Lie To Me...isn't it funny? ;)

Hello everyone, and a happy new month to you all!

Once again (same as last year), you may perish the thought of me greeting you with the claim that today must mark the celebration of folly. Because it doesn’t have to.

In fact if you’re a Christian, then it absolutely should not since - last time I checked (scripture that is) - foolishness isn’t something we believers laud.

(Lol, I can almost imagine some people rolling their eyes right about now…) ;)

I hate to burst your bubble but it is true. And this is where I try to convince you:

The Great Commission

Let’s have a quick reminder of what exactly your creative energy as a believer should be geared at shall we?

Matthew 28:18 -20 (NIV)

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

If we’re supposed to teach them His commandments, what room is there for them to teach us to be lost?

And if we’ve chosen to submit ourselves and remain under the authority of Jesus Christ, why then are we trying to adopt a culture which contradicts everything righteousness stands for? Proverbs 26:18 likens the person who deceives someone else and claims it was just a joke, to a “…madman shooting firebrands or deadly arrows…” (NIV)

Can you attempt painting that picture in your head briefly? Think of all the damage that would result from an insane person ecstatically shooting flamed arrows all over the place. Pretty ‘funny’ huh?

How many of us walk around hoping we’d get lied to by someone? I mean, just ask yourself if your default mode is set to expect nothing but lies and deception from each person you encounter in a day. So tell me this; if you won’t enjoy being lied to EVERYDAY or being made a fool of the whole year through…why is it SUCH AMAZING FUN to do just that on one day?

So many relationship wallpapers and love quotes and what nots are very popular on the internet, telling you basically to stick with the person who’s most real with you, or one who isn’t too scared to be honest, and how his lies and deception is what broke her heart or pushed her away and stuff like that.

So if we all agree that lies are not so nice, what makes them so appealing on April first?

Who’s supposed to be Copying Who Again?

You’re the light – remember? They (those who reject Christ) are supposed to see you shining out in the darkness; you don’t snuff out your flame and join them to grope aimlessly. It just doesn’t work that way.

Matthew 5:14-16 (KJV)

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

So do you think maybe that folks are going to suddenly start worshipping and glorifying God ‘cus we ‘played a good one’ on them or we ‘got ‘em’? Hmm?

You’re probably thinking I’m taking this too far but think about it. We’re followers of Christ. So we follow Him, and lead the lost to Him. So if we’re leading the lost then they should be following us. If that’s the case why is a fad that is clearly an offshoot of the nature of the devil (the father of ALL lies), something you now deem worthy of your attention and even (tragically) your celebration?

It’s very irritating if you ask me. Even more so because of how my brethren so carelessly embrace such worthless trends (a trend that has been going on for a really long time by the way). Deception isn’t new – read the book folks! It was the very thing that helped orchestrate our fall remember? Haven’t we gotten low enough already? If your answer’s ‘yes’ then how come so many of us are still eager to drive the vehicle of the deceiver when we claim to be conveyers of the gospel – of truth!?

So they say it’s okay to lie. So we lie. They powder it up as humor, don it this shiny robe called fun and introduce it to you as ‘Fun Prank’ or ‘Just-a-Joke’.

So yeah, let’s all become ‘the Joker’.
#smh…Batman will never know what hit him...

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Now several people I’ve confronted concerning this have asked me point blank if I’m saying comedians are all going to hell or something.

Whoa. When did I say that?

You see the problem? That question assumes that ALL comedians lie to make successful careers. I don’t agree with that thought line. And shouldn’t we be concerned if we start thinking that it is impossible to generate laughter and be humorous without lying or exaggerating? I mean seriously, are we all that unfunny?

If you check twitter, you’ll see there are funny bones pretty much all over the place. If twitter is too wide for you then come on down to Nigeria! My people lack no humor! Take for instance this ‘African Parents Be Like’ theme that everyone has picked up all of a sudden and which has made the foundation for the fame of several dedicated instagrammers. To be honest, the stuff many of our parents did - whether to ensure we turned out as decent responsible adults, or maybe as a result of what they were fond of back in the day and how different it is from what obtains now - make for great comic relief when looked upon in hind-sight! And the best part is - THESE THINGS DID HAPPEN! Those experiences whether from family moments, or our journey through formal education, or things we did as children – they actually happened. And they can make you laugh regardless. Sometimes the humor source may be in the form of some creative puns, cheesy cracks or satyrs. A situation might even be negative or hurtful and yet there are those gifted with so much wit that they manage to reconstruct things by finding the one thing in the midst of everything else that can be laughed at or seen in a way which helps subdue sorrow.

So what’s your excuse?

