The young man puts one of his knees on the ground.
He puts his hand inside his pocket and brings out a small black box.
With smiles, he opens the small box and brings out a round metallic object. Yes, you are right...it is a ring!
The young lady puts one of her hands on her chest and opens her mouth in amazement.
The next question is said..."Will you marry me?"
Indeed, marriage has for long been one of the most important things in a man's life.
Well, not only a man's; but also in a woman's life.
As one increases in age, the reality of life sets in.
One looks at the mirror everyday and wonders how time has flown.
The small boy of yesteryears who would roll tyres in the neighbourhood has now grown up to become a man with moustaches.
That little girl who would walk the streets in pants has become a fully developed lady.
What step is next then, if not marriage?
One cannot but agree that the necessity of marriage in one's life cannot be overemphasized.
The dreams of having the "bone of my bone" and the "flesh of my flesh" are quite fascinating.
After all, the Pidgin folks would say, "Body no be firewood".
Humans are truly not firewood.
They have feelings that are begging to be satisfied.
And what better way to satisfy them, if not via marriage with one's preferred better half?
But, as much as one wants to quickly complete the search for a bearer of "the ring", there are questions that must be answered.
Am I ready for marriage?
Am I fit enough to shoulder my responsibility, not to speak of that of my partner?
Can I sacrifice some of the pleasures of bachelorhood when I eventually become a wedder?
These and many similar questions have been unfortunately ignored by some young and 'hungry' youths.
All they search for is a partner.
They don't care about the circumstances surrounding a marital life.
They prefer to jump inside an ocean before thinking of how to survive in it.
Before they leap, they don't bother to look.
No wonder many people continually have failed marriages.
Before the marriage, they would think everything is perfect in all marital lives.
So, when they start experiencing the unavoidable cons of marriage, they always get shell shocked.
Why?
Because, they always fail to prepare for the liable problems of marriage.
Don't just pursue your aim. Make a plan!
Planning before marriage is not only about getting a good-looking, well-mannered and loving life companion.
It is connected to you...Yes, I mean you!
You should first get matured for marriage.
Well, maturity isn't about how old you are.
After all, age is not a criterion for maturity and more so, there is no fixed age for marriage.
Maturity in this sense is all about how all-round eligibly fit you are.
Whether you want to agree or not, a sustainable level of finance is an important life support of any marital life.
As I'll always say, love may be the vehicle you want embark the marital journey with.
But, the vehicle will always need something to power it...and that is finance; finance that is sufficient enough to sustain your life and that of your partner.
Are you that financially stable yet?
Isn't it hilarious that someone who can't boast of a salary of five figures is searching for a wife?
What will he feed her?
Stone and water?
Dear friend, you may not need to be stunningly rich before you get marriage. But, have a considerably good level of finance independence and capability.
There is no gainsaying that a good attitude (to all conditions) is also needed in marriage.
How well can you endure unfavourable situations?
If things go sour in your marriage, will you be able to stand firm?
When decisions are to be made in the family, will you be humble enough to consider the opinions of your spouse?
Or will your egoistic character prevent you from agreeing with your spouse's thoughts?
As I've always stated, it is very important that you become the right person before you decide to pursue the right partner.
If you still have a personality that is wrong, marrying someone with a good personality won't conceal your bad character. Don't be deceived!
A thief before marriage will continue to steal even after marriage.
A fornicator will still commit adultery after marriage.
Marriage won't take away some bad habits.
No matter how much you try to hide a smoke, it always finds its way out.
Likewise, no matter how much you try to cover up your character, it will slowly but surely manifest.
So, work on yourself first!
If you want a partner who is humble, then avoid being prideful.
If you want a partner who cares, then start caring for others.
If a partner who is faithful is your choice, then learn how to be faithful.
It may be important to eventually become one with the right person. But, it is more important to first make oneself the right person.
Don't get married because your friend has gotten married.
Marriage is not a competition.
If you rush into it, you will rush out of it,
Be patient.
Use the best of your time to become the right person.
Make yourself the kind of person you will want to marry.
Before asking "will you marry me?", look at yourself in the mirror and ask: "CAN I MARRY ME?"
Well, The Voice has spoken!

