Order in chaos

I was having a conversation with a friend recently and events from a dark time in my life came up, and I was given an opportunity to go down memory lane and review so many things that went through my mindat that time. One thing that stood out for me was the goodness of God. Sounds basic because we say it all the time but I believe I have been given a different view from a very awkward angle.
 When I you are faced with an affliction that baffles reason and being calvanist you know for sure that God is sovereign, you mind keeps trying to make sense of the events and hopefully see the lesson in the misfortune and you come up empty. The one answer that kept me sane in this situation was "God is good". when I go on my nagging/wailing session (which I would like to call praying), and I have nagged to my heart's content the holy spirit would so gracefully and lovingly bring me back to this truth "God is good" and my whole world would somehow be okay again.
Friends, God is good regardless of what madness is going on around us. He is a shelter and a hiding place in the midst of chaos.

"My soul magnifies the Lord
And my spirit rejoices in God my saviour"
Luke 1:46-47

"Praise the Lord!
Oh give thanks to the Lord for he is good,
For his steadfast love endures forever!
Psalm 106:1
AMEN

The psalmist: A man after God's heart

One of my favourite psalms so far is the 139th psalm. You can clearly see the heart desire of the psalmist David, he is aware that nothing he does is hidden from God, God has watched him right from when he was in the womb and even then his whole history was already known by God.  

God is knows when he sits and when he stands, even his thoughts are open to God. Before a word is on his tongue, he already knows what he would say, so he asks "where shall I go from your spirit or where shall I flee from your presense? He is aware that God is everywhere, even our darkest place is as bright as noon sun to him.    
 Then he declares his love for the Lord, knowing the Lord can see his heart. And finally he makes his heart desire known
 
"Search me, O God and know my heart
Try me and know my thoughts
And see if there be any grievous way in me
And lead me in the way everlasting

This was his heart cry, that his heart be pure and his path straight. He wanted God to test him and know him and lead him.    
Its no surprise that David was a man after God's heart, this is the attitude God desires of us. A desire to be sanctified.

Book review: Pilgrims progress

In every way, this book deserves to be our very first book review, before I start singing its praises, let me first give a quick background history

"The Pilgrim's progress is a Christian allegory written by John Bunyan and published in February, 1678. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of religious English literature, has been translated into more than 200 languages, and has never been out of print." He wrote this book while he was in jail for preaching without a licence from the government and he spent 12 years in jail for the crime of refusing to stop preaching.

"At one time, The Pilgrim's Progress was considered the most widely read and translated book in the English language apart from the Bible."


So lets get this straight, the book has been available for 335 years. If you are an inquisitive person just like myself, you would want to find out what is in this book that has reached across thousands if not millions of people from over 3 centuries. I have this book and I have read it twice, it is just as moving, convicting and captivating each time. I doubt if thereis a real Christian out there that cant relate to the story. It is a definitely a must read for everyone

Warning!
If you plan to buy the book make sure its a current edition, and not the one with victorian english, except you studied literature and can understand it well. its also quite had to find in nigeria so if you really want it and cant find it, leave a comnent below

HAPPY NEW YEAR/CRAZY FRIDAY

Happy new year, Umu chineke (christians or people of God)
 My sincere apologies for the late greetings, and for going M.I.A for a while, am here now so lets get the party started!

We are going to kick off the new year with some funny/disturbing posters and by his grace tomorrow I will have our first write-up ready.

The aim of pisting these pics is not just for ridicule but to create an awareness of what the church has become and our need to retrace our steps.
May God help us to let go of superficial Christianity and hold on to what is true.