WICKED ANT

The Ant that bit my testicles,
showed no mercies…
How do you use your mandibles
On a man’s weakness
In his own home
On his own bed

©Derrick Ofori Donkor (29/04/2019 – 2:43am)

REMEMBER

Photo credit: CraShArt26

*Remember*

Remember the pains of yesterday and the pleasure of today
The gory of my soul and the delight of my vulva
The weak has no story to tell and the strength lies in the narration.

Remember the fruit that I bit and the knowledge that was shared
The world that was destroyed and the nine months I used to build

Remember the great whore I am with the kings and the white blood of the saints I waste
Cast me not among your filtering den, I give life

For each pain you give, remember one thing through every dark night
You see me as empty, I mastered you in me,
I made you…

*Remember*

(c) Derrick Ofori Donkor – 7/9/19

I AM A WOMAN, YOU DON’T HAVE TO UNDERSTAND ME, JUST LOVE ME!!

Who is a woman?

“A woman is the most annoying creature that came in the diary of God”. PS 

It seems that the actions of women contradict with their words. Men love women, yet we can’t live with or without them. Their inclusion in creation has always been with a big question that men ask God, WHY? Their annoyance starts early in life when you have a sister, worse when you have sisters. Upon all the research carried out by men to understand women, it seems there is no way we are breaking through now or sooner. The task looks impossible if you ask me. We can never understand women. Is their inclusion in creation a curse or a blessing? The sensitive ones think it’s a curse since the fall of man through EVE, but upon many debates carried out, greater percentage of their existence is believed to be a blessing.

I met a married friend of mine at Lapaz around 1am one Saturday, he looked frail, worried, and disoriented. He was thinner than the last time I saw him. He looked OK but a bit sick. His appearance got me worried. He seemed lost and searching. I approached him and asked what he was doing out in the middle of the night. His first answer was his wife was pregnant. He answered with a deep breath and a sigh. Before I could connect his answer to my question, he continued, “she says she wants kelewele at this time of the night”. I understood his body state but I couldn’t stop laughing. I helped him search for a kelewele joint, and just when we had finished buying, his wife called him to tell him that she didn’t not want the kelewele anymore but goat -soup. Goat soup in the middle of the night? where on earth were we going to get that? Then I heard my friend explode on the phone, “You want your m#$%!!!” He turned to me when he was done with the little fight on the cell phone, placed his hand on my shoulder and looked straight into my eyes, and exclaimed “my friend, don’t ever marry!”.

Scene 1:

Man: Hi honey,

Woman: Hi. (man glued to Tv. After 5 mins) won’t you ask me how my day was? (turning off the tv)

Man: Yes love, how was your day?

Woman: I had a tough day,  at school today . (expression of anger and tiredness) and on the way, this stupid taxi driver tried to get on my nerves.

Man: Aww sorry baby, why what did the driver do?

Woman: I don’t know why they permit silly drivers to drive on the streets, “Abofusem”. His wretched car too and he wants to display his ignorance for the whole world to see.

Man: Erh, honey, what did he do exactly?

Woman: will you shut up and let me talk?! you see the problem, you don’t listen when I talk! that is the problem with you all men. You all are the same.

Man: you see why I don’t ask how your day was? We always end up fighting.

 Woman: Why can’t you just let us be sad and just listen to our cries? must it always be that difficult?

Man: *#*$&((@*&$**(@*&$&**((!)@(*$*(@($*(

Scene 2:

Woman: Hun, I think we overspend, we should try and minimize our budget. We don’t need an expensive wedding, let’s do court and all will be fine. I don’t like the public attention wedding thing.

Man: Woman, you are the wisest woman on earth. I so Love your simplicity.

(After 2 weeks): Woman: Hi Hun, I saw this gown and it’s so nice, you see it looks like the one Beyonce used for her dinner party, I want to use that one for our wedding.

Man: OK, But I thought you liked ordinance marriage, just go and sign, that is all.

Woman: Yea but all I am asking for is a gown. Is that difficult for you to get?

Man: no Hun

(After a week): Hun I saw this site and the wedding invitation is very nice and their price is cool.

Man: Hold on woman, I thought we agreed on the court signing only?!

Woman: Yeah but the invitation cards are so nice, and your family has lots of people so we should think of invitation cards, you know. and the cake I talked to my friend about it and she said she will give us a cool price. And one more thing I want the reception at Golden Tulip Hotel.

Man: What!@#$*$*%&(#(#**$&%(($*

Scene 3: 

Woman: I have tried to keep up with your friends but you seem not to know any of my friends. You can remember all footballers names in the world and you can’t even remember the name of even one of my friends.

Man: Is that a problem?

Woman: Yes, when my friends come to the house you just leave us and all you say is Hi and you appear when they have left. Meanwhile I follow you to all your activities with your friends, even your old school meetings.

(After 2 weeks): Woman: Why does Jennifer, my best friend, keep whatsapping you almost everyday?

Man: Ama your best friend is really a wonderful person and I like her company.

Woman: You what!? eei God, come help me ooo. I introduced my friend to you and you are trying to get her into bed right?

Man: what are you talking about woman? you were the one who complained about me ignoring your friends.

Woman: Yeah but I did not tell you to be texting each other, and calling, I wanted them to be your friends not your texting mate. Please stay away from my friends.

