I am not one of those who go cuckoo and blame the devil for their shortcomings. I own my stuff, putting it in politically correct terms!
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” –Ephesians 6:12
Eve was tempted.
Job was tried–more like, his faith was at stake.
Jesus the son of God was tempted.
They all got tempted by the devil. Eve succumbed while Job and Jesus didn't. Free will took a different turn in each case and determined their fate and individual outcome.
People are uncomfortable talking about the devil. I wonder why. He exists. He has power but we have more power when we stay focused on Jesus.
While we have free will, the devil does tempt us. So when a person says of a situation "the devil is a liar" they mean the devil has really caused a serious situation this time that somebody possibly succumbed to and not that the devil made them drop their pants or do whatever they did.
We are not living in a bubble, thank you very much. I just had to let that out.
And there you have it. I have exhaled.
BLESSINGS.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Sexual Predation
Sadly enough, this is not at all as uncommon as we think, regardless of where we are from and how we were raised. Personally, on doing some introspection this morning, I realized I was also guilty of personal forgetfulness with regard to this. Culturally, a Nigerian female does not talk about molestation or rape or anything like that because like Monica Lewinski, your chances of someone ever marrying you diminish the more you talk.
When I was ten years old, my one legged music teacher used to try and go up my skirt with his hands. I started to wear jeans to my music lessons. Finally, I quit music lessons. I switched to badmington and other stuff instead. My parents were easy. I could quit some things, as long as I wasn't quitting everything! But I never told anyone the specifics. I did hear whispers from other young ladies then but that was all it was. Whispers.
When I was in my late teens or early twenties, my youth pastor under the guise of praying for me tried to get under my skirt and I stayed away from him henceforth. You could never find me alone in a room with him after that and when it all blew up years later, I was not shocked.
In my early twenties or so, a fifty something year old supposedly celebate by choice "uncle" (my father's friend) staying in our house tried to kiss me and I ran. The man had not even brushed his teeth. He used to always hug too long and I had wondered about that.
But I never really made a big deal out of these. Nothing happened to these people to make them pay for it on my account. Of course I know better now. Thankfully, I was strong enough as a person even at age ten that I knew it was wrong and I didn't have to stand for it. It didn't go far enough to scar me for life though it made me angry. But what happened to the people who were not as strong or whose parents would not hear of them quitting music lessons because they just had to see it through? And you can bet if I had some of these experiences as someone who grew up in a two parent stable home with protective parents, worse happened to other people.
When I heard about the allegations against Eddie Long Yesterday, my heart sank and I immediately went into denial mode. Even now, I just hope it isn't true but I want the truth to come out, whatever that is because the truth always sets us free, albeit unpleasant at times.
I had a conversation on facebook with a mentor and she told me how her pastor who she reverred that way is in jail for having sex with a minor. An author friend of mine also wrote a book about breaking free from the effects of sexual molestation in childhood and young adult life and it made me think about things I had locked away that I just shared in this post.
Now that I have a three year old daughter, I cannot imagine what I would do if any male or female tried to molest her. All I can say is, whoever is doing these things needs to be brought to light. But if anybody is making false accusations of this calibre, I also hope it catches up with them. Let us also listen to these kids and pay attention to any changes in them. They need us to protect them.
We will just have to stay tuned. We also need to uphold our leaders in prayer. It is all well and good to point fingers at the Catholic church and pastors when they fall but when was the last time you got on your knees and upheld them in prayer? Rather than talk, I will pray more for pastors and leaders that they do not get so big that they lose sight of what is important and become exactly what they are fighting.
BLESSINGS.
When I was ten years old, my one legged music teacher used to try and go up my skirt with his hands. I started to wear jeans to my music lessons. Finally, I quit music lessons. I switched to badmington and other stuff instead. My parents were easy. I could quit some things, as long as I wasn't quitting everything! But I never told anyone the specifics. I did hear whispers from other young ladies then but that was all it was. Whispers.
When I was in my late teens or early twenties, my youth pastor under the guise of praying for me tried to get under my skirt and I stayed away from him henceforth. You could never find me alone in a room with him after that and when it all blew up years later, I was not shocked.
