You Must Take It By Force

"And from the days of John the Baptist, until now the kingdom of heaven suffered violence, and the violent take it by force". Matthew 11:12

A few years ago, this scripture only came to mind when I think about preaching the gospel.

I would like to assume you too at one point or the other have read this scripture, but it has a whole new meaning to me now. When I look around today, I realize that you must make sure that this scripture is written upon the tablets of your heart, you memorize it and practice it on a daily basis. With the level of atrocities some Christians commit, you know without a doubt that you need to guard jealously that which has been given to you. This write up is not about those who are deceiving others, taking advantage of fellow brethren, wearying the hands of the workers in the vineyard for their own pleasure but it is about making sure you DO NOT FALL PREY to them. That is why an understanding of the word of God; who you are, your position, God's expectations of and from you are all so important. Do not be naive or ignorant, "ignorant is said to be inadmissible even in the court of law".

A few years ago when I gave my life to Christ, the goal was to make heaven, you work on your weaknesses and you sing all manner of songs; "I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no looking back", "Whatever will hinder me from making heaven, Lord help me take it out of the way" and so on. The scariest thing is that the ones the devil has planted to hinder, cause offence and derail a lot of Christians are not too far from the fold. Right there in the church, wolves, now dress gorgeously in lambs clothing. They sit in high places where they can locate, identify and target their preys. Their blazing and deceitful eyes are sharpened by the offices they occupy and titles they bear. Devouring whichever lamb(s) seems appealing. I remember with so much nostalgia the days when brothers (we called them Bro) will disciple young sisters, help them to grow and become grounded in the word of God without any attachment or lustly desires. These brothers become your big brothers, part of your Christian family and years after you still relate well with them. As a female in the church, If you find a "brother" getting unduly close to you in the church these days, you will do yourself a whole lot of good by ensuring your guards are in place! 

Why am I so critical you ask? It hurts when the vulnerable are victims of those who should protect them. A lot of people come into the church after escapades in the world, someone preaches to them that there is salvation, they come to fellowship and find meaning to their lives. They see how happy people are, they desire a new beginning. They are weary of becoming active in church perhaps because of their past, but we echo and reecho what the love of God did at Calvary and how we have access to God's presence and are able to call Him Abba Father. These ones become encouraged, they believe the word of God about a new chapter opening in their lives, they make friends, join a group in the church to make a difference and to a large extent they think they are settled and members of the church. They pick up the lingo of the Church; "it is well", "bless you", they end their words with prayers in Jesus name. 

I would have loved to end this write up here with "and they lived happily ever after". No, that is not the new trend now. There is something that is now rampant, "Old prophets" in the church are now misleading young Christians; they start relationships that only lead to sexual sins with these ones, they violate the trust placed in them because of their titles and positions in the church. After these ones have been "cheated", they become bitter and leave the church. They feel cheated because if they were in the familiar terrain, they would be able to handle anyone who attempts to take advantage of them. However, these ones are defrauded because they have let down their guards because they were in the house of the Lord. Someone might want to be the devil’s advocate by saying "why do you make these young Christians appear naive when everything happens by mutual consent?" I will only say this "it is wrong to take advantage of those committed into your care. 

Matthew 18:6 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea".
Jesus did not mince words when He said this!

We cannot afford to look away in our sphere of influence as the ones for whom Christ died are being led back into hell. It is better to go into heaven blind than with two eye, rot in hell. If you are in church and you find yourself being lured by whoever (never mind titles and do not be deceived by them) to sin, remember that you owe it to yourself and to God to enforce the word of God over your heart, desires and associations. Report any of such people to authorities, keep escalating until someone hears you. Any relationship whether with man or woman that will make you head towards hell, you should avoid like a plague. Without a doubt, the end times are here! For anyone who thinks being in the church positions you to see, touch and feel the best of girls, undefiled, pretty, hardworking, broken, damaged etc, the mercy of God calls you to repentance today. Do turn around, a new leaf before it is too late. Jesus loves you, it is not too late! Repent, so your lamp does not go out.
Keep your heart with diligence, you cannot complain about what you allow. Take the kingdom of God by force, let people call you names, despise you for your stand but make sure you are turned to hell. I commit each one of you to Him that is able to keep and preserve you till His coming. We are indeed in perilous times, I pray that God will give us shepherds after His own heart to lead us into righteousness. Shalom!, By Omo Ishow.