Man: #(**$^@^(^#^(@#&$^%*

When women say “nothing” is wrong, it means everything is so completely wrong that men don’t even have enough hours in this lifetime to adequately express how wrong everything is. You make the bed, you are a good man, but if you make the bed without the proper bed sheets and pillows, you have failed as a man. You go out to buy her stuffs every day, you are an ordinary man. If you go out to buy her something in a rain for just a day, you are a hero. Don’t watch the tv when she is complaining, don’t sleep through her talks. If you do that, you are dead. Never mention your ex girlfriend’s name accidentally, intentionally or any other “lly”. You might lose the love of your life.

Women are precious, their existence in the world make the world a beautiful place to be in. You don’t have to understand them, just love them and they will understand you.

(watch the video from the guy moment

(c) Derrick Ofori Donkor – 15st March 2014

All rights reserved…

CHURCH DATING – HOW CRAZY IS IT?

I talked about CHURCH ROMANCE like 3 years ago and as I promised you my dear readers, today i am going to talk about CHURCH DATING.

Please images and faces depicted are fictitious and similarities to actual persons living or dead or to actual event or occurrence is purely coincidental…

Most people who witnessed the events “filli filli” in church romance, including myself are either married, divorced or still single, most are also searching to change their single statuses. And all these are happening within the boundaries of the church. I am talking about living in the Christendom country.

But “Chaley”, cha dating no be easy koraa for the church inside ooo, Kw3″. I remember when I was invited by a lady friend to one of the single conferences organised by one of the churches, I was shocked when I got to the venue of the conference, I thought the number of singles in the church were countable, but the congregation at the conference changed my opinion about that. (Herh Nipa paaa). Then I realized the churches mostly don’t have sermon plan for the singles and are basically not doing anything to ‘help’ the desperate young adults in the church who want to move from single. There were lots of ladies at the program than the guys, more single ladies I guessed but it supposed to be like that since the gender ratio has more women than men. I believed most people present were interested in a “miracle” of fixing partners and not what the pastor was presenting to us on how to choose a life partner.

This actually reminded me of Joke told about how people especially young girls, pray when there are asked at these conferences to pray about the future partners. The intensity of the prayers depend on the age range of the one praying. At 18 years, the prayer goes like “God, you know I am young and not ready to mingle, right now all I need is a favor for a rich man to dash me a car, iPhone 5s, monthly money and take me to the malls often, so that I may not be led into temptation of getting myself a sugar daddy to get these things”.

At age 25 – “God, You have being good to me, now I am growing into a beautiful woman you want me to be. Lord I know I have rushed into so many decision which has made guys take advantage of me, Lord all I pray for now is a rich man who really knows how to take care of a woman, I really mean A rich man, well built and handsome, even if he is rich and not so handsome, its ok preferably a politician or a… God you know what i mean now”.

Age 30 – “God, why have you distanced Yourself from me, see how beautiful I look, yet no guy has being bold to come forward. Look at Adwoa koraa, she with lots of pimples on her face is married with 2 kids. God, turn your face on me, let men come my way too God. I am tired of being taking for a ride, I want to be Mrs too. God WHY!?

At 35 which I normally term it as the ‘give up point’ (don’t give up ladies at this point, believe in God). – “God, Why? God please give me man now now now, God I don’t care if he is broke, ugly, short like “Aki na popo”, I don’t care. Man na Man God, Man na man”

Let’s get back to business, back to my dating a church girl. I had been single for too long, yet here are almost all the single ladies here, in the church. I needed to act fast, I had gone through series of prayers and fasting myself but not as much as the single ladies in the church have.

Dating a church girl needs preparations, strategies, and planning. It is different from dating a “non church” person. With a “non-church” dating, you can be careless, and you are not really questioned for your actions, but with the church dating, if you get problems in relationships, you do not only answer to your partner but to the church as a whole since the principle of “being your brother’s keeper” comes into play. Should the relationship break up, it becomes worse since one has to hide from the church or stop the church to avoid “the sinner’s prayer”.

You need intensive planning because you are  not just the single person in the church, basically the church has become a house that accommodates the singles (statement not based on fact). You need strategic planning because you are competing with pastors who are single, choir masters, the prayer ‘papas’, heads of organisations in the church, etc.

My plan, strategy was to join the prayer papas and do the walking ‘tongues‘ on the street for the ‘sisters’ in Christ to see me as a potential future partner. I put on my “chrife” wear and approached one single ‘sisters’. She was Pentecostal and mostly seen in her scarf (duku) with some light ‘powder’ on her face. Her lips were mostly wet shinning not from lipsticks but pomade i.e. Vaseline (which I suspected). She was the word “chrife lady”, always dressed up to the feet, all covered up, and very principled. Principled I mean knowing her limits with guys. For 4 weeks in the relationship, I had never held her hands, and mostly stood a distance of some meters to talk to each other, not to mention of a hug, forget about kiss. This was our dating life, because (1) I was a part of the prayer team, (2) she was part of the singing group, (3) she was Pentecostal and finally the church should not know that we were dating. I remember the first time we hugged, we stood some distance apart and making sure that our lower part of the body were far apart, really far apart. That was when the Church got to know that we probably liked each other. It was difficult for me at the initial stages, since we had to hide our love life from the public (church). Now we decided to nail it, go to the altar and present ourselves to God. I proposed, she greatly accepted. we had to start counselling, the counselling team more than FBI inquired about my status in the society, and since I was an unemployed graduate with one single room and no sauce pan, that was the end of our hidden love life.

