Ifejem's Blog

IS THE BIBLE REALLY TRUE OR THIS IS AN EXCEPTION?

ifejem — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 00:55:56 +0000

Here is the story of the Nikky or better coined, what is going through her young and tender mind. She needs a response to this question of hers; she needs an explanation, something that makes sense out of the entire senseless things happening all around her. Hear her speak:
‘“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). But is this really true? Because I do not think it is. How can I justify it in the light of all I see around? Or how can I explain it to a friend, who though believes in God, loves Him and serves him wholeheartedly yet bad things, in fact disasters happen to him/her? Or how could you explain failure after you have put your best into a thing and all you have got, or the death of a loved one (parent, child, spouse, guardian…), or how would one explain a loss of job. You know in this life everyone has one bad thing he/she is struggling with, it’s just that each person’s dose of it differs; it’s just unfortunate that some have a larger dosage than the others.
Every day I see people have accidents, lose a part of their body or body organ to diseases, innocent individuals are victims of epidemic, natural disasters, armed robbery, wars, ethnic and religious violence. Do I need to recount people who I know have left their homes in the morning looking forward to a bright and fruitful day only to return to meet a house gutted in fire and all their belongings, all they ever worked for in life, all their prized possessions are all gone within some few minutes…or is it the family who recently lost their newly bought vehicle to car thieves yet they have not even started paying the loan used in purchasing it…
Oh! The whole thing does not make sense. Can someone help me out? I’m desperately in need of answers. What do I do now? Where do I go from here because this reality, painfully though, stares me in the face daily, how I wish I could escape it and escape to a world of bliss. What explanations or consolations do I offer my hurting friends? I need answers.’

I guess you want to know what my (ifejem) response to Nikky was. Well, this was it:
‘Well, I do not boast to have an explanation to why bad things happen to people whether good or bad. I cannot say it was or was not their fault. I’m sure that so many times things happen and we want to rationalize things on why it happened and the way out and all that. But all I know is that the BIBLE IS AND WILL ALWAYS BE TRUE AND INFALLIBLE. The Bible itself says ‘The secret things belong unto the Lord; but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law’ (Deuteronomy 29:29). The fact is that we do not have the answer to all things and that is why He is God and we are but men. We cannot question him. Till we die, certain things will remain mysteries to us and we will only get the answers to them or they would only become clear when we see Him. This was what Job tried to do, questioning God but God questioned him in return and he saw the futility in his action.
A friend last night forwarded a mail from Rick Warren (The Author of The Purpose Driven Life) to me and he shared his experience and what he had learnt from his wife’s ailment (cancer). He learnt that life was like a railway, with both the good and bad sides. He believes that constantly, a person has both sides to his or her life and that the essence is because God wants to keep our focus on him. He is more concerned about us having a heart for him, our eyes focused on heaven than on our comfort.
Personally, I believe that bad things may happen to us, yet God is still God in those situations in that He is still in control of the situation. Nothing catches him unawares or ‘spoils’ his plans. No, he is not at a fix about what to do when these situations happen. He is the God over the storm; he knows how to calm storms and is well above them. It’s just like how the devil taught he was wrecking God’s plan of salvation by crucifying Christ, but the Bible tells us that if he knew what plans God had, he would not have crucified him. You know he tried killing him while he was young through Herod, all to no avail.
Joseph is a good example. He passed through a lot…the well experience, Potiphar’s house and prison, among others. Yet when he came through it all he had this to say to his brothers: ‘As for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring about that many people should be kept alive, as they are this day.’ (Genesis 50:20). This explains the ‘all things working for good’ scripture above. I see it that though bad things happen and the devil or people mean them for evil, God and only him alone can use and turn around the situation for good at the end of the day. Though at the time of the evil things are happening it is hard and difficult to believe in this scripture, yet we must believe and allow our faith rise above our doubts and look to God.
‘How about the pain?’ you would want to ask. Well, there is pain and hurt at those times and they should not be denied. Really, faith is not denying the hurt and pain we feel, it is not suppressing the angry feelings. We should recognize the presence of these feelings and let them out and go. How? By not choosing to hold on to it, our resentments, anger, hurt and pain. The Holy Spirit is our comforter at these times and words men speak may help but cannot take away entirely the pain. He alone can comfort us; He alone can heal the broken hearted. Our part is to allow Him, give Him a free hand to do His work in us, as a marred or broken clay pot will allow the potter mould it back into a perfect and beautiful pot again.’

