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A message for Christmas

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Let me share my notes from today's Christmas sermon at the Covenant Christian Centre, Lagos, Nigeria.
Preacher - Pastor Poju Oyemade.
Text: Matthew 1:18-25, Matthew 2:1-12, Micah 5:2, Gal 2:20, Psalm 40:1-3, Psalm 139:14-16
The minute you received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour, a star was born in you.
Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes, meant for the low class, yet the wise men worshipped him as King. They identified Him correctly.
Some of us identify ourselves by what we are wrapped in (social status). It does not matter what you look like once you have found your star.
He that is born of the Spirit has a star.
Every one in the Spirit has a more sure Word of prophecy. The same way it was said about Jesus that it was written about him.
If the birth of Jesus could shake Herod, you have the same capacity if you properly identify what is in you.
Because some have not identified themselves, they have gone into palaces, expecting advantages.
There is a definite purpose of my …
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Christmas: Kid’s expectations vs. financial realities

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My memories of Christmas period during childhood have always been of new dresses, new shoes, new movies, Christmas decor, harmattan, chin chin, rice and chicken. For many families, this is a season of much spending.

A few days ago, my husband and I had fun eavesdropping on a conversation between a mother and her 3 children at McDonald’s. Actually, we did not need to eavesdrop, the mother was loud enough for everyone close by to hear. They sat adjacent to us munching on their burgers, chips and chicken nuggets. The children were obviously delighted.

Son 1: We should do this more often.

Daughter: And cinema too.

Mom: I had to work 2 hrs for you to eat this and I will have to work a bit more than 2 hrs for y’all to go to the cinema from here.

Son 2: And we will be having popcorn.

Mom: You still want popcorn after eating all these?, she said with so much shock.

Son 1: But these are cheap.

Mom: Everything is cheap when you’re not the one paying for it

Son 2: But Daddy can afford it.

Mom: Yea daddy c…
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A Night at the Atican Beach Resort Hotel, Lagos, Nigeria

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When thinking about where to spend the first few days after our wedding, a few factors came into play. My King and I were going to be back in Nigeria after a while away. We wanted to enjoy it's warmth as much as we could. More so, my flight back to UK was scheduled for November 16, meaning that I had only five honeymoon days before travelling. Furthermore, there were other relevant activities to accomplish, especially my legal change of surname. So we agreed to stay in Lagos. 
The day after the wedding, we searched the Internet for resorts to stay in and the Atican Beach Resort caught our fancy. The pictures we saw online were very attractive. When we called to book a room, we were informed that from 12 to 6pm, there might be no power as the generator only came on from 6pm till 12 noon the following day. We were disappointed but figured we could deal with that, so we went ahead to make our reservation.


We checked into our room at 5:45pm with a torch to light the darkness. Expecting …
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RadiantKing: Preparing for Marriage. Planning a Wedding

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Preparing for Marriage An engagement signifies an intention to get married. Our first project as an engaged couple was to come to an agreement on the date of the wedding. Some of the factors we put into consideration when determining the date of our wedding were:
1. Career stability. We were both in transition at the time of the proposal. My King had just begun his Masters programme, while I had just gotten a licence to work in UK as a doctor and was then job hunting. He didn't want us getting into this major milestone of a life event in our transition phases. At least one of us had to be stable career-wise before we got married.

2. Counselling. My King was very particular about us receiving proper counselling before venturing into the institution of marriage. We couldn't go in unprepared. Hence, we attended an informal and a formal marriage counselling. We got informal but structured counselling from our mentors viz. his former boss and his wife. We had several sessions with the…
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Be Led by the Spirit