As I mentioned earlier about the difficulties in church dating, I had to leave the church and find another church, because the “brother’s keeper thing” was more of gossip than I expected. I went to a charismatic church and again I had to devise a new plan. The prayer papa thing was not really a good strategy  in the charismatic church. The prayer papas here were perceived to be boring and probably will not be also active in a marital home especially concerning sex life. The single ladies here wanted more of a dynamic, energetic person than a slow, ‘boring’ type. The best place to be was the choir then. I used my God given talent to push my way up to become the music director of the choir. When I mounted the stage to lead a worship song, It was more of a love song for the single ladies than of worship song to God. (It was a strategy). The girls here were all over me now, even those who were not single. Here it was a different environment, more casual than the Pentecostals. Hugging was normal and fun, O my God how I loved to worship here. Imagine everyday after rehearsal or service you get a good warmth hug from at least 15 ladies? Some hugs may stay in your memories forever. I sometimes forgot that I was single. I picked the one I wanted to marry. She was so nice, very beautiful, had the best voice I have ever heard. She was so sexy and her dressing could just kill, tight, revealing, appealing, with lots of makeups to match. She was classy, we started dating and the church called us ‘beloved’. We made our intentions to the church, and the counselling committee were so eager for our union in Christ before my beloved led me to the forbidden temptation by her teasing appearances. She was so nice initially, then I started seeing her with different material things, and always on phone with other competing guys, she always had in her possession of latest phones, tablets, and surprisingly they were given to her as gifts from competitors. A competition I was bound to lose since I could not even afford to take her to most of her favorite restaurants in town.  I couldn’t keep up with her budget and was always running short like Ghana government. I just had to close the curtains and bow out. A decision which was difficult to make.

I had to change church again. I went to orthodox, the feeling here was also different, a mixture of both, the youth trying to be charismatic and the adults trying to shut them up and let them be in methodological way the ancestors and founders of the church had laid down. The singles here were not really plenty like the Pentecostals and the charismatics, and competition here was not a problem. You could be anyone or no one and still find a life partner. The problem here was that the gentlemen were not pursuing the ladies and there were not stepping up. This pushed most of the singles ladies to have secret relationships with the married ones. I found one beautiful usher. This was it, I did not HAVE to be someone ‘important’. We had start dating, and our dating become like that of marriage one except we were not having sex. She would come to my house cook, clean, and wash all my stuff, playing the role of a wife than a girlfriend. We met the church and had to go for a long session of counselling. We fixed a date to marry then, all of a sudden, out of no where she just called it off, with no reason. I later found out that the senior choir master who was married with kids of her age, was having an affair with her and has bent on hell not to let her marry but continue to have that silly affair with her in the church.

Now I had to move on again, I am in a new church, a “dankabah” (spiritual) church, I am yet to meet the one and finally settle. If it fails here, I will go ‘MDCC’. Hopefully it will be soon and I will complete my church dating and my story.

(c) Derrick Ofori Donkor – 1st March 2014

All rights reserved…

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT….. 5 (final part)

H.   MEEKNESS (HUMILITY) 

“Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little this little child, the same way is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven”. Matthew 18:4 (KJV)

 

Meekness may mean a disposition to be patient and long suffering. In some cases it means humility and some Bible versions replace meekness with humility. People associate it with weakness and it is not admired in today’s world for “meek,” although the definition has been highly misunderstood. Godly meekness requires strength!

 

Being humble is one trait or the part of the fruit that many people find it difficult to bear. Most ‘Christians’ if not all find it difficult to bear this fruit and we lose our mark as true Christians. We are too proud and this has made us ‘gods’ of our own selves. It is out of pride that Lucifer lost his position in heaven. We take too much pride in how we are and what we have. It’s only a few people are very humble. A character that all of us sorely need today

The Bible places great value on meekness. Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek [Greek praus], for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). That’s a mighty big reward for being meek! Alexander MacLaren writes in his comments on verse 5, “[Meekness] is the conduct and disposition towards God and man which follows from the inward experience described in the two former Beatitudes, which had relation only to ourselves” (John W. Ritenbaugh

 

Pride drives us away from God. We should not heed to the world’s definition of meekness but should have the strength to be gentle. God expects us to be humble before him and to all men for it brings victory and honor to ourselves and God’s name. To humble ourselves is a condition of God’s favor and His supreme requirement. (Micah 6:8). In Proverbs 29:23, the wisest man who ever lived saw the need to be humble, ‘A man’s pride shall bring him low; but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit’.  For what have we got to be proud of – Nothing. Pride comes when a person abandons the Lord. It is a fountain that pours out sin. If you are humble you will have God’s promise (Matt. 5:5). How humble for a man to descend from throne, come down on earth and die for the world.

Consider God! He is all- powerful, but He never misuses His power. He is the perfect Father who never overreacts, is gentle with His often-unruly children and always does what is best for us.

Do we help our friends who are not good academically? Do we do the ‘dirtiest’ jobs given to us? Do we spend time with people who need us? We see ourselves as ‘too big’ to do certain things. We talk any how to those who are unfortunate in the society. Please let us learn from Jesus. Let us bear the fruit of humility and let us serve God from our hearts.