Watch A Boeing 777 Battle Violent Winds

Watch a Boeing 777 try to land at England's Birmingham Airport almost sideways and fail due to high winds. Source:edition.cnn.com

HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE, BE OPTIMISTIC

1: Maintain positive thoughts, positive attitudes and positive actions throughout the day and you will have a positive day. - Jerry Bruckner.

2: The winner says, 'It may be difficult, but it is possible.' The loser says, 'It may be possible, but it is too difficult.'

3: I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes. - Charles R. Swindoll.

4: Attitudes are more important than intelligence. - David J. Schwartz.

5: Pessimism never won any battle. - Dwight D. Eisenhower

6: Our environment, the world in which we live and work, is a mirror of our attitudes and expectations. - Earl Nightingale.

7: Think positively and masterfully, with confidence and faith, and life becomes more secure, more fraught with action, richer in achievement and experience. - Eddie Rickenbacker.

8: The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. - Franklin D. Roosevelt.

9: A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties. - Harry S. Truman.

10: Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. - Helen Keller.

11: Ability is what you're capable of doing...Motivation determines what you do...Attitude determines how well you do it. - Lou Holtz.

12: There is nothing sadder than a young pessimist. - Mark Twain.

13: Forget the happenings of the day that is gone, whether they were good or bad, and greet the new sun with confidence that this will be the best day of your life. - Og Mandino.

14: An optimist may see a light where there is none, but why must the pessimist always run to blow it out? - Rene Descartes.

15: Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong attitude. - Thomas Jefferson.

FIFA World Cup Groups-Stage Is Finally Set

Nigeria’s Super Eagles have another date with Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the FIFA World Cup taking place in Brazil next June.

Both countries had met in the world cup, twice before, in USA in 1994 and South Africa in 2010.

Grouped with them are tournament debutants, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iran.

Reigning champions Spain will begin their defence of the World Cup with a rematch of the 2010 final against the Netherlands in Salvador on June 12 next year after the finals draw was made on Friday.

Spain, who beat the Netherlands 1-0 in the final in South Africa thanks to a solitary extra-time goal by Andres- Iniesta, were also handed a repeat meeting with Chile, having defeated the South Americans in the group stage last time around.
Australia complete the line-up in a tough-looking Group B, but there were arguably even tougher draws elsewhere.

England find themselves in Group D along with Uruguay, Costa Rica and Italy.

A meeting with Uruguay, the 2011 Copa America winners and semi-finalists at the last World Cup promises to be a hard enough test for England in their second match in Sao Paulo on June 19.

However, before that they must face Italy in their opening game in the heat of northern city Manaus on June 15 in a repeat of the Euro 2012 quarter-final, which Italy won on penalties.

Germany and Portugal were drawn together in a testing Group G that also included Ghana and the United States.

The two European nations will meet in their first match in Salvador on June 16.

The draw was kinder to host nation Brazil, however, as they seek to make up for their failure to lift the trophy when they last hosted the finals back in 1950.

Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side will face Croatia, Mexico and Cameroon in Group A, with their opening match against the Croatians in Sao Paulo in June 12.

That will be the first game of the month-long competition.

After scraping through qualifying via a play-off, France were drawn in Group E with neighbours Switzerland, Ecuador and Honduras.
Colombia will face Greece, the Ivory Coast and Japan in Group C, while Belgium, another of the potential dark horses, will meet Algeria, Russia and South Korea in Group H.

THE DRAW IN FULL

1, Group A: Brazil, Croatia, Mexico, Cameroon

2, Group B: Spain, Netherlands, Chile, Australia

3, Group C: Colombia, Greece, Cote d’Ivoire, Japan

4, Group D: Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, Italy

5, Group E: Switzerland, Ecuador, France, Honduras

6, Group F: Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran, Nigeria

7, Group G: Germany, Portugal, Ghana, USA

8, Group H: Belgium, Algeria, Russia, Korea Republic

Source: pmnewsnigeria

How Men's Brains Are Wired Differently Than Women's

Men aren't from Mars and women aren't from Venus, but their brains really are wired differently, a new study suggests.

The research, which involved imaging the brains of nearly 1,000 adolescents, found that male brains had more connections within hemispheres, whereas female brains were more connected between hemispheres. The results, which apply to the population as a whole and not individuals, suggest that male brains may be optimized for motor skills, and female brains may be optimized for combining analytical and intuitive thinking.

"On average, men connect front to back [parts of the brain] more strongly than women," whereas "women have stronger connections left to right," said study leader Ragini Verma, an associate professor of radiology at the University of Pennsylvania medical school. But Verma cautioned against making sweeping generalizations about men and women based on the results.

