The 26th edition of UNILAG NUGA Games 2022 would forever be etched in my memories ,the experience gathered as a Volunteer (Sports Writing) is one I do not take for granted.
Until we understand sin,
Until we know the depravity of the fall,
Until we know how utterly different from man God is, and how sin widened that gap further,
Until we fully grasp the extent of Christ’s atoning death,
We may not appreciate or even understand God’s grace.
You people are listening to secular music?
How do you pray though?
Because those days I tried to hold off cutting my hair at the barber's for as long as possible. Because after the visit some random "olololo olololo" will be popping up non stop in my head at very important times.
When God helped me and I could afford for the barber to come meet me, I never looked back.
How do you intentionally listen to secular music and touch God in prayer regularly?
It is so sad to see what the Church in our nation has become.
On the Last Day… many churches may discover that they successfully gathered people around themselves… but never truly gathered them unto CHRIST.
And perhaps that should terrify every pastor… every leader… every believer.
A man can become deeply committed to a church… while remaining largely unconcerned with JESUS CHRIST. And nothing reveals the poverty of our discipleship more than this.
CHRIST remained in our sermons… but HE slowly disappeared from our affections. We taught men to love the Church… but never taught them to love the LORD of the Church.
It is possible to produce people who would die for their denomination… yet would never live for CHRIST. People who would defend a preacher… yet never defend the honor of the SON of GOD.
People who know every activity of the Church… yet remain complete strangers to the burdens of JESUS.
The Apostles did not call men to fall in love with the Church. They preached CHRIST until men counted all things loss for the excellency of knowing HIM.
The Church was only beautiful because she reflected her LORD. The moment she ceases to reflect HIM… she has nothing left to offer the world.
What captivated the disciples was not an organization.
It was a MAN. They left boats… They left businesses…
They left their fathers… They left their reputations…
Not because the Church was attractive… but because CHRIST was worthy.
The Church was never meant to compete for the affection of men. She was meant to lead men to the ONE who alone deserves all affection.
Yet today… people will die just because of a title, because it is all about branding and advertisement.
Meanwhile, the heart remains untouched by the burden of CHRIST.
The painful question is this… What have we really built? We have men who will never miss a service… yet can go days without seeking the face of GOD.
Men who will fight anyone who speaks against their pastor… yet scarcely grieve when JESUS is openly blasphemed.
Oh, what has the Church turned into?
Brethren, the Church exists for one purpose… to make CHRIST impossible to ignore.
Read the Gospels again. JESUS never said, “Follow My movement.” HE never said, “Build your identity around an institution.”
HE said, “Follow ME.” Everything else was supposed to follow that command. When men become more devoted to the Church than to CHRIST… can it honestly still claim to represent HIM?
Perhaps this explains why many defend Christianity… yet never display CHRIST. Why they speak for the Church… yet never speak for JESUS.
Why they labor for religious success… yet remain strangers to the fellowship of HIS sufferings.
The sobering reality is this…
Any church that does not embody CHRIST will eventually embody something else. There are only two spirits contending for the earth. If the SPIRIT of CHRIST is no longer defining a people… another spirit will.
May GOD deliver us from becoming experts at building churches… while failing to produce men whose supreme passion, highest affection, deepest loyalty, and final obedience belong to JESUS CHRIST alone.
I said to myself, “Toluwalogo Agboola, your eyes will see the pure breed of Christianity rise from within this nation. But make sure your own life is not a contradiction of the Bible.”
For that reason, I took a vow never to stop examining and disciplining myself, so that I may be a worthy representative of CHRIST.
I invite you to make that same commitment with me.
There are seasons where GOD preserves a man, not by increasing his opportunities, but by reducing his access.
Because there are dangers that cannot be avoided through wisdom alone. Sometimes mercy must remove the pathway entirely.
So hear this:
In the gospels there are multiple events recorded where Jesus publicly identifies with notable sinners.
And there is something consistent across board.
Matthew was a tax collector.
To be a tax collector for the Roman Government in Jesus’s Israel you’d have to possess a very weak moral code.