I:   TEMPERANCE (SELF CONTROL)

“If you cannot control your anger, you are as helpless as a city without walls, open to attacks”. Proverbs 25:28 (GNB).

Self control and self discipline are connected and they work together. Self control means disciplining yourself to do right and abstaining from evil. It is the restraint exercised over one’s own impulses, desires or emotions. Self control becomes a diminishing traits of character in us as we stick with the ‘small’ things we do in our lives that we term ‘normal’.  The ability to control one’s self goes hand in hand with being wise. In 2 Peter 1:6, Peter puts it as this “and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;

Self control is also associated with sexual continence and self – restraint in the deepest personal relationship. As Christians, we sometimes think self control only deals with being able to restrain ourselves from sex and other immoral activities. We forget that the topic talks about every aspect of our lives. Our world has become a ‘mad sex society’ and we sometimes draw the curtain that because we abstain from this canker, we have self control. What about the tongue? Are we controlling our mind? Do we control the personal feelings, the emotions, and our desires which are not from God? Have we been able to overcome the ‘little foxes’ in our lives: The worldly music, the nasty movies, the addiction to certain Television programs that we can’t do without, computer games, and so fourth? Do we control our anger? Do you know that there is no excuse for unjustified anger and that it brings destruction to you, and that being patient will make you glad later? It’s better to keep quiet when you are angry and speak later to gain a reputation for good sense.

Control of the tongue is very important and every good Christian should have this quality in him because what you say can either bring disgrace or honor. What you say can ruin you. God used James to teach us about the use of the tongue. In James 1:26, “if anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless”. Please read the whole of James 3 to give you guidance to the use of the tongue.

I pray the Lord help us to abide in him as He abides in us, to fulfill every aspect of our lives according to His will and not ours and to live a life worthy of His Holy Name just as He commands us.

Derrick Ofori Donkor, Dec 2013

 

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT ….. 4

F.    GOODNESS

“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good”. Romans 12:9.

Being good means to hate evil. We cannot be good when we live in and love evil. Don Hooser puts it as the spiritual fruit of goodness enables sinful man to do good and to be good—good in the truest sense of the word. Goodness, after all, is the essence of God’s nature. When we hear the word Good, it sounds in our ears as something being appreciated to meet a standard of someone’s work or expectations. In Matthew 19:17, Jesus made a comment that no one is good apart from God. This means that we have not lived in the standard set by God for us to be qualified for the word GOOD. It is when we respond to the grace, love, and providence of God that our Goodness is seen as Good.

Christians are exhorted to do good works, such as teaching and preaching the Word of God, encouraging and serving in various ways within the fellowship of believers. “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:9, 10)

From Ephesians 2:10, we realize that goodness is deeper than what the dictionary defines it to be. We realize in the verse that goodness is attained when we abide in Christ and He also abides in us because it’s ordained by God for us to walk in it only if we are created in Christ. We therefore see the connection here and how the fruit of the spirit is linked together. We become good by staying with Christ, and Staying with Christ is bearing the fruit of the spirit.

Though our natural inclination is to defy God in sin, He has determined to help us overcome that nature to live a life of righteousness and goodness. This is possible only through a relationship with Him. As the apostle John explained, “He who does good [as a way of life] is of God, but he who does evil [as a way of life] has not seen God [i.e., has not come to really know Him]” (3 John 11).

For all the other good things we do is worth nothing if we don’t abide in Christ. Do we want to work for no reward?

G:    FAITH.

“So then faith cometh by hearing; and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17.

Faith from Cambridge dictionary means trust – great trust or confidence in something or someone. I personally think faith is a strong belief, plus actions, plus trust in something or someone and as Christians; we have our faith in God only.

Faith in the Old Testament is mainly based on the meaning ‘truly dependable’. The word ‘faith’ is not mentioned more than ten times in the Old Testament. It actually meant ‘to believe’, that is, Isaiah 7:9, ‘if you will not believe, surely you shall not be established’. In Habakkuk 2:4, the writer used faith which may mean truly dependable. “The righteous shall live by his faith”. Habakkuk 2:4: – The righteous man will be able to live in the security (depend on someone – God).

In New Testament, faith begins with the secure reality of God inviting men to put the trust in Him. The New Testament is a new conception of faith. Faith is the comprehensive of Trust and Belief. Trust is commonly used of a personal relationship. The difficulty comes with the belief because it’s not personal. Trust tends to have reference to objective propositions which is either accepted or not.

This is where many Christians of today fall short of – BELIEF. They trust the existence of God but the belief of whether God can be there for them is somehow a ‘petty’ thought for many Christians. Jesus stressed on the word ‘belief’ in most of his speeches because He knew how people perceived it. How many Christians can stand up for their beliefs?

A reporter asked the Bishop of Stepney, what he would do if it were suddenly proved that God did not exist. The Bishop replied, “I just can’t conceive that possibility”. (*Ref: \\ John Stacey (About Faith) \\*)

This question will leave so many questions in our minds. And if we don’t agree with the Bishop we have no place in the church, because Jesus told us to believe and we will be SAVED.

Faith therefore involves all parts of the body and everything in us. One has faith with wholeness.

In Ronald Dunn’s book ‘Have Faith’, he stated that most of the time, what we judge as faith is in fact presumption, wishful thinking, selfish desires, some form of positive thinking, and when these keys fail to open doors of God’s promises to us, we then blame God for it. Faith possesses what grace provides. Grace is God’s part and Faith is man’s part.