That was it. So would you help Nikky out, she wants to hear your opinion and what you think or know. Please write your comments below. Thanks.

CONVERSION VS REGENERATION

ifejem — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 23:33:17 +0000

Can there be conversion without regeneration? What can one make of the idea of being born again and no change in conduct, life, attitude and the belief that ‘it is the heart that matters’?

Being born again or giving one’s life to Christ is an experience so divine and mysterious. It is not in the coming forward at altar calls, neither is it in the attendance of church or the religiosity or faithfulness of a man at activities. Amazingly, its essence does not even lie in mere good works. Neither does the essence lie in the confession or the saying of the sinner’s prayer (I do not however denounce the importance and effectiveness of this prayer).

Conversion is a work of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts a man of sin and the sin he convicts a sinner of is basically his unbelief in Christ (John 16:8). This is the sin of an unbeliever. It is good if he confesses his sins like we always ask him to, but people cannot actually remember ALL their sins. Moreover, once a man is born, he is born into sin because he still has the Adamic nature in him, the fallen man. Some people still feel guilty when they remember a sin they had committed prior to their conversion which they did not expressly confess while taking the prayer. Therefore what is of essence is the confession of his sin: his unbelief in Christ.

Being born again means being born of the Spirit. It is receiving salvation which is not by works but it is received by grace through faith (John 3:5-6,Eph 2:8-9).It is the same Holy Spirit who does the work of regeneration and renewal in a saved soul. It is not a change man can induce or act out, otherwise it is mere hypocrisy. It is the working of the Spirit which leads to a genuine change.

‘The wind blows (breathes) where it wills; and though you hear its sound, yet you neither know where it comes from nor where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’ (John 3:8 AMP)

*How to be born again:

Acts 2:37-38(AMP): Now when they heard this they were stung (cut) to the heart, and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles (special messengers), Brethren, what shall we do? And Peter answered them, Repent (change your views and purpose to accept the will of God in your inner selves instead of rejecting it) and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of and release from your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 10:9-10(AMP): Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation.

THE CRY FOR THE ABOLITION OF THE TITLE ‘SAN’