Tax collectors were called publicans and were seen as among the worst of sinners.
Jesus went to Matthew’s stand and called him from there.
Matthew in response threw a party and invited his fellow publicans, Jesus went to that party too.
Zacchaeus was not just a publican, he was the kind of Publican that someone like Matthew would want to become like.
He was very established in fraud and he also knew how to multiply gains gotten from fraud that he made for himself so much wealth so even if he was to be convicted and asked to return all he stole, he would still have at least four times that value to live on.
He was the kind of sinner that other people knew was a sinner and thanked God that they were not sinners like him.
Jesus publicly announced to the hearing of others that he was going to follow this sinner home.
The third person I want to mention wasn’t even named.
The only description we have about her is “the woman in the city, which was a sinner”.
She was a notable sinner in the city.
Come to think about it. Many sinners today are closet sinners so nobody really knows who they really are or what they do, but a sinner that the city knows is no small sinner.
She approached Jesus in gratitude, washing his feet with her hair and anointing his feet with ointment.
Jesus publicly identified with sinners, but one consistent thing across the board was that these people did not retain their previous reputation as sinners.
Matthew and Zacchaeus weren’t known to go back to defraud people.
Matthew followed Jesus until the death and we have his account of Jesus’s life and ministry.
Zacchaeus was the one who volunteered to restitute his sins.
He turned his back on his sins.
The woman in the city who was a sinner, was grateful for her forgiven sins. The gratitude is what is shown in the washing and kissing of the feet of Jesus.
The public sinners were no longer publicly known to be sinners.
Could they have had personal occasional struggles after that?
Of course, that’s not unexpected, but one thing is consistent, the public sinners were no longer publicly known to be sinners.
If a public sinner has encountered Jesus truly the first drastic thing that will happen is they will distance themselves publicly from their sinful life.
We have had instances where former worldly celebrities have been said to give their lives to Christ.
What we mostly see is that they immediately begin to publicly do ministry. You can question that model, but what I have never seen is what I’m seeing today.
There’s only one thing that seems obvious to me.
If someone is said to have met Jesus and we don’t see the same thing in other people who have met Jesus then it means they have not met Jesus.
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever.
Get refreshed in God as often as possible.
It's not a matter of daily baths or weekly scrubs, it's about "as often as you need to"
Some of us get soiled so often that we need to wash frequently.
Take a bath again even after your regular devotion,
The goal is to stay fresh, not to mark a devotion register.
Premarital sex is sin.
Yes, even if she’s your girlfriend.
Yes, even if you plan on marrying her.
Yes, even if you’re engaged.
God did not create sex to be casual, emotional, or convenient.
He created it for covenant marriage.
The world says:
“If you love each other, it’s fine.”
But God says:
“Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure.” — Hebrews 13:4
Feelings do not change God’s standard.
Culture does not change truth.
Temptation does not make sin acceptable.
Many people prepare for the wedding day,
but ignore preparing for holiness.
Real love will not push someone away from God.
Real love will have self-control.
Real love will honor God even when it’s difficult.
1 Thessalonians 4:3–4
“For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication.”
Purity is still possible.
Repentance is still available.
And God still honors those who choose obedience over pleasure.
@ICAN_NGR@AObilana Dear @ICAN_NGR , it has been more than a week and I have still not been able to register due to the non reflection of my annual subscription payment. Please kindly look into this.
Writing ICAN exams can be overwhelming but by applying the right strategy you can pass your ICAN exams.
For example, ICAN will set 7 questions. The first question is compulsory. What are the topics the first question can be tested from? If you don't know it, check the last 10 diets of the past questions and you will have an idea. Read and study those topics extensively. They are usually between 3/4 topics.
For Section B & C, you are expected to choose 2 questions each. Check the past questions to determine the topics that were commonly tested, read and study them extensively.
Add 3/4 topics you see from the list of infrequently tested areas.
ICAN rewards mastery, so solve as many past questions as you could.
“AM I ENOUGH?”