Faith is the identifying mark of Christians and we become Christians if we live in Christ and Christ lives in us – when we bear the fruit. Be a Christian and have Faith.

 

(To be continued… )

 

Derrick Ofori Donkor – 19th Oct. 2013.

 

 

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT ….. 3

D:   LONGSUFFERING (PATIENCE)

“But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” James 1:4.

‘I don’t have time…’ ‘Come on hurry up…’ ‘You are wasting my time…’ ‘Let get it done quickly…’ These are the slogans of the world today and Christians have become the worst culprits. Do we know that being patient is a major part of Christian living? We have become impatient and because of this attitude we don’t hear God when He speaks to us and we also get into trouble and traps set by the devil.  According to John Ritenbaugh, the quality of patience evokes images of stoicism, tolerance and passivity in most people’s mind. Though some of these elements are contained within the scope of what the Bible reveals this very important character trait, it is far too rich in meaning to be limited to them. God himself is patient. None of us has ever come close to exhibiting patience like God. Although one could not say we persecute Him as men persecute each other, yet in our own way we do bring a form of persecution on Him by our attitudes and way of life. We often live without care for His feelings about us and His creation, behaving as much of this words does, as though neither He nor His law exists.

In Romans 2:4, Paul talks about how God is patient and what his patience leads us to – Repentance. Take a look at Abraham; he was rewarded diligently after he waited patiently for the Lord.

Patience can be viewed as the attitude of the heart with respect to things whereas long – suffering is the attitude of the heart with respect to people. It is a virtue that God prizes highly in human beings and seems to be best developed under trials. Romans 5:3-4’ states that “and not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope.” This is also seen in James 1:3-4. Look at how God delays his exercise of wrath to give time for repentance and amendment of life.

Do we enjoy this part of the fruit?  Because we do not have patience, we easily get annoyed over things that happen around us. We end up not being like Christ.

A patient was given the wrong drug in the hospital which resulted in his death because; he didn’t have time to wait for the physician who was taking his time to sort the drug for every other patient. The result of patience is victory. We need this fruit badly because without it, we might even get tired of waiting for the second coming of the Lord.

Be patient – you cannot see the stars until it gets dark.

E.   GENTLENESS (KINDNESS)

“Show a gentle attitude to everyone. The Lord is coming soon.” Philippians 4:5.

Being gentle has got to do with one’s behavior and gentleness is having or showing a kindly or tender nature. In the Bible, gentleness goes with kindness. This does not mean weakness as often viewed by the world. It takes a lot of “strength” to have this portion of the fruit.  Don Hooser compares this to an Elephant “Elephants are so strong they have frequently been used for logging—to carry large logs and even uproot trees. But these giants are usually gentle, especially when tamed from a young age” (Meekness and Gentleness: strength with tender touch – Don Hooser)

Jesus is an extraordinary example of being gentle, meek and mild.  Being gentle says a lot about people; both in kindness and the physical nature of a person. A man is said to be gentle when he is seen to be decent, disciplined and does his things in a very “balmy” manner; that is, the way he talks, walks, his smile, attitude and everything he does. A man is also gentle if he is kind, helpful, understanding and is a Christian. In Matthew 11:29, Jesus said, ‘come to me, all whose work is hard, whose load is heavy; and I will give you relief. Bend your necks to my yoke, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble – hearted.’

Take a good look at how gentle Jesus was; in his speech, how He showed kindness to those who didn’t ‘deserve’ it and everything else He did. Do Christians of this present generation have this character trait ? We show kindness to only those who deserve it. We are gentle on the outside but deep within us, we are horrible – that’s Hypocrisy. Does our dressing portray gentleness? Do we care about the way we talk to people who are our subordinates?

Sometimes we think being gentle makes us stupid and ‘uncouth’. The pride in us prevents us from being gentle. We feel too big and too special to behave in a gentle manner towards others. Edward King quoted “…Gentleness is not weakness, but restrained strength”. Do we give polite answers to seemingly ‘stupid’ questions? Soft answers turn away wrath and it’s only those who are gentle who exhibits this trait in them. Being gentle makes us great and not stupid as some people perceive it. It makes us well – disciplined persons. There is no need to tell people that we are Christians because they see it on the outside of us by our gentle gestures.

(to be continued… )

 

Derrick Ofori Donkor – 12 Sept. 2013

 

 

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT ….. 2

B: JOY

“My brethren, count it all Joy when ye fall into divers temptations” James 1:2.

In the Old Testament, joy is commonly a group expression, often associated with dancing or blessings or prosperity. (Isaiah 60:15, Ezra 3:10-11). It also meant a celebration of harvest or victory (1 Samuel 18:6, Joel 1:16). The dictionary definition of joy is a feeling of great happiness.

The New Testament talks about joy in connection with salvation. For the fact that we are saved and our sins have been washed by the blood of Jesus, we have to rejoice and if we are not rejoicing then technically we do not appreciate the death of Jesus Christ for us and the salvation that the death brought about. We have to be filled with joy – the feeling of happiness of being saved from ‘death’.