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Today’s sermon at The King’s Glory Church, King's Lynn was on being led by the Spirit. Here are some take home lessons. Be blessed.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 Now may the God of peace himself make you completely holy and may your spirit and soul and body be kept entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is trustworthy, and he will in fact do this. 
There is a constant struggle between the spirit, soul and body.
Being led by the soul The soul consists of intellect, emotions and will.
When people are led by the intellect, everything has to make sense. The things of God do not always make sense. In fact, the wisdom of God is foolish to the world. When people are led by emotions, they go by whatever feels right. Passion is not enough. Many would love to obey God, but lack the will. People with a strong will are very determined. However, the will is not strong enough. An addicted person may have a will to quit, but has no power to achieve it. 
What does it mean…
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RadiantKing: The Proposal

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King and I had been in a relationship for a little over one and half years, most of which was LDR. Although we had been talking about marriage and were sure we would like to be with each other for the rest of our lives, I really wanted us to make it official. I longed for him to make the move as soon as possible. I knew he does things at his own pace and cannot be coerced so there was no need to daydream. If he didn't feel ready, he wouldn't do it. So I was not expecting such surprise on my graduation day - the day he chose to pop the question. Funnily, he had his first term exams on same week and was almost going to miss the ceremony but got there somehow. I'll spare the details.
After my graduation ceremony on December 15, 2017, I hosted my guests at Cosmo World Buffet. We were dining, laughing, taking pictures and having fun. When our time was almost up, we were then taking a final round of pictures but I noticed my King was no where to be found. I wanted him to be in th…
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RadiantKing: Long Distance Relationship

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When I was leaving for UK, Kingston had said he would visit me in the summer when he would write the next stage of his professional exam. He could write that in Ghana but since I was going to the UK, it was enough incentive to register for the exam there. The hope of seeing him again sustained me. We talked every day, via Whatsapp, Imo, Skype and regular phone calls. Once I complained that the cold was killing me. A few days after, I received a fluffy warm nightdress sent by him. Another time he sent me a jumper. On Val's day, he sent me a customized card. He read through my course works, he was my alarm clock. I kept him company on his way back from work through Lagos traffic. Sometimes we just kept ourselves company, saying nothing but listening to our breaths or watching me sleep. 

I had been advised by some well-meaning friends to keep my options open before I left for the UK. They thought I would meet a man that would sweep me off my feet and make me forget about Kingston but …
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RadiantKing: Leaving For Masters

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I always tell King that he was the one that made me apply for a Masters programme. When I saw he wasn't ready for a relationship, I decided to busy myself with something. I wanted to achieve something good for myself. So I buried myself in the Internet, day in, day out, searching for scholarships for a Masters programme abroad. My uncle had said to me once, "You have control over your career, but you don't have control over marriage. So pursue the one you have control over and at the right time, the other will come". He didn't want me waiting about for a man who I had no control over when he would find me.
When I was applying for a Masters programme, I had told my then-boyfriend my plan but he was not in support of me going abroad. He wanted me to stay back and find other opportunities locally. On the contrary, Kingston encouraged me, even reviewed and edited my essays. It seemed he wasn't as much concerned about the implication of a long distance relationship…
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RadiantKing: Finally Making His Intentions Known 2

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King: I couldn't believe what I heard that night. Well, she was right since I wasn't ready "...but now I am", I told her. I tried to convince her but didn't achieve much. Normally, I would join the mid-week service online from the office but the following day, I decided to go to church so I could see her. I had left the office early but by the time I arrived, it was like nothing happened there; no thanks to third mainland bridge traffic. I headed straight to her abode hoping she would be back home but she wasn't. I decided to wait but guess what? Her new guy came to drop her off while I was in my car watching. Chai! See my life. In my mind I was thinking: Where did they go? What has he bought for her? I have to reciprocate whatever gesture that guy has shown. So when she eventually came over, I opened the door for her to get in; I was taking her out.
We got to somewhere serene where I told her to order for anything she wanted while I was arranging words in my h…
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RadiantKing: Finally Making His Intentions Known

