Lies Made Flesh by Dotun Fadairo

Here's a nice little poem by my good friend Dotun Fadairo. It portrays how the lies we believe about ourselves negatively impart our relationships. Many people hear these lies from society, from their parents' actions or just from a disturbed state of mind that misconstrues every nuance to mean disapproval. The good news is that Jesus is the Truth. He is the only one who can properly and accurately define you. Therefore any chracter traits or flaws that are not in Christ are lies that you've told yourself. Enjoy

Shards of broken relationships behind; vengeance on the face

With every step the lie proclaims

"They're all the same! Put em in their place"

A family torn apart; walls of division thick and strong...

Anger and bitterness dance away as the lie sings the

"I did it my way" song

A body ravaged by worry,stress and strain

The cocktail seeps to the bone

In all the agony the lie declares

"I am all alone" 

FLYING IN THE FACE OF FEAR

“Fear is not real. The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future. It is a product of our imagination, causing us to fear things that do not at present and may not ever exist. That is near insanity. Do not misunderstand me, danger is very real, but fear is a choice…..” Cypher Raige(After Earth)

The thing that paralyses us the most from pursuing our goals is fear. We are afraid that we might fail; afraid that people would reject and ridicule us; sometimes we are even afraid that things may turn out bad if we succeed. These fears paralyze us and make us unwilling to take risks.

Some of our fears are highly irrational. Not the natural fear we experience in times of danger. I'm talking about the fear of the unknown; the fear of a possible future that may not happen. It is irrational to let that kind of thing get in our way of engaging in our god-given passions and pursuing relationships. I know many people who have shied away from potentially meaningful relationships out of fear that the friendship will deteriorate if things do not go well. Whenever you hear the voice of doubt telling you: “what if things don’t go well?” reply by saying, “what if it does?”

Moreover, If you want to do anything that will impact your life and that of those around you; if you wish to engage in activities and causes that will bring you satisfaction and make you happy, you must be ready to make mistakes. Rest assured that because you're not omniscient you’ll make the wrong moves sometimes and things won’t always work out as expected. The key is having the tenacity to keep trying and chasing you goals after one or several failures.

It’s interesting that most people who have achieved great things in this world have had great failures. Littering the backyards of the lives of great achievers are failed projects, unaccomplished hopes, and dashed dreams. Unlike most of us, they didn’t let these things hold them down. They learnt from their mistakes and adjusted their endeavors accordingly

One of the greatest things Jesus has delivered us from is fear. He conquered death in order to deliver us from the fear of death. He delivered us from failure by triumphing in every way and becoming a curse that we might be blessed. He also delivered us by making us who we are-accepted, loved, forgiven and resurrected regardless of whatever actions we do. This gives me freedom. It means I no longer have to define myself by what I do or what I have achieved. All that matters is Christ. He is my definition; “As he is so are we in this world” (John 4:17). As a result, I do not care how the outcome of my actions looks. I am free to take risks because my success or failure does not define my being. Neither does it define yours. So get up, get out, and do something. Do not let fear rob you of the joys of going for what you love dearly and potentially succeeding at it.

I’ve heard it said that courage is not the absence of fear, but carrying on in spite of our fear. I think that’s a very apt statement. We all have apprehensions; we all wonder if things will work out fine. But we can’t let that rule our lives; otherwise we might not get out of the bed in the morning. Let’s learn to fly in the face of our fears knowing that what we fear may never come to pass.

COSMOS REBORN BY JOHN CROWDER

If you are feeling worn out by your spiritual life, wondering whether or not God still loves you, tired of the constant struggle to keep all the rules and principles which you've been told must guide your life. Then i think you need a heavy dish of happy theology, and in "Cosmos Reborn" John Crowder serves it up really nice. This is theology that will make you leap and shout for joy. It will make you fall in love with God again as he explores how much God is in Love with you.

Now make no mistake, this is not some mamby pamby, lovey dovey, silly book. John Crowder unpacks a lot of concepts in simple easy-to-read form; this is Trinitarian theology for the regular guy. In Cosmos Reborn John writes about a wide range of topics; from the incarnation to good works to Hellfire and universalism. He explores them from an Incarnational Trinitarian perspective. This is heavy stuff. But he writes it in a fashion that the regular guy can understand. It's not simplistic and dumb, it's just simple

Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. People have the idea that theology is just a bunch of abstract thoughts on religion by stuffy academicians who wish to make life more complicated for everybody. The truth is whether you like it or not or know it or not, your life is shaped by a bunch of theological concepts. Theology is nothing more than the logic of God; it's our thoughts on how and why God operates in our midst. The truth is we all have our ideas about how God thinks and the wrong theology will lead you to a life of misery, performance anxiety and constant guilt. The right theology is shaped by one simple fact; Jesus is the one and only template through which we can know God. He is God and there is no sinister GOD behind his back waiting to get us.

This is the crux of Trinitarian theology and it is the principle behind John Crowder's thoughts. The premise of the book is that through Jesus Christ, the recreation of the Universe took place, given the very biblical fact that the whole universe exists in Jesus Christ; the second person of the Trinity (Colossians 1:15-17). With that in mind, he begins to look at all aspects of Christian thought from that perspective. I would suggest you do the same too.  In case you don’t have the time nor the energy to do the same, (which most people don’t) I’d suggest you simply get yourself a copy of this great book. It is very disturbing to me that the word Trinitarian has become a bad word in modern evangelical circles. It’s almost as if to say you’re Trinitarian is to say you’re a heretic. At the same time, all these people pay lip service to the fact that they believe in the doctrine of the trinity. I wonder, are we supposed to say we believe in the Triune God but not allow it to shape our lives? I suspect that many people have not taken the time to really think about that concept and its implications on our spiritual life. This is due in part to the disdain for theology perpetuated by many leaders in charismatic and evangelical circles.

I don’t wish to spoil it for you by delving into any of the topics. I’ll just encourage you to get the book, read it and be happily surprised at just how good this good news is.

Disclosure of Material Connection:

Now I have to say this (seriously, I do): I received this book free of charge from the publisher and writer via the Speakeasy network, I'm not under any obligation to write a positive review and the views I have expressed are entirely my own. I'm writing this disclosure in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255