated” “A Forward Thinker” “Humbled” These are all words used to describe Ike Okosa; a young entrepreneur that over the past decade has turned a passing interest in graphic design into a thriving business that is set to expand with a second store location. Ablaze met with this dynamic individual to see what type of passion it takes to really escape from the rat-race and be your own boss. 36 www.hotr.org.uk

Tell us about your business I am the founder and director of ‘Swoop Media’; A one stop – all service design company. We are the connoisseurs in the world of design, print and web solutions. Other companies specialize in design and print, web design or hosting. We are unique because we do all the above at expert level, all within house. With over a decade of experience we are all about customer satisfaction, whether the client is a small individual or a large corporation, we have experience at both spectrums and regardless of the scale of the job; clients are treated with the same professionalism and integrity. Tell us a little bit about your background: I’m of Nigerian – Igbo heritage but I was born and raised in London England. I am the middle child with 3 sisters and 1 brother. My parents were very conscious of raising us with a strong connection to our heritage and I’m thankful for that. My culture, language and history mean a great deal to me. I graduated with a BSc in Computer Science and Business. It was at university that I started my first business. How did you get into design? It was a really random beginning. A friend was organising an event and I told him that I could design flyers. I hadn’t actually ever done it before, but I figured – how hard could it be? He asked me to design his flyers and I then had two days to teach myself and deliver the flyer to him. I discovered then, just how hard it could be – I didn’t sleep for two days and well thankfully things turned out ok. Not only did I deliver the job on time but it was really well received and from there I got more and more design jobs. How did that turn into a business? For some reason – it didn’t occur to me to consider making it a full time venture. After university I tried to find “a real job” just like everyone else. This was around the time that the whole “dot com boom”, busted and work in my field was really hard to find. I was teaching computing part time and still making money doing this design thing on the side. Teaching wasn’t really fulfilling me and I just felt frustrated, I knew this wasn’t what I was meant to be doing but everywhere I turned seemed to be a brick wall.

I did an inventory of my life and realised that I had something in my hand that I was good at and it really became about seeing how far I could take it. Nobody would give me the start I wanted, so I decided to give it to myself. You are clearly a success story. SwoopMedia is a thriving business with a full time staff of 7 people, and a second location on the way; one may be tempted to think that you’re just ‘lucky’ that this all worked out. Would that be a true reflection of the way things are? Wow just hearing that makes me laugh. I can’t explain to you how trying this has been. This is the hardest thing I have ever done. I’ve sweated night and day for this vision and sacrificed a great deal of friendships and relationships along the way. But that’s what it takes; I’ve been knocked down, more times than I can count. People that I thought were friends have disappointed me and walked away when I needed them the most; nonetheless through everything I have taken everything as a learning experience and therefore I am thankful for it. Where do you get your strength from? I am wise enough to know that this is all completely and totally because of God; No man can do all this on their own, yet with God I’ve learnt that all things are possible. I’m not where I want to be spiritually – I’m still looking for a place of worship to call home –. Right or wrong, I don’t necessarily shout my faith out to the world yet that connection to God has always been tangible enough for me to know that I need him in my life and I will continue to seek his face in all that I do. What are the three most common mistakes that people make when starting a business: 1. Lack of planning: People just wake up and start something, without really thinking it through. Business plans are essential for longevity. 2. Not developing the requisite sales skills. You need to be pro-active not re-active and be willing to adapt and change with the trends. 3. Giving up too easily. People let setbacks derail them. You have to be tenacious and determined in this field. The best advice I ever got was to be the best I can be at whatever I’m doing. Yes people may be doing the same things as you, but strive to make yours even better. Let your name always be associated with excellence! What are your goals for the next 5 years? The umbrella goal that I can share with you (have to keep some plans under my hat) is solely to expand the Swoop brand in a Virgin type fashion. The future will see, people associating Swoop with a variety of industries, not just media. Personally; I’m just entering my 30s and I would like to enjoy life a bit more, spending quality time with friends and family. Work is one thing, but if you turn around and there is no one there to share your success with, it’s futile.

issue three 37

There is a Place By Ndidi Okezie

There is a place at the core of my being Where perfection lies; There! I am the woman I was born to be; Everything whole, Everything intact. A place where there is no fear of pain or rejection. There! I know my worth ; It is neither shaken nor stirred by the warmth or rejection of others. There! I am strong enough; To be able to carry others through; With no insecurities they will not slip or fall. There! I am woman enough; To conceive, birth and nurture my dreams. Will I ever get to this place? Someday soon; I will reach this destination. There! I will open my arms wide; In recognition I will cry. “I’m home.”

38 www.hotr.org.uk

HOLDING ON

This production tells the story of four friends facing personal challenges, RONKE struggles with her strict family opposed to her new found Christian faith whilst TOBY wrestles with emotional turmoil longing for the love of his life. SARAH is independent, together, focused but everything isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t as it seems and MICHAEL the ambitious gogetter who gives up everything to pursue a vision he believes in gets more than he bargained for. This story charts the struggles each of the characters face as their faith is tested to the limits...

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