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Radiant: I had moved on with my life since my admirer did not reciprocate the affection. At least, he was no more blocking the way for other men. I started seeing someone - a tall, dark and handsome who had asked for a relationship from Day One. It was kind of strange though. My theory of first being friends before a relationship had not quite worked with Kingston. Here I was with someone I only had known from afar asking for a relationship. Well, I damned the rules and agreed to it. How else will I get to know him? After all, there are so many ways to kill a cat. We spent time talking about our lives while strolling or driving. I asked specific questions as I hadn't been given much time to figure out his personality. One day, I asked if he had fought in public before and he narrated an instance when he did. So I asked him if it were now, knowing all he knew, would he react the same way? He replied that sometimes people need to be taught a lesson to take you seriously. That remark …
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RadiantKing: Him Not Saying Anything

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Radiant: Kingston and I had become close friends. He gave me a lift to and fro Sunday service since my house was on his way to church. We had jovial chats and banter and I felt comfortable around him. He was now chief editor of my blog. He gladly did it and that, so excellently. I was in love with him. But I had a problem - he had not mentioned any intention of a relationship. 
I was in an awkward situation. I could not tell other interested parties that I was free to mingle, yet it would be costly to assume I was in a relationship with him as he hadn't said anything to me. I could either wait endlessly or broach him with the topic at the risk of sounding desperate. The problem with the first option was that I stood a risk of losing potential promising young men interested in me, for someone I was in love with who probably only saw me as a friend.
One day, during one of our chats, I seized an opportunity to ask for clarity on the status of our relationship. He dropped a bombshell, th…
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RadiantKing - Becoming Friends

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After our meeting at the inductions in July 2015, I left for Ghana for the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) programme which lasted 5 weeks. As fate would have it, I received only 2 phone calls from Nigeria. 
First, was from my then Chyker, the one of which I had said our relationship was complicated. Yes it was, because I was not attracted to him yet I wanted to get a chance to know him beyond his physical appearance, lest I miss out on God's gift in an uncomely wrapping. Though not Prince Charming, he had a lot of business sense and I learnt a few things from him. Since we had no common platform, we often met over drinks and chips, sharing ideas, trying to know each other better, but I was not comfortable with the idea of a relationship with him partly because he was much older than me. However, his call that day solved my dilemma. I was out late at a YALI business dinner at around 10pm, which was 11pm in Nigeria. As I could not hear him due to the loud music, I asked him t…
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Work

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I would love to share with you my sermon notes from today's Sunday service at The Kings Glory Centre, King's Lynn. 

Research shows that we spend about a third of our lives doing work. Work is not a curse. God called us to do work from the beginning. Adam and Eve were designed to make their environment better.
A Christian's attitude towards work should be to: Give it your best shot. Be positive and don't grumble. Have joy in your heart. Don't waste opportunities. Take every opportunity to show the glory of God.
Colossians 3 22Slaves, obey your earthly masters in every respect, not only when they are watching - like those who are strictly people-pleasers - but with a sincere heart, fearing the Lord.23Whatever you are doing, work at it with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not for people
Ephesians 5 15Therefore be very careful how you live - not as unwise but as wise,16taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
God does not condone laziness and idleness.
Commo…
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RadiantKing - The Meeting 2

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Kingston narrates:Finally, I made up my mind to join C4 – the Covenant Christian Centre Choir – after observing from the congregation for about 2 years. A call was made for an audition of new members so I took the chance. Among the many called, I made the cut of the chosen few who began the induction process. At the end of the classes, we were split into 2 groups and asked to compose and perform a song as the final part of our induction process within 2 weeks. It was the kind of challenge I liked but I wasn’t expecting to see fingers pointed at me when it was time to choose a group leader. Gosh! A few people who knew me from my campus fellowship were in my group.Anyway, we got to work. We decided on a theme for the song we would compose and to present suggestions through our Whatsapp group over the week. I observed there was a certain lady who kept sending voice notes and lyrics of her compositions even during work hours. It was nice to see someone shared such enthusiasm about the pro…
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