In my early twenties or so, a fifty something year old supposedly celebate by choice "uncle" (my father's friend) staying in our house tried to kiss me and I ran. The man had not even brushed his teeth. He used to always hug too long and I had wondered about that.
But I never really made a big deal out of these. Nothing happened to these people to make them pay for it on my account. Of course I know better now. Thankfully, I was strong enough as a person even at age ten that I knew it was wrong and I didn't have to stand for it. It didn't go far enough to scar me for life though it made me angry. But what happened to the people who were not as strong or whose parents would not hear of them quitting music lessons because they just had to see it through? And you can bet if I had some of these experiences as someone who grew up in a two parent stable home with protective parents, worse happened to other people.
When I heard about the allegations against Eddie Long Yesterday, my heart sank and I immediately went into denial mode. Even now, I just hope it isn't true but I want the truth to come out, whatever that is because the truth always sets us free, albeit unpleasant at times.
I had a conversation on facebook with a mentor and she told me how her pastor who she reverred that way is in jail for having sex with a minor. An author friend of mine also wrote a book about breaking free from the effects of sexual molestation in childhood and young adult life and it made me think about things I had locked away that I just shared in this post.
Now that I have a three year old daughter, I cannot imagine what I would do if any male or female tried to molest her. All I can say is, whoever is doing these things needs to be brought to light. But if anybody is making false accusations of this calibre, I also hope it catches up with them. Let us also listen to these kids and pay attention to any changes in them. They need us to protect them.
We will just have to stay tuned. We also need to uphold our leaders in prayer. It is all well and good to point fingers at the Catholic church and pastors when they fall but when was the last time you got on your knees and upheld them in prayer? Rather than talk, I will pray more for pastors and leaders that they do not get so big that they lose sight of what is important and become exactly what they are fighting.
BLESSINGS.
Monday, September 20, 2010
What Kind of Person are You?
While listening to clips of the president's recent speeches on the radio, I heard him say one thing that resonated with me. There are the "Yes we can folk" and there are the "No we can't folk." So, which one are you?
Some may argue that there are the people who are neither, who just don't want to pull their weight, make a difference, have a voice. But I beg to differ. I believe that if you are passive, you are not much different from being part of the opposition. The important thing is that you are not helping. You are a coward.
It brings a passage to mind in the Bible where there is talk of being neither hot nor cold. If I recall correctly, Jesus said of the lukewarm folk that he will spew them out of his mouth. That is because they are essentially of no use since they don't care one way or the other and are neither hot nor cold. They are not useful.
My challenge to you today is this. What kind of person are you? Are you always finding fault or do you come up with solutions? Are you a mover and shaker or do you blend into the scenery? Are you a "Yes we can person" or a "No we can't person" or worse still, lukewarm and confused? What do you stand for? What do you represent? If you represent something, stand up for it, let your voice be heard, let your feelings be known, fight for those who do not have a voice. Be passionate about something. Be about something.
BLESSINGS.
Please come along with me on my blog tour this week, The Only Way is Up blog tour coordinated by Tywebbin Creations. Please click on the Tywebbin link for the blog tour schedule. Today, the host blog is All The Buzz Reviews. A comment would be appreciated.
Some may argue that there are the people who are neither, who just don't want to pull their weight, make a difference, have a voice. But I beg to differ. I believe that if you are passive, you are not much different from being part of the opposition. The important thing is that you are not helping. You are a coward.
It brings a passage to mind in the Bible where there is talk of being neither hot nor cold. If I recall correctly, Jesus said of the lukewarm folk that he will spew them out of his mouth. That is because they are essentially of no use since they don't care one way or the other and are neither hot nor cold. They are not useful.
My challenge to you today is this. What kind of person are you? Are you always finding fault or do you come up with solutions? Are you a mover and shaker or do you blend into the scenery? Are you a "Yes we can person" or a "No we can't person" or worse still, lukewarm and confused? What do you stand for? What do you represent? If you represent something, stand up for it, let your voice be heard, let your feelings be known, fight for those who do not have a voice. Be passionate about something. Be about something.
BLESSINGS.
Please come along with me on my blog tour this week, The Only Way is Up blog tour coordinated by Tywebbin Creations. Please click on the Tywebbin link for the blog tour schedule. Today, the host blog is All The Buzz Reviews. A comment would be appreciated.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)