Joy is also seen in suffering for the truth about the gospel. In Acts 5, the apostles saw the need and the joy of uniting with Christ. “… The Sanhedrin, sent for the apostles and had them flogged; then they ordered them to give up speaking in the name of Jesus, and discharged them. So the apostles went out from the council rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer indignity for the sake of the Name.”(Read Acts 5) James also advised his fellow – Christians, in James 1:2 to count it all Joy when they have to face trials of many kinds. The apostles saw the need to have that part of the Fruit because it gives you a share in Christ’s suffering.

If you are a Christian and you don’t have “joy” how then do you appreciate Christ’s suffering for you. When we are persecuted, we should not go about complaining but rather rejoice and be glad knowing that it is also a partaking in the suffering of Christ just like how the apostles did. For the early Christians, joy was found in the midst of pain and at the heart of sorrow.  If we have joy I think we will not feel the pain and the persecution, we understand the suffering in Christ Jesus and we are not tempted to speak against God. Also it saves us from revenging thus giving way to LOVE. We now see what JOY can do in our lives. If we read Galatians 5:22, we realize that joy comes from the Holy Spirit and that if we don’t have joy then the Holy Spirit is not in us. How then can God accept us and how can Jesus be our friend if we don’t have the Holy Spirit in us? The joy in the early Christians was strengthened by what they experienced at the foot of the cross when Jesus Died and rose again. They were not Spartans in war against  a Persian army but they knew that they had already won the battle – that is the mark of a True Christian.

We complain a lot about our sufferings, we cry too much about our pain. How many ‘Christians’ will go to Arab to preach the gospel there? We will not go there because we do not see the Joy in suffering for God.  How can we then witness his death to the unbelievers? In Michael W. Smith’s song ‘This is your time’, a young teenager was killed in her school because she was a Christian. Can you imagine the joy in it? What a wonderful way to go to heaven! God, please fill us with the Holy Spirit and help us to bear the Fruit of JOY.

C: PEACE

“Follow peace with all men and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord”. Hebrews 12: 14.

Does it mean harmony, harmonious relations or freedom from disputes? Or does it mean calmness of the mind or not worried about situations in life? Let us dive into the word of God to find out what it means to have PEACE and why we have to bear forth peace as Christians.  It means Shalom in Hebrew. In the Old Testament, it means completeness or soundness or the reward of the mind that you are in tune with God. Isaiah 26:3 gives a vivid account of the nature of peace in the Old Testament. It is also a prominent feature of the coming of the Messiah (Isaiah 9:6). How do we then understand the quotation ‘there is no peace for the wicked’ said by Isaiah and other prophets in the Old Testament. Is there really no peace for the wicked that have all the riches, wives and luxury every man could wish for? I will say there is, but then I later realized that truly there is no peace for the wicked because peace is bound to bring goodness, righteousness and good relationship with men. In Psalm 85:10 we see that peace and righteousness are related. Outwardly, there could be calmness but no peace in the heart. Therefore, the peace we are talking about here is the Inner peace – Peace in the heart.

In the New Testament we see that the peace of God surpasses all understanding and it keeps our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:7). It also refers to the ideal relationship we have with our brothers. We get peace if we are ‘spiritually’ minded as seen in Romans 8:6. In 2 Cor. 13:11 shows that God loves us when we live in peace.

If we don’t have peace how then can we understand our fellow men? It means there will be war, disputes, evil thoughts and many other wicked ways; and these are not marks of a Christian.

Every Christ – like person should have this part of the Fruit. If we don’t have it, we don’t have joy in us and we do not love God. One becomes righteous if he/she has peace, “and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace”. James 3:18. There are disorder and confusion if there is no peace.

The peace which Christ brings is attained through pain, sorrow and conflicts. Jesus gave it to us as a perfect gift because he knew that the world could not provide that peace. Therefore true peace is acquired only from Jesus. The world cannot get it from the UN, ECOWAS and other ‘peace keeping agents’.  John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let your heart not be troubled, neither let it be afraid”.

You will not fight if you have this Peace, you will not hate if have this peace. Your heart is not troubled if you have this peace. Why then do we cry in our beds and decide to be at logger heads with our neighbors over things that happen between us? Now you realize the ‘little GREAT’ sins we commit if we don’t possess the fruit as a whole.  I think from this point on you can ask yourself: “am I a Christian”?

(to be continued…. )

Derrick Ofori Donkor – 18th July 2013

 

 

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT ….. 1

Please take your time and read it.

The Greek word for the ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ is Karpos. It is in the singular form, as all Christian activities find their unity in it; which is very true.

Galatians 5:22 -26:  This is the only part of the Bible that gives the full account of the fruit of the spirit.

“Verses 22 – 23”:  But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering (patience), gentleness (kindness), goodness, faith, meekness (humility) and temperance (self – control): against such there is no law… “(King James version).

Ephesians 5: 9 also enlightens it and talks about the virtues that come with the fruit of the spirit – “For the fruit of the spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth”.

When we talk about a fruit, it may mean the ripened reproductive body of a seed plant or an amount of a product or consequence of some effort or action, basically the yield of anything or the end product of something.

The word Spirit has a lot of meanings depending on one’s religion, beliefs and even level of study or knowledge about the word. To a layman, it might mean any incorporeal supernatural being that can become visible or audible to human beings. It might also mean feelings or the part of someone that is not physical. In most religious settings, it is the non – physical part of the body that is believed to remain alive after death. Others think that a spirit is a ghost. It can also mean determination to do something (in the content of education). In Christianianity, the spirit means The Holy Spirit living in us and or Christ living in us.