©VoiceOfAdeBob

SUNDAY AWODI REST IN PEACE

In the quietness of the hour
When the birds of dawn slumbered
In the stillness of the night
When the world was in darkness

Death came again
Unnoticed, unwelcome and unknown
With his ancient axe of cruelty
Ready to vanquish and conquer
Everywhere he goes
He lives a message of sorrow behind
All that accompanies him  never returns
Sometimes a young tender child
Another time a bright blossoming youth

This time, my dear friend is your victim

He was a dreamer boy
He is too needed to be gone

O death! When will you see the evil you've done
The hot tears your injustice has done
The broken hearts of the bereaved will never mend
Even if they get used to this tragedy
They will never forget nor forgive how you shattered them

A brilliant soul is gone
Forever from this cruel world
REST IN PEACE
That may be the last I will say to you
But not the last I will say of you

© Olatuja Oloyede

TO MEET SUCH A MAN

I sat, with two friends, in the picture window of a quaint restaurant just off the corner of the town-square.. The food and the company were both especially good that day.

As we talked, my attention was drawn outside, across the street. There, walking into town, was a man who appeared to be carrying all his worldly goods on his back. He was carrying, a well-worn sign that read, 'I will work for food.' My heart sank.

I brought him to the attention of my friends and noticed that others around us had stopped eating to focus on him.. Heads moved in a mixture of sadness and disbelief.

We continued with our meal, but his image lingered in my mind. We finished our meal and went our separate ways.. I had errands to do and quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced toward the town square, looking somewhat halfheartedly for the strange visitor. I was fearful, knowing that seeing him again would call some response. I drove through town and saw nothing of him I made some purchases at a store and got back in my car.

Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me: 'Don't go back to the office until you've at least driven once more around the square.'

Then with some hesitancy, I headed back into town. As I turned the square's third corner, I saw him. He was standing on the steps of the store front church, going through his sack.

I stopped and looked; feeling both compelled to speak to him, yet wanting to drive on. The empty parking space on the corner seemed to be a sign from God: an invitation to park. I pulled in, got out and approached the town's newest visitor.

'Looking for the pastor?' I asked.

'Not really,' he replied, 'just resting

'Have you eaten today?'

'Oh, I ate something early this morning.'

'Would you like to have lunch with me?'

'Do you have some work I could do for you?'

'No work,' I replied. 'I commute here to work from the city, but I would like to take you to lunch.

Sure,' he replied with a smile.

As he began to gather his things, I asked some surface questions. Where you headed?'

' St. Louis

'Where you from?'

'Oh, all over; mostly Florida '

'How long you been walking?'

'Fourteen years,' came the reply.

I knew I had met someone unusual. We sat across from each other in the same restaurant I had left earlier His face was weathered slightly beyond his 38 years. His eyes were dark yet clear, and he spoke with an eloquence and articulation that was startling. He removed his jacket to reveal a bright red T-shirt that said, 'Jesus is The Never Ending Story.'

Then Daniel's story began to unfold. He had seen rough times early in life. He'd made some wrong choices and reaped the consequences. Fourteen years earlier, while backpacking across the country, he had stopped on the beach in Daytona. He tried to hire on with some men who were putting up a large tent and some equipment. A concert, he thought.

He was hired, but the tent would not house a concert but revival services, and in those services he saw life more clearly. He gave his life over to God

'Nothing's been the same since,' he said, 'I felt the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14 years now.'

'Ever think of stopping?' I asked.

'Oh, once in a while, when it seems to get the best of me But God has given me this calling. I give out Bibles.. That's what's in my sack. I work to buy food and Bibles, and I give them out when His Spirit leads.'

I sat amazed. My homeless friend was not homeless. He was on a mission and lived this way by choice. The question burned inside for a moment and then I asked: 'What's it like?'

'What? '

'To walk into a town carrying all your things on your back and to show your sign?'

'Oh, it was humiliating at first. People would stare and make comments. Once someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread and made a gesture that certainly didn't make me feel welcome. But then it became humbling to realize that God was using me to touch lives and change people's concepts of other folks like me.'

My concept was changing, too. We finished our dessert and gathered his things. Just outside the door, he paused. He turned to me and said, 'Come Ye blessed of my Father and inherit the kingdom I've prepared for you. For when I was hungry you gave me food , when I was thirsty you gave me drink, a stranger and you took me in.'

