The Long Way Up

A father plays a major role in the lives of his children. An understatement? An overstatement? Well, whichever your preference, it's a true statement; one that has been poorly heeded, greatly ignored, or severely missed out. Anyone can biologically sire a child -- we got a lot of that going on these days; but to be a father in every sense of the word is, for sure, such a tall order, which is why many men -- for several varying and valid reasons -- opt out of their responsibilities. One such responsibility inherent to the paternal role is the privilege of representing the Heavenly Father to his children. This wouldn't be much of a stretch if men, to begin with, had an existing relationship with their Father in Heaven growing up, and have spent their season of singleness practicing being God-conscious in whatever form of relationship they had with other people. But sadly, that isn't the case most of the time. So, whatever a man learns during his bachelorhood he usually carrie...

Writing this blog entry about the epistle to the Philippians has been a very long and arduous process that began early this year, in the month of January. The last three months have been anything but ordinary — just about everything in life around the world as we know it has apparently come to a grinding halt because of the corona virus pandemic. On top of that, a personal tribulation in my life has shoved any desire for the creative to the back burner, as thoughts of worry and anxiety took the driver seat for a huge chunk of said three months. With the pandemic’s impact becoming more evident in my country in mid-February and sort of leveling off in early April, life here has taken a much slower pace, and the initial pangs of fear and discouragement have been gradually — and thankfully — replaced by faith and hope. This is due mainly to the abiding and comforting presence of God, and His assurance that not only does He have complete control of what is going on globally, but that ...

After watching the latest Kendrick Brothers' movie, Overcomer, and after coming out of our last session with the young adults (on Paul's epistle to the church in Ephesus) I got inspired to do a simple sweep over the text of the letter to the Ephesians and just compile what it says about "me". These are rich spiritual blessings indeed. CHAPTER ONE I am blessed with every spiritual blessing I have been chosen by Him before the foundation of the world… that I would be holy and blameless before Him I have been predestined to adoption as a son His grace has been freely bestowed on me in the Beloved In Him I have redemption through His blood I have been forgiven of my trespasses The riches of His grace has been lavished on me I am sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise CHAPTER TWO I have been made alive together with Christ even when I was dead in my transgressions I have been raised up with Him I am seated in heavenly places in Chr...

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes." -- Ephesians 6:10-11 - - - - - Although this passage finds the reader towards the tail end of the epistle to the Ephesians, I feel like this is nevertheless the perfect way to sum up what the apostle Paul has carefully laid out in the preceding chapters: the need for relational vigilance, spiritual militancy, and perpetual determination to persevere amid the raging invisible conflict. I went through Ephesians this month via three sets of devotionals as part of my study on different books of the Bible with my fiancée. And though I have read this Pauline epistle before, this examination gave me an insight that I have not had a privilege of receiving. Many people would probably know of the 'full armor of God' passage in chapter six. Preachers have no doubt spoken about or taught on our weapons of spiritual ...

The Bible is rife with life lessons, meaningful maxims, powerful principles, and revitalizing revelations that enlighten the human mind when understood and transform the human being when applied. For the month of October, my fiancée and I agreed to go through a series of devotionals on the book of Galatians as part of our joint spiritual growth disciplines. We are not by any means attempting to go 'scholarly' on our study of Scripture (as valuable as it is); we simply desire to know God and His word more, especially in the context of us looking forward to living out our walk with Jesus together as husband and wife. As of this writing, we are on the second devotional series on Paul's letter to the church of Galatia. I think we will be able to go through a third one before the month ends.  At the outset of this joint study on the book of Galatians, the thought of learning more spiritual things that can be applied in practical ways piqued my interest: it would a...