A man who is constantly measuring himself before God, always falling short in his own eyes, always trying to “do more” to feel accepted, will unconsciously relate to others through the same lens. This is because the way you receive God is the way you reveal Him. If your experience of God is rooted in striving, performance, and self-condemnation, then even your love will carry pressure, expectation, and silent judgment.
This is why many sincere believers love God, yet struggle to express His love. Not because they are wicked, but because they have not yet rested in what Christ has already finished.
Scripture makes this very clear:
Romans 5:5 “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost…”
Love is not manufactured; it is received.
1 John 4:19 “We love Him because He first loved us.”
Our love is a response, not a requirement for acceptance.
Hebrews 4:10
“He that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works…”
True spirituality begins where self-effort ends.
Many people think intensity equals spirituality. So they pray harder, fast longer, discipline themselves more, not out of devotion alone, but out of an underlying fear: “Am I enough?” That question, if not answered by grace, becomes a lifelong burden.
And here is the danger:
Legalism often disguises itself as zeal.
It looks passionate.
It sounds committed.
It even produces sacrifice.
But underneath it is a subtle belief: “God’s acceptance of me is sustained by my performance.”
That belief will do three things:
https://t.co/5GFL1PBKwj will make you hard on yourself
You will never feel at peace, because your standard is perfection but your strength is human.
https://t.co/k1m2H23NZm will make you hard on others
You will expect from people what you demand from yourself, and where they fail, mercy will be scarce.
https://t.co/aLmae5EYuC will distort your image of God
Instead of a Father, He becomes a taskmaster in your heart, pleased only when you perform.
This is why Paul said:
•1 Corinthians 13:3 “Though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing.”
It is possible to sacrifice greatly and still miss the essence. Because God is not first seeking your effort, He is after your heart responding to His love.
True transformation begins when a man stops trying to qualify for God and starts believing he has already been accepted in Christ.
•Ephesians 1:6 “…accepted in the Beloved.”
From that place of acceptance:
•Prayer becomes communion, not performance
•Obedience becomes love expressed, not fear managed
•Discipline becomes alignment, not self-punishment
And most importantly, love begins to flow naturally.
Because you cannot give what you have not received.
And you cannot consistently show mercy if you have never truly embraced it.
So the call is not to reduce zeal, but to purify its source.
Let your pursuit of God no longer be an attempt to earn Him,
but a response to the One who already gave Himself for you.
That is where love becomes effortless.
That is where Christ is truly revealed.
Selah.
Jesus didn't call any pastor to grow His church. He said He will build His own church.
Paul also said that it is God who causes increase. The moment you think you are the one to build your church, ambition will set in.
You will take gold from Baal to build the house of God. This is one of the major errors of many in the Nigerian church.
The minister feeds the sheep. Jesus grows the church. Focus on making sure you are providing holy bread, and Jesus will do the rest.
Plant. Water. Let Jesus worry about the increase.
But we have many who have abandoned planting and watering of the word for the rigors of building the church.
This was the problem of the Ephesian church. They left ministering to God for ministry for men.
Jesus warned He would remove them.
He who has ears, let him hear.
Title: **Why Jesus Was Buried Before Sunset: Jewish Law, Prophecy, and Divine Timing**
The burial of Jesus Christ was carried out with unusual urgency. The Gospels repeatedly emphasize that His body was taken down from the cross and placed in the tomb before sunset. At first reading, this may appear to be a mere historical detail, but when understood through Jewish law, feast days, and prophetic symbolism, it reveals a profound mystery of divine order and fulfillment. Nothing about Jesus death, burial, or resurrection happened by chance. Even the timing of His burial was governed by God’s covenantal design.
In Jewish law, the treatment of the dead was a serious matter, especially in relation to holiness and ceremonial purity. Deuteronomy 21:22–23 commanded that a body hung on a tree must not remain overnight, but must be buried the same day, “so that you do not defile the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.” For Jews, leaving a corpse exposed overnight brought defilement upon the land, and on a holy day such defilement was unthinkable. Jesus, having been crucified, fell under this command. Though He was innocent, the Law still applied to His body.