I felt as if we were on holy ground. 'Could you use another Bible?' I asked.

He said he preferred a certain translation. It traveled well and was not too heavy. It was also his personal favorite. 'I've read through it 14 times,' he said.

'I'm not sure we've got one of those, but let's stop by our church and see'. I was able to find my new friend a Bible that would do well, and he seemed very grateful.

'Where are you headed from here?' I asked..

'Well, I found this little map on the back of this amusement park coupon.'

'Are you hoping to hire on there for awhile?'

'No, I just figure I should go there. I figure someone under that star right there needs a Bible, so that's where I'm going next.'

He smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated the sincerity of his mission. I drove him back to the town-square where we'd met two hours earlier, and as we drove, it started raining. We parked and unloaded his things.

'Would you sign my autograph book?' he asked. 'I like to keep messages from folks I meet.'

I wrote in his little book that his commitment to his calling had touched my life. I encouraged him to stay strong. And I left him with a verse of scripture from Jeremiah, 'I know the plans I have for you, declared the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you; Plans to give you a future and a hope.'

'Thanks, man,' he said. 'I know we just met and we're really just strangers, but I love you.'

'I know,' I said, 'I love you, too.' 'The Lord is good!'

'Yes, He is. How long has it been since someone hugged you?' I asked.

'A long time,' he replied

And so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my new friend and I embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been changed. He put his things on his back, smiled his winning smile and said, 'See you in the New Jerusalem .'

'I'll be there!' was my reply.

He began his journey again. He headed away with his sign dangling from his bedroll and pack of Bibles. He stopped, turned and said, 'When you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?'

'You bet,' I shouted back, 'God bless.'

'God bless.' And that was the last I saw of him.

Late that evening as I left my office, the wind blew strong. The cold front had settled hard upon the town. I bundled up and hurried to my car. As I sat back and reached for the emergency brake, I saw them... a pair of well-worn brown work gloves neatly laid over the length of the handle. I picked them up and thought of my friend and wondered if his hands would stay warm that night without them.
Then I remembered his words: 'If you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?'

Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office. They help me to see the world and its people in a new way, and they help me remember those two hours with my unique friend and to pray for his ministry. 'See you in the New Jerusalem,' he said. Yes, Daniel, I know I will...

If this story touched you, forward it to a friend!

'I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I can do or any kindness that I can show, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again.'

