OLUSEGUN ISAAC BLOG

These troublous days, prayerful Christians have made Psalm 91 their scripture for refuge and strength. In particular, their prayer points have centered majorly on the verses that declare the promise of God to keep us from pestilence and evil on all sides. The good news is that it works! God hears and answers this prayer and keeps His people safe and secure. But will it be right to dwell on the prayer of safety alone? Are God's promises limited to our welfare only? Does He not speak to us in other ways? What does God say about victory through warfare prayers? Does He not instruct, lead and direct in other ways and by other means, especially what to do to our enemies?  Quite recently I read Psalm 83 and my attention stood still on the words of that apparently hidden chapter in the book of psalms: Do not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace, and do not be still, O God! For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; and those who hate You have lifted up their head. They have taken craft...

'Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.' (Philippians 3:12-14 NKJV).        Jamaican star Usain Bolt was the fastest man on earth, at least till the 2016 Rio Olympic games when he ran the 100 meters sprint in 9.58 seconds. Some call him 'lightning bolt'. At 32 years of age he was already worth $24 billion according to the Forbes Index. Many know him as a sprint star alone, but he is also a footballer, dancer, coach etc. When asked the secret of his success he made these statements among others: "Those seven guys behind you in that track want it much as you want it. So you have to want it more. This is why you train harder." Another: "It doesn't matter where you start, as long as you finish strong. There are better starters than me but I am a str...

A few days ago I came across the verse of scripture below which made me raise my brows. I read the verse again and reflected on the words. They are the words of Jesus Christ. "...And the time will come when anyone who kills you will think that by doing this he is serving God. People will do these things to you because they have not known either the Father or me." (John 16.2,3 GNB). The question that came straight to my mind was, 'Whose fault is that then?' Quickly I answered myself, 'Largely ours as followers of Christ.' Then I sat back and pondered on my own question and answer. Isn't this exactly the situation in our nation now? The media, both the social and the formal, is replete with stories of man's inhumanity to man, foreigners to indigenes, one religion to another, tribe to other tribe. Those inflicting mayhem on their fellow countrymen are mostly the unevangelized apart from the criminal in heart. These peoples have not known Jesus. Like Sa...

'So that day they were very happy as they ate and drank in the presence of the LORD . For a second time they proclaimed Solomon king. In the name of the LORD they anointed him as their ruler...' (1 Chronicles 29:22 GNB). Congratulations Nigerians on the big step we have taken upon our successful  change in government as it were. It may be proper, poetically speaking, to say, ' the king is dead, long live the king!' for it is the end of one term and the beginning of another in the same office by the same president even though administratively speaking, there has been a change.       Twice King Solomon was crowned as king over Israel, first by his father King David (1 Kings 1:34,39) and later by the people (1 Chr.29:22). His rule became the most respected, most prosperous and most peaceful Israel ever had. Twice now President Muhammadu Buhari has been sworn in as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It now behoves on him to prove his mettle, for hist...

By Olusegun Isaac         I read a post on social media in which the writer reported that 10 million saints are being rallied to pray for the White House in U.S.A. for God to intervene in the nation's current political woes. The writer went on to ask believers in Nigeria to raise a similar number among themselves and pray a simple one-minute prayer consistently everyday for Nigeria. This plea is welcome indeed but to my mind, SINGING A PRAYER might be easier than finding time to pray consistently without failing. While prayer may be a singular act, singing can be a continuum. So I am proposing that, aside from taking time to pray for the nation, all believers should sing along the old prophetic song given below in the course of our daily activities, singing it everyday until our transformation comes. Concerning this, it is written in Scripture, 'Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand, to execute vengeance o...

      As young lads, one of the things we dreaded most was to be sent to a Reform institution. Our parents told us of the fate of bad boys who ended up in such places as caution to us to be well-behaved. In fact there was the case of the boy in our primary school who put a pen-knife to the neck of another boy but only made a gash there and did not outrightly slaughter him. The victim got well in hospital but the butcher was tried in a juvenile court and remanded in a reform camp at Torpo In the present Lagos State. Reform schools are established by a state or city government, for the confinement, instruction, and reformation of juvenile offenders, and of young persons of idle, vicious, and vagrant habits. I am not sure such places still exist for correction of our juvenile delinquents of the present age. The Lord sent a prophet to King Asa of Judah when he became king saying, "For a long time Israel had  been without the true God, without a teaching priest...

     Just as our praise to the Almighty God ought to be exuberant, so also our worship of Him ought be lavish. We cannot limit our worship of His majesty. The more our worship of Him we render, the more He reveals His glory and releases His grace to us. In my considered view, too many of our worship assemblies are dry, indigent in soul and bereft of spirit.       I attended a training programme organized by a worship ministry based in Lagos many years back. The ministry had invited a worship assembly from the U.S.A. to perform for participants as part of the package. That gathering of worshipers here in Ibadan left an indelible experience with me that I still cherish till today. At the grand finale in the evening, the invited worship team from abroad came up. I can't explain it,  but as the lead singer sang with such passion and eloquence, the lyrics stuck with us and we all joined him singing. As we sang as one, power came downand one by one nea...

      A well-well-known fairy tale goes like this: Once all the rats on a farm came together and resolved to end the menace of the cat that was killing and eating them in their large numbers. Their final decision was to tie a bell round the neck of the cat so that whenever It was approaching, the jingling of the bell would prompt the rats to hide in safety. They all jumped for joy believing that the answer to the terror of the cat had been found at long last. Then the chief rat announced the next agenda, 'Who will bell the cat for us?' No one would dare! Moral: It is easy to sit and plan great ideas, but it's not easy, perhaps even impossible, to execute a grandiose plan. It is high time we belled the cat of corruption that is inherent in this land, then we would face those other cats like terrorism and bigotry that jumped the fence into the Nigerian farm. Talking and planning alone has failed to stop the menace.      The case of far away Singapore comes t...

Hear the cry of the Psalmist, "Shout joyfully to the Lord , all the earth; break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises. Sing to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of a psalm, with trumpets and the sound of a horn; shout joyfully before the Lord , the King.' (Psalm 98:4-6 NKJV). ' It was the periodical Morning of Praise in our church and a young, dynamic worship minister had been invited from outside to lead in praise/worship. The lively minister and his team soon infested the congregation with their spirited performance such that the excitement went contagious. The atmosphere of praise became so permissive that people yelled, left their seats causing a near commotion. The youth carried their plastic chairs aloft and danced around in formation around the auditorium, while we adults and fairly aged ones, hardly able to participate, gaped in amazement and disbelief. It was incredulous. Praise of God had gone exuberant, almost out of control! This scenari...

"If a country divides itself into groups which fight each other, that country will fall apart.  If a family divides itself into groups which fight each other, that family will fall apart." (Mark 3:24-25 GNB). Here's the story of a newly married sister. Directly after her wedding, a former suitor started phoning to tell her he hadn't given up his interest in her. He told her he didn't mind that she was now married and that he would still fulfill all his promises to her if only she would continue to see him. She pleaded with him to leave her alone, that she was very happy with her husband, but he wouldn't give up, rather he continued pestering her with phone calls. Frustrated, she shared her predicament with her husband and the latter planned with his wife to confront the insistent suitor. She took him to the suitor's office and they both disgraced him openly, making him declare publicly that he would thenceforth refrain from disturbing their matrimonial pe...