ifejem — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:14:25 +0000

It is not new to any Nigerian who has become conscious of his environment to know that within the legal profession, there is the existence of a special few who wear the silk. A primary school pupil when asked the question, ‘what do you want to be in the future?’ does not only say, ‘I want to be a lawyer’ but such an ambitious child goes ahead to say sometimes, ‘I want to be a SAN’.
The title Senior Advocate of Nigeria came to be after Nigeria’s independence and in an effort to have a copy of the Queen’s Counsel which exists in England. At the initial stage those admitted into this cabal were excellent lawyers who were very good and knew how to peel their onions. At the recently concluded NBA conference a motion was moved for the abolition of this title by a group of lawyers led by an octogenarian, Pa Tunji Gomez. Although the issue was not put permanently to rest during the conference, the president of the NBA ,who knew how controversial and sensitive the issue could get decided that the matter be left to the executives to decide what to do. This has however led to various arguments being tendered either in support of this motion or against it.
Really, the question now is should the title SAN be abolished?
In as much as advocates of either side have some points to prove, the fact is that the title seem to have done more harm than good to the legal profession. I agree that it confer s prestige and a form of elitism to the legal profession. It is because of the advantages of this title that almost all lawyers aspire to be a SAN, to some this is the peak of their career.
However, on the other hand a lot of non-SAN and junior lawyers have been oppressed by this cabal in the legal profession. An average Nigerian is aware that a SAN is in a ‘higher class’, hence as many that have the money give their cases to a SAN even though there are some who are not as good. Most people believe that a SAN has a better chance to win a case than someone who does not belong to this caucus. To them there is a way the title SAN intimidates the judge and even the counsels of the opposing party especially where the latter has no SAN among his team of counsels. Well, maybe they are right to an extent. Then if there is an iota of truth in this, who then cares to give cases to a non-SAN? This means that the juniors and non-SAN get just cases that have not much financial remuneration as a client that can afford it would rather go for an SAN.
How about the privilege of a SAN mentioning his case before that of the others? Unfortunately some lawyers are in court for months or years and their cases are not heard. This happens especially in the appellate courts where we have more Senior Advocates handling cases. A client that sees this situation of things will be forced by the circumstances to collect his case and give it to a SAN.
Sometimes I tell people I’m studying law and the next question I’m asked is ‘what exactly is the criteria of awarding the title, SAN?’ really the fact is that the criteria is no longer on merit, it used to be. There seems to be a lot of politics involved in it now. Sometimes the conditions are such as to make it favorable to a sect to be able to apply indirectly leaving a lot others out. There are lots of others who should be awarded the title and have been refused while some who are unworthy of it have been awarded.
Really, if something is not working, then it needs to be changed. If a method is not working then it needs to be changed. There is nugget that says only a fool will want a different result and still use the same method (paraphrase).
The most appalling situation in the legal profession however is the fast loss of prestige it is experiencing and the oppression the junior lawyers are experiencing. In former times, a lawyer had a good standard of living, that you are a lawyer was a financial security. It meant you would not need to go around begging for money, it meant the financial capacity to take care of yourself and your family. On the other hand, the situation is a far cry from this now. There are a lot of lawyers roaming the street looking for a job after many years of being called to the bar. Do you now wonder a lot of lawyers resort to charge and bail? Gone are the days when practically all lawyers were clad in good and well pressed suits with their black shoes, wig and gown; days when people look at you and they are proud of you, showing you off as a lawyer. Nowadays there are lawyers whose appearance is embarrassing, not because they like to be that way but the job is neither there nor is the money.
What is more, after a student spends five years in the university, a year at the law school and one more year in service, a total of seven years, it is so frustrating not to get a job. Those that get are paid meager salaries. Imagine a student that spent at least about #300,000.00 at the law school, apart from the money spent in the university, being paid a meager amount of ten to twenty thousand naira monthly! This is distressing, while his counterparts who studied accounting, economics or other courses started not only graduated earlier, but also earn sometimes thrice or even five times the new wig is earning.
The amount a new wig earns in a chamber is almost unbelievable. The principals and employers seem to intentionally make things difficult for young lawyers in their chambers. Sometimes, it is like they have decided to make these ones experience worse than they did as juniors. One would think that the big shots in the legal profession would be different, but with some research I have done, I have been disappointed with what I discovered that even these ones I thought would be different are no different. Sometimes I wonder if there is any minimum wage which principals are compelled to pay their employees, and if there is definitely a lot of principals do not comply with this.
Do you still wonder why many graduates of law dump their certificates and choose rather to work with a bank or in any other career that at least pays well? Even among those that still choose to practice law; a large majority will rather go into corporate practice and other commercial aspects of law rather than the traditional advocacy or litigation.
Some months ago I met a father who lamented about the fate of his daughter who was a lawyer. The daughter after graduating had looked for a job for almost two years and when nothing was forthcoming she resorted to being a tailor! I cried for the legal profession that day. So what is the craze about studying law then, why don’t we just go ahead and learn some skill instead of going to school or better still, study a four year course and earn thousands of naira? Really, the legal profession in Nigeria needs to be salvaged from the pit into which it has fallen.

Ife speaking

ifejem — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:22:38 +0000

Ife as the judge of the competitin addressing the audience