GOD BLESS YOU MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY

*WHAT WILL BITE YOU, WILL BITE YOU*

My biggest fear is, not getting perturbed by anything. I
just want to live for others. I just want to be the
cross carrying our pains and turmoils. But as well, I
want to look beyond the sky and see a sort of
happiness as bright as the morning sky has yet to
see.
I better begin to start caring…
But for what
There are many, many things- they are biting
If I get perturbed, then, I see my self-awake
And if awake, they may not bite me after all
After all I should be more rational than…
…they are
And knowledge, they say, is power
You know, there are not many things, many things, that are wrong with
introverts.
That is for an introvert. That is if you ask them. There is nothing
wrong.
I don’t even believe anything is wrong with me. My eyelids are blinking
up and down like a confused shadow now, telling me, am conscious,
am not sleeping. In fact I am hungry, and if I am hungry, what next?
…If I am hungry, then I am awake.
A hungry stomach should not even know what sleep is, not to talk of
describing it, or worst still, in big grammar- HAVING A CONCEPTUAL
KNOWLEDGE OF IT.
I am not used to getting perturbed even if the family roof is ablaze- there should be nothing wrong.Even if the President is on an escapade from his destabilized country, may be sick to make it light, I don’t still care. That is politics, it should be politics, what is my concern self. They are eating the money, and I am here reading how they are eating the money. And some other big bellied ones- the opportunists, are even waiting at the door post of his life. They are waiting for him to kick the bucket, that is, to die. And they will continue from where he stopped, in his fight against corruption.
You all know what I mean…
Something like-
Recovering TWENTY BILLION from a building One building..
Not just a building-a room
In the building
And people are dying in hunger
I heard some other recoveries were made, from graves and all that
blah blah blah.
I don’t even care is the worst of it. May be I am beginning to lose hope in our leaders. That is, if at all the hope is not all lost. Many lost hope, but they are still fighting their course.
WHAT WILL BITE YOU WILL BITE YOU
Even the roads to my very school should not even be a trouble for our type.
If they like let them come and repair it. That is, if they care.
And what if they don’t care.
Then, everybody can go to hell.
You see, many things have been stationed at various stations to station our lives at a station. To make it simple. The arrangers of life themselves, those guys, they know very well that there are many things that can bite.
Even those roads. The roads I care little of. That is, the ones they should work on, if they care, they can bite the hell of red blood from our skin.
***
Now, Imagine my very self, skipping past the busy car pack, waving to
the Okada man. I am still confused if he was deaf. Someone was
pointing to my direction. Then he turns, and starts coming. He made
me remember our popular slogan in school *LET ME BE* *COMING AND BE GOING*. You know, some times that can be the joy of being a student, experiencing life in a way that comes once in a life time, and later you will be surprised you did such a thing.
He stopped by the way, rode towards me.
“ Oga, were you dey go”
I stood still, pierced through his eyelids, I was seeing stupidity, I didn’t waste time telling him that.
“Where else I dey go, young student like me. Abi una get factory or company here, for this village”
He carried me any way. Money should be the heaven he so much hungered for, that very moment. I thought as much
“ Oga abeg fly if you fit fly” my lips was shivering.
“ Oga, hia, fly go where, for this road”
The truth of the matter is, there was nowhere to fly to. Wet, red mud was in fact waging a holy war against the Okada. It rained. I was late to school; the repercussion was bright as washed white ceramic tiles.
Something better might be the morning sky.
In fact I was late to school in a way that made me wondered if it was not better trekking, than taking the okada, plus the transport fare.
All the repercussions, I thought of, rained down on me as expected, as a typical frustrating rainfall will do. I thought as much. Now, they are eating their money, and I shouldn’t be reading and watching them eating the money. But shouldn’t my voice be heard, if i continue to cry. May be one day the sky will come with a better hope.
And I am even crying now, just because I have been bitten. Bitten by that good for nothing, bad, muddy road.
It is my road, your road and our road. What binds us, binds us very well.
I have just learnt to cry. You know, an introvert shouldn’t be crying, about a poor road, what concerns him.
What will bite us will bite us, if we don’t do that for which we are
human- that is to shake our body, and talk and scream. They must
hear our voice.
Even if we get bitten, at least we will be satisfied with our effort. And
we won’t cry much.

WE WON’T CRY MUCH...
© Ubani D 2017✍

He is her crush right from secondary school days,  he is tall,  handsome,  slim and very intelligent,  the head boy of the school,  she admires him a lot and is ready to do anything to have him.  They are not classmates,  he is in S.S 3, while she is in S.S 2, she hates to see him with any other girl as she gets so jealous whenever she sees him with a girl.

This strange affection she has for him continued for long, but she couldn't tell Him about it as she is shy and don't know what he will think of her,  perhaps a desperate and shameless girl, so she keeps her feelings for him to herself,  she didn't tell anyone not even her friends, as they also comment on his cuteness,  she felt they might also have feelings for him,  so she hid her own feelings from them. 

After his SSCE,  this guy left the school,  yet she never stops fantasizing about him, she still thinks about him and imagines becoming his wife one day.

Years pass, so many things happen and she finally forgets about this guy. She is now in the university,  studying Law in her first year. She is eighteen years old now.  One day,  she is outside the canteen waiting for her friend when she sees  a group of guys walking towards her. One of them looks so familiar,  she keeps on looking at them as they get closer,  yes! That is Nicholas,  her secondary school crush,  she is excited. She giggles and feels butterflies in her belly as old feelings resurface. She is not going to be dull this time she said,  she must get him,  she never knew they are in the same school,  fate actually bring them together again she thought,  she is lost in her thoughts and fantasies about him that she doesn't even know her friend is already standing and watching at her silly behaviour in public.