Bearing the fruit of the spirit means staying connected to Jesus Christ – the true vine, so that we may also be fruitful. Without staying connected to Him we cannot bear the fruit of the Spirit. In John 15, Jesus talks about the need to stick to him, “I am the real vine, and my father (God) is the gardener. He breaks off every branch in me that does not bear fruit… A branch can never bear fruit by itself; it can do so only if it remains in the vine. In the same way you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine and you are the branches, whoever remains in me and I in Him will bear much fruit…” (Read the whole of John 15).

Sometimes as Christians, we forget that we have to be like Christ and remain in Him so that we will bear the fruit of the Spirit. We think that praying hard, performing miracles and worshiping is Christianity, so we do not really practice our Christianity to the fullest and if we continue like that, we stand the risk of being told by God “I do not know you” and you and I know what that means, right!!  In John A. Newton’s book, (The Fruit Of The Spirit In The Lives Of Great Christians) it is stated that the fruit of the Spirit are many but yet the fruit of the Spirit is one, ultimately because it comes from the work of Christ within us.

I remember asking my daddy, “how can one get spiritual gifts?” He told me, “Son, the best way to get the spiritual gift is by bearing the fruit of the Spirit”. I didn’t really understand what he meant by that. He continued by saying that “although one prays for the spiritual gift, it is only when one bears the fruit of the Spirit that one gets the spiritual gift freely”. He said “like how a father gives a gift to a favorite child who pleases him, so will God give a suitable gift to anyone who bears the fruit because a person becomes God’s favorite when he bears the fruit of the Spirit”. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, saw how both God and man are pleased if one bears the fruit of the Spirit (Proverb 3:3-4). We should therefore seek the fruit of the Spirit before seeking spiritual gifts because it is the bearing of the fruit that unites us with Christ.

The elements that make up the Fruit of the Spirit

These are the elements that make up the fruit of the Spirit. Although the fruit of the spirit is in one singular body, we will take a look at them one after the other.

• Love
• Joy
• Peace
• Longsuffering (patience)
• Gentleness (kindness)
• Goodness
• Faith
• Meekness (humility)
• Temperance (self – control)

A. LOVE

 

“But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” Matt. 5:44.

There are over thousands of  definitions for the word ‘love’ which are very ‘venal’. I agree with Robert Coleman in his journal on the topic, ‘anatomy of love’, when he said, “one of the most misunderstood words of our time is the word LOVE”

Some words are like fruits that have faded from a long exposure to the sun. Frequent use and misuse has drained the true meaning of the word and love is now turning to mean ‘hate’. We now love those who love us and I wonder if we truly love them. How can we joke with the most important commandment of God? No wonder the devil is fighting the church and sometimes I wonder whether the sword of the devil has slain many in the church; may it not be so. Lord please, help thy church, Amen.

Jesus Christ told us that, the greatest commandment and the sum up of the Ten Commandment is LOVE. In Matthew 22:37 – 39, Jesus gave the greatest commandment that God wants us to obey as “… ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with your entire mind. This is the greatest and the most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like it. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. The whole law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

I am not being judgmental but I wonder if God was to use just this “simple” commandment to Judge us, how many would be called onto Him?

I am not  interested in other definitions of love except the one Jesus teaches us. All other types of love are under the umbrella of ‘LOVE’. Jesus used himself as an example of the love God expects from us. In John 15:12-13, “this is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.” God first loved us that He sent His only begotten son to die and save us from eternal death (John 3:16). In 1 John 4:10, this is what love is; it is not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be a means by which our sins are forgiven. 1 John 4 indicates that whoever has love is a child of God and Love comes from only one place – GOD. If you don’t have love, having the name Christian is meaningless and I think you share the same place with the devil. Repent and exhibit love because God still loves you. *Please READ 1 John 4:7-21.*

Now let us study why love is so great and why it perfects our Christianity. If we love we will not be captives of sin. How can one steal from a fellow man if he loves him, how can one murder a brother if he loves him? May be we walk under the “Christian umbrella” so we may not commit these sins we term ‘great sins’. Let’s come to our ” hypocritical level”; how can one gossip about his fellow brothers and sisters if he loves them, how can one closes his eyes to their sins if he loves them, how can he not share what he has with his fellows if he loves them, how can one not care about his brethren if he loves them? I tell you these are greater sins than killing, stealing and the other ‘great sins’. If we continue to walk in this path, We are doomed!!! God forgives us and change our hearts.

If we don’t have love, we are wasting our time to worship God. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul tells us that without love everything we do is useless. We are hypocrites if we do not Love; it is the truth. Our ‘holy’ lives as ‘Christians’ is nothing if we do not love as Jesus Christ taught us. We have to sacrifice and love one another for He first loved us. It is therefore very necessary that if we want to walk on the path Christ laid for us and be with the Father above we should have this portion of the friut– LOVE.  We love because He first loved us. For if a man says he loves God and hates a brother, he is a LIAAAAAAR. Read the whole of 1 Corinthians 13 and have this wonderful part of the fruit, for we are perishing.

Love one another and you will be healing the world. Love God and you become A PERFECT CHRISTIAN.