Previous studies have found behavioral differences between men and women. For example, women may have better verbal memory and social cognition, whereas men may have better motor and spatial skills, on average. Brain imaging studies have shown that women have a higher percentage of gray matter, the computational tissue of the brain, while men have a higher percentage of white matter, the connective cables of the brain. But few studies have shown that men's and women's brains are connected differently.

In the study, researchers scanned the brains of 949 young people ages 8 to 22 (428 males and 521 females), using a form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) known as diffusion tensor imaging, which maps the diffusion of water molecules within brain tissue. The researchers analyzed the participants as a single group, and as three separate groups split up by age.

As a whole, the young men had stronger connections within cerebral hemispheres while the young women had stronger connections between hemispheres, the study, detailed today (Dec. 2) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found. However, the cerebellum, a part of the brain below the cerebrum that plays a role in coordinating muscle movement, showed the opposite pattern, with males having stronger connections between hemispheres.

Roughly speaking, the back of the brain handles perception and the front of the brain handles action; the left hemisphere of the brain is the seat of logical thinking, while the right side of the brain begets intuitive thinking. The findings lend support to the view that males may excel at motor skills, while women may be better at integrating analysis and intuitive thinking.

"It is fascinating that we can see some of functional differences in men and women structurally," Verma told LiveScience. However, the results do not apply to individual men and women, she said. "Every individual could have part of both men and women in them," she said, referring to the connectivity patterns her team observed

When the researchers compared the young people by age group, they saw the most pronounced brain differences among adolescents (13.4 to 17 years old), suggesting the sexes begin to diverge in the teen years. Males and females showed the greatest differences in inter-hemisphere brain connectivity during this time, with females having more connections between hemispheres primarily in the frontal lobe. These differences got smaller with age, with older females showing more widely distributed connections throughout the brain rather than just in the frontal lobe.

Currently, scientists can't quantify how much an individual has male- or female-like patterns of brain connectivity. Another lingering question is whether the structural differences result in differences in brain function, or whether differences in function result in structural changes.

The findings could also help scientists understand why certain diseases, such as autism, are more prevalent in males, Verma said. By Tanya Lewis

Culled from: yahoo-news

FRIEND-SHIP is BLEND-SHIP

What is friendship?
Some term it to be relationship
A few call it partnership
I think I'll just name it blend-ship
Different personalities get to meet
They check out if they actually fit
Its indeed a fact that they have differences
Because  it’s not all about the similarities
But it’s the differences that make the friendship
Often times, we misinterpret the meaning
And then end up hurting each other’s feelings
But when its meaning is digested plainly
Everyday seems like a new beginning.

Friendship is like a bond
You don't need a magic wand
Cause what keeps you together is beyond strong
Its almost like a covenant
Cos when you get hurt its like the sting of an ant.

Friendship is about faithfulness

Off cos there will be playfulness
A lot of time also for seriousness
But the point of all is sincere-ness
When one is in need
The other proves friendly in-deed
Consoles you with words you can't but heed
And helps u so you don't further bleed
When you end up finding that friend
You can't but just blend
Cos together all your worries will mend
Indeed, FRIEND-SHIP is BLEND-SHIP.

So who is your Friend that you are blend with?

Former South African President Nelson Mandela Dead Had Died At 95

Nelson Mandela has died today according to South African President Jacob Zuma at the age of 95, his death marking the final chapter in a life that changed South Africa forever.

The former South African president had been a recurring lung infection. The Daily Telegraph reports that his friends and family had gathered at his bed today.

Mandela's struggle was one of the defining stories of the 20th century. Trained as a lawyer, he became involved in politics after 1948 as South Africa moved into a system of racial apartheid. While initially espousing non-violent protests with the African National Congress (ANC), he eventually founded a militant organization and was behind a bombing campaign in the early 1960s. He was arrested and sentenced to life in prison in 1962.

Initially imprisoned in a 8 feet by 7 feet concrete cell with only a straw mat on which to sleep, Mandela's imprisonment soon became an international cause. He was eventually released on 2 February 1990 after intervention by President F. W. de Klerk.

Mandela became president of the ANC in 1991, and was elected president of South Africa in May 1994, a position in which he remained until 1999. During his time in office he led the dismantling of the apartheid system, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Mandela is survived by his wife, Graça Machel, six children, and 17 grandchildren.

From Adenike Salako Blog’s world our thought goes to the South Africans peole and the entire world, Nelson Mandela RIP.

Source: Yahoonews