Rose!  Her friend finally calls her,  she comes back to her senses now,  what is wrong with you,  Efe asked her? I have been standing here over five minutes and you didn't even notice,  you are just staring at those guys,  Rose interrupted her,  let's just go, you won't understand

One year later,
....thanks for the money,  food,  foodstuffs,  free sex and everything I got from you in this last year,  well this letter is to inform you about our break up,  I never loved you,  and will never do,  as a matter of fact,  I have a fiance and we will be getting married soon.  I just saw you as a desperate girl that was why I gave in to your advances,  especially the added advantage of being a rich man's daughter,  it's over and over forever,  bye Rose..

Rose fainted after reading the message, and since then have suffered mental depression,  she no longer think well or straight,  her life is a mess,  her academics suffered,  everything about her was sad and sorrowful,  she hardly go out,  she stayed indoors all day,  sleep, cry and think about Nicholas,  she thought he loved her,  but he never did,  she have broadcasted to everyone about her relationship with Nicholas,  all her pictures on social media talks about their love,  how was she to come out and face this people after making so much noise.  She gets angry at everything and snaps at her roommates at the slightest provocation,  when her situation became worse,  and her roommates can no longer endure it, after doing everything to make her cheer up again,  it all failed, they told the school authorities about her situation, the school authority informed her parents about it,  her parents came,  took her away from school,  she ended up in a psychiatric home suffering mental depression at the age of 20.

© Oluwaferanmi Victoria

Just after supper,  we all sat down on the mat in our compound listening to our grandma as she told us a story about the history of our village. 
  Suddenly,  we heard a sound from above... Kpa kpa kee kuuu keeee! It was a thunder strike,  a warning for a heavy outpour of rain, a whirlwind followed the thunder strike, the moon disappeared,  dark and heavy clouds took over.
Go inside!  go inside! my mum said to me and my younger siblings as she helped our grandma enter into her small room
   I and my siblings quickly ran into our own room as we squeezed ourselves in one corner of the room.  Soon,  my mum joined us after placing some plastics at specific corners of the compound for rain to fall in.
  My younger siblings were already asleep on the mat,  while my mum went over to her mat and lay there.
  The thunder kept striking,  the wind kept blowing, the cloud was dark and heavy,  while I sat still like a cat at the corner of our room.
   Silently,  I prayed in my heart,  that it will not rain,  I was not ready for another sleepless night.  Just last week,  a heavy whirlwind blew off the roof of our house,   and whenever it rains,  the ceiling always leaked directly on my head at the corner of my mat where I sleep.
   My father is late,  my poor mother cannot fix the roof,  nor repair the ceiling,  she was just a poor farmer,  and use the little earnings of her farm to feed us and our grandma.  I and my siblings have to leave our private school and go to the village public school,  after school we join our mother at the farm to help her.
   That was the reason why I sat still alone at the corner of the room.

© Oluwaferanmi Victoria

Do Not Yield to Discouragement

They looked...and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud – Exod 16:10

Get into the habit of looking for the silver lining of the cloud and when you have found it, continue to look at it, rather than at the leaden gray in the middle.

Do not yield to discouragement no matter how sorely pressed or beset you may be. A discouraged soul is helpless. He can neither resist the wiles of the enemy himself, while in this state, nor can he prevail in prayer for others.

Flee from every symptom of this deadly foe as you would flee from a viper. And be not slow in turning your back on it, unless you want to bite the dust in bitter defeat.

Search out God’s promises and say aloud of each one: “This promise is mine.” If you still experience a feeling of doubt and discouragement, pour out your heart to God and ask Him to rebuke the adversary who is so mercilessly nagging you.

The very instant you whole-heartedly turn away from every symptom of distrust and discouragement, the blessed Holy Spirit will quicken your faith and inbreathe Divine strength into your soul.

At first you may not be conscious of this, still as you resolutely and uncompromisingly “snub” every tendency toward doubt and depression that assails you, you will soon be made aware that the powers of darkness are falling back.

Oh, if our eyes could only behold the solid phalanx of strength, of power, that is ever behind every turning away from the hosts of darkness, God-ward, what scant heed would be given to the effort of the wily foe to distress, depress, discourage us!