(to be continued…. )

Derrick Ofori Donkor – 16th June, 2013

 

THE HYPOCRISY OF OUR TIME…

“One thing you can’t hide, – is when you are crippled inside” – John Lennon.

I wonder, we all wonder. We talk about it, we describe people as such and we judge them. But I am one, You are one, WE ARE ALL HYPOCRITES.  We lie, we judge, YES! We pretend…

We have compromised our age, we have endangered our species. We have accepted the false and made them the truth. We have all in one way helped in building the highway for the destruction of mankind.

It’s a canker, we can’t get raid of it, it is deeply rooted and watered everyday by approximately 6 billion people in the world if I am not over-exaggerating. A fully grown man with a penis believes he is a she without a vagina, then we have the doctor to give a scientific explanation that it does not matter the position of the genitals of humans, everyone can have hormones to be anything, what a pretense!

Ok, thanks to technology, we have become more “global”. We have the Facebook, the twitter, the whatsapp and all. But yes, I remember the names we were given by our parents; Maame Ama Akoto, Paul Brian Addison, such were the beauty of our names. But no we don’t want such identities, we want something so weird, so dissimilar to the names we were given. Lost identities that is what I call it. What’s up with this maame-ama-akoto-who-doesn’t-wear-pants-and-free-for-all (mostly written as #maameamaakotowhodoes’twearpantsandfreeforall#) and Paul-Brian-moneymaking-project-good-boy-gone-bad (mostly written as #paulbrianmoneymakingprojectgoodboygonebad#). Do you even know yourself? And where can I locate the surname.. Omg, do your parents even know that is your socially acceptable name? What are we?

And the one I don’t get is this, may be I am being too passionate or emotional about issues… forgive me, I just can’t understand. Ok this is it, Christian-like, inspirational pages are too mainstreams now so we have the “profanity slots” now, I think it is becoming the “ish” now on social sites especially on Facebook. Pages like “Tema girls gone bad”, “Black A**” and so on. Then we have “Mr and Mrs Holy Saint” liking the page, because for all I know Facebook has not introduced dislike button yet. I have one question to the Mr&Mrs Holy saint, what were you expecting over there, – the bible verses? Then you see naked pictures of the “unfortunate” boy or girl doing their thing there and you LIKE and COMMENT {WHAT IS THE MEANING OF ALL THESE, WHAT IS GHANA TURNING INTO? O REMOVE THIS PICTURE AABAAA!!} 

O come on, did you join the page to preach? I just can’t understand. I don’t have a problem with you joining that page but my problem is when I feel you trying to play the double side. Which position are you on? Give me a break.

O sister Mary and brother Paul, you think I am the worst sinner because I stayed home and did not come to church on Sunday, Or you saw me kissing my girlfriend on the street, or you saw me with my classmates who was smoking or you saw me in the midst of the “not good” group sharing laughter with them? O sister Mary, is that why you Judge me, what about your one night stand with brother James,  Even my supposedly bad friend told me he had a “thing” with you and “it” was everyday, everynight on your 2 weeks date with him. What did Adwoa do for you to stab her in the back? O these gossips, hmmmm. As for brother Paul, the least said the better, all the girls in the singing group have undergone your libido surgery but brother Paul said I am worse off because I did mine with the “club” girls.

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in” Matt. 23:13.

How did the church – the temple where Christians gather to fellowship with God and each other breed hatred, evil, deceit and so on? Where is the place of the unbeliever in the church? Now the church is  marketing and financial institute instead of preaching the gospel. We talk about welfare but we rob the poor.   Do we need another flogging by our Master and Saviour Jesus Christ? O God forgive us for the way we have made your temple.  

Jesus clearly taught us, His followers not to follow in the paths of hypocrites who “say, and do not do,”. But we find ourselves sliding into hypocrisy on a smaller level. A Christian life is more than becoming a part of Christian subculture and living under a Christian label. Do our lives reflect the Savior we profess to follow? Do our words and attitudes to others speak of God’s love? 

The media  have become a center for panic, a gossip of lies and a preacher of false hope. Its so pathetic we rely completely on them  but boycott the arena (Religion) where truth and peace of mankind is preached. If Religion is to “tame” man as people put it to bring sanity to the world, why don’t we embrace it with open hands?

Why should the media be the platform for condemnation of a race for the crime of a person from that race? They say “Say no to racism” but uses the media to emphasize on it. If you really want to stop racism just stop talking about it. Don’t hype it for the unborn generation to even know what it is.  I was in a grocery store and one journalist from a network I wouldn’t want to mention ran to me and asked me, “How do you feel when someone says you are black?” Omg is that even a question, what a stupid question – of course I am black. What do do feel when I ask  you, you’re white”?. The hypocrisy of the media.

What were their campaign promises? They murder, they imprison, they torture, yet in them we trust. They have turned our petitions into fear, and they plan to make life unbearable for us. We say in God we trust but the government became our gods. We accept because we have come to believe in lies. We seek hope in falsehood and how can we walk without bruises in the power of darkness.  The light was shown but many still wander in darkness.

The hypocrisy of our age. It has become our curse. We are doomed as individuals, as a people, as nations, as a world. But it is never too late, we have a redeemer, He lives and he wants you to live. Run to Him, Call upon His name, His deliverance. His Name is Jesus and He makes all things beautiful again.

(C) Derrick Ofori Donkor – 6th May, 2013