The urgency was intensified because the day of His death was the preparation day for the Sabbath. Jewish days begin at sunset, not midnight. As soon as the sun set, the Sabbath would begin, and no work could be done. The Gospels are careful to note that this Sabbath was not an ordinary one, but a high Sabbath, because it coincided with the Passover festival. In Jewish culture, Passover was the most sacred remembrance of God’s deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt. To allow a crucified body to remain exposed during such a holy time would have been a serious violation of the Law.
This explains why Joseph of Arimathea acted quickly and courageously. As a respected member of the Jewish council, he went to Pilate and asked for Jesus body. This act itself is significant. Touching a dead body would render him ceremonially unclean, preventing him from participating in Passover rituals. Yet Joseph was willing to bear this cost to honor Jesus. His urgency was not only compassion but obedience to Jewish law and reverence for God’s holiness.
The timing of Jesus burial also carries deep prophetic meaning. Throughout the Old Testament, God’s redemptive acts were marked by precise timing. Jesus died during Passover, at the very hour when Passover lambs were being slaughtered. Paul later writes that Christ is our Passover Lamb who has been sacrificed for us. Just as the lamb was killed and prepared before nightfall, so Jesus, the true Lamb of God, completed His sacrifice before the beginning of the holy day.
Burial before sunset also ensured that Jesus rested in the tomb on the Sabbath. In Jewish understanding, the Sabbath is a day of rest that mirrors God’s rest after creation. By resting in the tomb on the Sabbath, Jesus fulfilled this pattern. His work of redemption, like God’s work of creation, was complete. When Jesus cried out on the cross, “It is finished,” He declared the completion of His redemptive work. The Sabbath rest that followed was not inactivity, but sacred completion.
There is also a powerful symbolic parallel between creation and new creation. God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. Jesus labored through suffering, death, and sacrifice, and then rested in the grave on the seventh day. On the first day of the new week, He rose again, inaugurating new creation. Jewish readers would recognize this rhythm of work, rest, and renewal.
Furthermore, burial before sunset prevented Jesus body from corruption, fulfilling Psalm 16:10, which says God would not allow His Holy One to see decay. By being buried promptly and rising on the third day, Jesus body never experienced decay, further confirming Him as the promised Messiah.
The speed of the burial also explains why the women did not fully anoint Jesus body at that time. There was simply not enough time before sunset. They planned to return after the Sabbath, which is why they came to the tomb early on the first day of the week, only to find it empty. What they intended to complete, God had already completed through resurrection.
For us today, the burial of Jesus before sunset teaches something important: God works according to His appointed times. Every moment of Christ’s passion aligned perfectly with Scripture, Jewish law, and divine purpose. Even what seemed like urgency and limitation was actually precision and fulfillment.
A Simple Hack:
If you ever go through a season where you don’t feel God at all, let me tell you something important:
His presence is not measured by your feelings.
You don’t have to feel goosebumps.
You don’t have to feel peace instantly.
You don’t have to feel spiritually “on fire.”
You don’t have to pretend you sense Him when you don’t.
Feelings are real but they are not final.
There will be days when your prayers feel like they’re hitting the ceiling. Days when your worship feels dry.
That does not mean He left.
Sometimes we think closeness to God must feel emotional like warmth, tears, or overwhelming reassurance. But faith is deeper than emotion. Feelings fluctuate. His Presence does not.
Just because you don’t feel Him moving doesn’t mean He isn’t holding you steady.
Stay.
Keep showing up. Keep praying. Keep breathing. Keep trusting even if you can’t feel him.
You are not abandoned because you feel numb.
You are not forgotten because you can’t feel Him.
You are not alone because your emotions say so.
God is not seasonal.
He does not withdraw when you are weak.
He does not disappear when you are tired.
Even in silence, He is near.
Even in confusion, He is steady.
Even in numbness, He is present.
So when you don’t feel it, don’t panic.
Stand.
Trust.
Lean anyway.
Because faith isn’t built on what you feel it’s built on who He is.
And He is still by your side.