All the marvelous attributes of the Godhead are on the side of the weakest believer, who in the name of Christ, and in simple, childlike trust, yields himself to God and turns to Him for help and guidance. —Selected

On a day in the autumn, I saw a prairie eagle mortally wounded by a rifle shot. His eye still gleamed like a circle of light. Then he slowly turned his head, and gave one more searching and longing look at the sky. He had often swept those starry spaces with his wonderful wings. The beautiful sky was the home of his heart. It was the eagle’s domain. A thousand times he had exploited there his splendid strength. In those far away heights he had played with the lightnings, and raced with the winds, and now, so far away from home, the eagle lay dying, done to the death, because for once he forgot and flew too low. The soul is that eagle. This is not its home. It must not lose the skyward look. We must keep faith, we must keep hope, we must keep courage, we must keep Christ. We would better creep away from the battlefield at once if we are not going to be brave. There is no time for the soul to stampede. Keep the skyward look, my soul; keep the skyward look!

“Keep looking up—
The waves that roar around thy feet,
Jehovah-Jireh will defeat
When looking up.

“Keep looking up—
Though darkness seems to wrap thy soul;
The Light of Light shall fill thy soul 
When looking up.

“Keep looking up—
When worn, distracted with the fight;
Your Captain gives you conquering might 
When you look up.”

We can never see the sun rise by looking into the west. —Japanese Proverb

Streams in the Desert

Songs of Praise Rise From Affliction
Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints – Rev 15:3

The following incident is related by Mrs. Charles Spurgeon, who was a great sufferer for more than a quarter of a century:

“At the close of a dark and gloomy day, I lay resting on my couch as the deeper night drew on; and though all was bright within my cozy room, some of the external darkness seemed to have entered into my soul and obscured its spiritual vision. Vainly I tried to see the Hand which I knew held mine, and guided my fog-enveloped feet along a steep and slippery path of suffering. In sorrow of heart I asked,

“’Why does my Lord thus deal with His child? Why does He so often send sharp and bitter pain to visit me? Why does He permit lingering weakness to hinder the sweet service I long to render to His poor servants?’

“These fretful questions were quickly answered, and through a strange language; no interpreter was needed save the conscious whisper of my heart.

“For a while silence reigned in the little room, broken only by the crackling of the oak log burning in the fireplace. Suddenly I heard a sweet, soft sound, a little, clear, musical note, like the tender trill of a robin beneath my window.

“’What can it be? surely no bird can be singing out there at this time of the year and night.’

“Again came the faint, plaintive notes, so sweet, so melodious, yet mysterious enough to provoke our wonder. My friend exclaimed,

“’It comes from the log on the fire!’ The fire was letting loose the imprisoned music from the old oak’s inmost heart!

“Perchance he had garnered up this song in the days when all was well with him, when birds twittered merrily on his branches, and the soft sunlight flecked his tender leaves with gold. But he had grown old since then, and hardened; ring after ring of knotty growth had sealed up the long-forgotten melody, until the fierce tongues of the flames came to consume his callousness, and the vehement heart of the fire wrung from him at once a song and a sacrifice. ’Ah,’ thought I, ’when the fire of affliction draws songs of praise from us, then indeed we are purified, and our God is glorified!’

“Perhaps some of us are like this old oak log, cold, hard, insensible; we should give forth no melodious sounds, were it not for the fire which kindles around us, and releases notes of trust in Him, and cheerful compliance with His will.

“’As I mused the fire burned,’ and my soul found sweet comfort in the parable so strangely set forth before me.

“Singing in the fire! Yes, God helping us, if that is the only way to get harmony out of these hard apathetic hearts, let the furnace be heated seven times hotter than before.”