Look, I’m not trying to give a lecture on the Dos and Donts of comedy. Making people laugh can be hard work sometimes, I’m aware. But I do know that you can’t give out what you don’t have; to give folks a reason to laugh I believe innate joy is a necessary ingredient. And the only source of joy I know is Jesus Christ. #shrug. He really is the answer to everything. So if you call yourself one of His own, and you understand that it isn’t ‘Some of you’ but the ‘Sum of you’ which ought to bring honor and glory to His name, you’ll understand that EVERY thing you do and EVERY aspect of your life should please Him.

Including your ‘joke’ life.

My life’s purpose is to serve, please and honor my Lord & Savior…I doubt He’d be impressed if I became a witty deceiver. Plus if I’m to live everyday as though it were my last, and if liars still don’t get to enjoy eternal rest, where does that leave me if the last day I lived was the day I joined the world to celebrate folly on April first?

Please, think about it.

xxx, Kwiksie.

Would the Hypocrite please Rise?! :D

HYPOCRITE

Give to the needy,

Show love to the bad.

Pay your debts promptly,

In love and kindness, be clad.

Tell lies to none,

Neither God nor man.

Plant what is good,

Then reap joy from the land.

Forgiveness is a must,

Something you should gladly do.

Slander, malice and hate,

These MUST be far from you.

These are God’s instructions,

You’ll do well to live by the book.

When I am done doing the very opposite,

Perhaps I’ll turn and have a look.

Okwukwe Ifediora

3^rd March

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Hi people. :) I'm sorry i've been away so long...I have no excuses.

Up there is a piece i wrote in 2012. But i was just going through some of my old write-ups and it just occurred to me anew, how easy it is for us to get into hypocrisy - sometimes without even realizing it.

Here's a simple definition of the word from Wikipedia:

Hypocrisy is the claim or pretense of holding beliefs, feelings, standards, qualities, opinions, behaviors, virtues, motivations, or other characteristics that one does not actually hold. It is the practice of engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another.^[1][2] In moral psychology, it is the failure to follow one’s own expressed moral rules and principles.[3]

We just tend to feel very good about being that guy or that babe who tells folks the proper things to do and the right ways to behave and the best thoughts to think and all that.

It does feel really really good doesn't it?

Funny enough, half the time we're probably saying the right things. I mean, the message is sound, the motives - on the surface - look pretty alright, the tone and approach could be on-point as well. But then, when our oh-so-perfect messages or rebukes are effectively passed across...does it make it easier for us to neglect to effect the changes we so passionately recommend to others in our very own lives?

I'm not just yarning off the top of my head - this used to be me. Way too often. (It still could quite easily be but now i attack this deadly habit like there's no tomorrow). :D

I'd feel so good after admonishing someone for some wrong behavior or attitude that's in all honesty detrimental to them, thinking what a 'good' person I really (can you smell the pride in my attitude former attitude? Sickening innit?). And then i'd walk away feeling like the counselor of the universe; thoroughly satisfied and proud of myself for getting the usual grateful or awed response i usually received from my audience. (lol, it wasn't all the time though).

I'd feel so good i'd forget to put the check on my own lifestyle or behavior concerning the very issue i was instructing others to be on their guards against. Rather dumb innit?

I know.

But what's amazing is that for awhile (a couple of days to weeks even) i could be walking around oblivious to the way i was damaging myself. I mean, you're going around trying to make the world a better place but eagerly trying to make yourself the only 'bad' that will be left in that same environment. How does that work? Really?

The answer is it doesn't. So eventually i'd catch myself slipping into hypocrisy at one point or the other, and then i'd feel appropriately remorseful and very much ashamed of myself. Sometimes i'd get thought bombs from the enemy that would sound something like:

* Some ambassador for Christ you are. You can't even get it right yourself! Who's going to bother listening to a fake? HA!"

#Eyeroll. The devil is such a nuisance.

Anyway, sometimes i actually listened to all that junk (thank the Lord for growth through His word though) and then i'd feel really sorry for myself and pathetic; then i'd cry and write a really touching 'I'm so sorry' poem to God and then I'd feel better. But you see, remorse and repentance can NEVER be the same just because they both start with the letter 'R' guys! The remorse thing would keep me sensitive for a couple days at most, and then i'd be right back at it.

However, I'm thankful my Father keeps teaching me how to love Him better. So these days when i catch myself ministering to or counselling some person and the Holy Spirit just brings to mind that I haven't been the best banner for Christ in that aspect, i don't stop counselling and go somewhere to sit and look morose. I repent in my heart, ask Him to help me out to be more sensitive and obedient to Him when I'm about to slip, and then I make a concerted, mega-violent and ruthless effort to kill the dominance of this here flesh in that area of my life.

It's been working just fine I must say. :)

Enjoy the rest of your week dear people.

xxx, Kwiksie.~