Streams in the Desert

A preacher was driving home one night with his wife and two daughters in the car. It was raining and dark and because of the intensity of the rain he could hardly see past his headlights. On the way he had to drive over a huge bridge. There were signs posted all along the bridge that said "DO NOT PICK UP HITCH-HIKERS." There was an institution for the criminally insane near the base of the bridge and sometimes people would escape from it and try to hitch a ride. On this particular night, as he turned his car on to the bridge, he had to drive exceptionally slow because he could hardly see the road. Somewhere near the top of the bridge a man suddenly appeared in the headlights. He was soaked, standing in the middle of the road with his shirt off frantically waving it over his head and screaming.
This preacher's wife began to say, "Oh please don't stop, try to drive around him!" But the man was unavoidable and there was nowhere for the car to go to miss him. So he had to stop the car and as soon as he did, the man slapped his hand down on the hood of the car and was screaming at the top of his lungs. The preacher looked over at his wife and said to lock the door after him and not to unlock it until he returned. His family was now crying and pleading with him not to get out of the car. He opened the door and stepped outside...He was immediately soaked from the rain. As he approached the front of the car to grab the man, all of a sudden he could make out what the man was screaming, "THE BRIDGE IS OUT! THE BRIDGE IS OUT! A BUS LOAD OF KIDS JUST WENT OVER!" As these words registered in the pastor's mind, he looked back in the car at his wife and two daughters. He wrapped his arm around the man and wept in gratitude. The preacher stood there with the man for the next half-hour in the middle of the road, waving his jacket above his head screaming."THE BRIDGE IS OUT! THE BRIDGE IS OUT!"
For a lost and a dying world, "THE BRIDGE IS OUT!" For a people heading to a Christless Eternity,"THE BRIDGE IS OUT!"
where are the men and the women who will stand in the middle of the road and forbid people to perish ?
HELL HAS OPENED IT'S MOUTH WIDE AND MANY ARE SPEEDING INTO IT. Where are those who will stand in the gap, on the streets, the highways and the byways to forbid multitudes with the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST from going to such a horrible place ?
SPREAD THE GOSPEL
Lovely Thoughts For Lovely
People Just Like You. Always Remember JESUS Loves You . .....        
Share this message to all your friends, both Saved and unsaved THE BRIDGE IS OUT.! Unlike Many social media messages this days,                      If you choose not to share nothing will happen It  just won't hurt to encourage one another to keep spreading the gospel for the harvest is far more than the labourers   
GOD BLESS YOU !

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Are there two Jesus?

   David your food is getting cold, Sarah called as her six years old son seemed to be glued to his Bible. She walked straight towards him and snatched the Bible from him angrily.
     "I told you I am already late for work, moreover, what are you looking for?, for the past one week you seems to be inseparable from your Bible ", Sarah asked as she helped David to adjust his school uniform.
    "Mom, I can't seem to find my answer , perhaps you may help me" David said.
     "Okay Sweety but eat your food first and then you can ask your question in the car",she replied.
    David was so excited, he was finally going to get an answer to the question that has been bothering him for long. Within a twinkle of an eye, he had finished up with his food. They entered into the car and as his mother drove on he asked "Mum, may I ask my question now? "
   "Of course ",Sarah replied.
     "Mum, are there two Jesus? "
     "Hmn, what did you say?", Sarah asked to be sure she heard her son well.
    "Mom, are there two Jesus? ",he repeated it
   "Will you shut up, what sort of blasphemy is that, who has been teaching this heresy? ", Sarah asked angrily. David was now shaky "Our new teacher taught us that......... "
    "Oh oh, your new teacher has been feeding you with such heresies, no problem I will go and see him before going to my office, better I go late than leave you like this" Sarah interrupted her son. When they got to the school, the morning devotion had already started. Sarah walked straight to the teacher not minding if she was going to disturb the other children.
    "What have you been teaching my son?, if you aren't capable to be a teacher then resign, okay? ". Before the teacher could say anything, Sarah had slapped her, the proprietress' attention was called to this and they were all ordered into her office. Both parties narrated their own part of the story. The proprietress brought David closer to himself who was now shedding tears. She calmed him down and asked "why did you think there are two Jesus? "
     Still crying he said "Our teacher told us that Jesus is our father and his children behave exactly like him. He said Jesus does not steal, lie, fight or stay away from church and that his children are the same ". David answered and sobbed.
   "Okay, that's true but that is not enough reason for you to believe that there are two Jesus ",the proprietress said as she wiped David's tears. "Is there any other thing we need to know, don't be afraid, tell me what your teacher said, he won't flog you ?"
   "My mum told me she is Jesus' daughter, she use to sing "I am a Jesus baby.... ",but mum still fights. I saw her take daddy's money last month and when daddy asked, she denied it. This morning, she even fought with daddy. So I thought probably Mummy's Jesus was different from my teacher's Jesus. That was why I was searching my Bible to see if I will find my mummy's Jesus.
    By this time ,a mist of tears had gathered in Sarah's eyes, she was so ashamed, she could not look into her son's eyes........
       DO Your Character Make People Question If You Serve a Different Jesus? Repent.
    Story from Os.P diary

Sometime ago, a preacher from a distant town was transferred to our local Church.

Some weeks after his arrival, he had an appointment that made him to board a bus to another part of the town.

When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had mistakenly given him his balance in excess of 50 naira.

As he considered what to do, he thought within him,
'You'd  better give this money back. It would be wrong to keep it'.

Then another thought came,
"Oh, forget it, it's only 50 naira; who would worry about this little amount,
after all the bus company makes so much money on fares; they will never miss it.

Accept it  as 'a gift from God' and keep quiet.

When he was getting down from the bus, he paused momentarily at the door, and then handed the 50 naira to the driver and said,

'Take;
the balance you gave me was over'.

The driver, with a smile, replied,'

'Aren't you the new  preacher in town?'

'Yes I am'
he replied.'

'Well, I have been thinking a lot lately about where to go to worship. I just wanted to see what you would do if I give you balance in excess. I'll worship with you at the Church this Sunday.

When the preacher stepped off the bus, he grabbed a nearby pole, looked up and said,

'Oh God, I almost sold your  Son for 50 naira.'

Our lifestyles are the only Bible some people will ever read.

This is just a subtle example of how much people watch us as Christians, and will put us to test!

Always be on guard -- and remember --

You carry the name of Christ on your forehead and shoulders once you call yourself a Christian. '

'Watch your thoughts;they become words.'

'Watch your words; they become actions.'

'Watch your actions; they become habits.'

'Watch your habits; they become character.'

'Watch your character; it becomes your destiny'.

I'm glad a friend forwarded this to me as a reminder and I  chose to forward it to you.

If you don't pass this on to anybody, nothing bad will  happen to u;

but, if you do,
you would have ministered to someone today and God will bless you.

If you  must miss any place, don't miss HEAVEN.

The end is no more NEAR, It's HERE.

Pls send this to all those u'll like to see in heaven.

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A lady worked at a meat distribution factory. One day, when she finished with her work schedule, she went into the meat cold room (Freezer) to inspect something, but in a moment of misfortune, the door closed and she was locked inside with no help in sight. Although she screamed and knocked with all her might, her cries went unheard as no one could hear her. Most of the workers had already gone, and outside the cold room it's impossible to hear what was going on inside. Five hours later, whilst she was at the verge of death, the security guard of the factory eventually opened the door. She was miraculously saved from dying that day. When she later asked the security guard how he had come to open the door, which wasn't his usual work routine, this was his explanation:
"I've been working in this factory for 35 years. Hundreds of workers come in and out every day, but you're one of the few who greet me in the morning and say goodbye to me every evening when leaving after work. Many treat me as if I'm invisible. Today, as you reported for work, like all other days, you greeted me in your simple manner 'Hello'. But this evening after working hours, I curiously observed that I had not heard your "Bye, see you tomorrow". Hence, I decided to check around the factory. I look forward to your 'hi' and 'bye' every day because they remind me that I am someone. By not hearing your farewell today, I knew something had happened. That's why I was searching every where for you."
Moral Lesson to reflect upon: Be humble, love and respect those around you. Try to have an impact on people who cross your path every day, you never know what tomorrow will bring. Let this story be an inspiration.  Let's share to inspire others; someone shared this to inspire me  and I've been greatly inspired by this story.
        
Author: Unknown

*COULD THIS BE YOU?*

He called his friend;
And told him: "I'm in need of money, my mom is sick and I have no money for her treatment."

His friend said: " Alright my dear friend, just call me later after Devotion."

He called him but his phone was switched off.

He kept calling over and over again, until he got tired.

And went to search for another friend who can help him with the treatment fee.

But he couldn't find anyone who can help.

He returned back to home and found a bag of medications near his mother's pillow and she was sleeping.

He asked his brother, the brother told him: "your friend came and collected the prescriptions and brought these medicines, he just went out not long ago".

He smiled and with tears in his eyes he went out to look for his friend, and when he found him; he asked him : "where have u been, I have been calling you since but your phone was switched off..?"

The friend replied: "I sold my phone and bought the medications for your mom"

A FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND INDEED.

Again l ask.....

*COULD THIS BE YOU?*

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Author: Unknow