Category Archives: Holding on to the ideal

Mystery of Iniquity

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Another way of looking at the above title is to find synonymous words that bear true affinity to those whose behavior is not Christlike. Such believers are far from being faithful and obedient Christians. These are the synonyms out of many more that can be found. While mystery is something that is not understood iniquity is synonymous with the following words as lawlessness, deception, selfishness (in its perjurative sense), and such as lying or unrighteousness.

II Thessalonians 2: 7-8 writes, “For the mystery of iniquity thus already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming” KJV Nov, 2011 By implication, those who have failed to obey and honor God in their daily life are found among Christians. The bible described them as those who have given themselves to Satan and Satanic behaviors. By the same token Christians who have back-slidden have consciously or otherwise aligned themselves to the devil.

The Church of God has a role to play to bring back the lost sheep of the family of God by ensuring the true gospel of God is taught. Church leaders should do what they preach by abstaining from non-Christlike behaviors. They really need to lead the crusade to obey and honor God and Jesus Christ our redeemer with a view to preventing parishioners from missing the rapture. There is need to expose Satan’s devices to lure away believers by teaching sound doctrines.

Exposing the devil and its deceptive devises 1 John 2:14b says, “You are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” This entails revealingSatan’s work in all kinds of false miracles, signs and wonders or other wicked deceptions. In practical terms, our daily wrong doings often ignored or counted as inconsequential make the little drops of water that make the mighty ocean of iniquity.

Consequence of the mystery of deception, iniquity, or lawlessness in the life of any believer, by God’s standard, means the loss of eternity for eternal condemnation, sorrow and anguish.

RACECAR DRIVER’S MINDSET

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Driving is the ability to guide self, other human beings and even designated tools that impact on other machineries for harmonious functioning whatever the size or complexity. In other words, it is an art that is to be mastered. The simple status of driving a car or any vehicle requires certain abilities and to talk of driving racecars requires greater knowledge based on training and personal innate ability that exceed that of drivers of both luxury cars , private or commercial.

A racecar driver’s mindset can therefore be compared to the attributes of leaders that work to direct others in the pursuit of success if goals are to be achieved. Mechanically, I have learnt about another meaning of “a driver”. It fits a dictionary meaning which says of a driver as a piece on computer software that controls input and output operations. A leader or government can also act as a driver to the company or nation.

The founder of Emirate of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates was Rasheed bin Saeed AlMaktoum (1910-1990). He ruled the Emirate for 32 years (1958-1990). The momentum he created since1956 has never slowed down or abandoned . By the same token, not all live line cable electrical operators in an electrical company can qualify to be live line electrical operators. They usually undergo special training in competence and alertness or be psychologically fit for the job at any time.

Racecar driver is expected to have certain important skills and attributes needed for such a professional job. Driving ability to be able to drive at top speed which can be up to 200 miles an hour and possibly within a confined race track. Another is mechanical knowledge of how to understand the various sounds and performances that can translate to strains and distress and can also lead to unexpected breakdown, the next is healthiness requiring physical fitness and reflexes. The well-tuned reflexes will always enable the driver to favorably respond to the changing situations during the competition. This tends to avoid collision as the competitors continue to race ahead within the route mapped out for the race. They need to be psychologically balanced.

Very much related to the psychological status of the drivers is fast moment of decicion making to avoid collisions. At the height of competition, there is no time to prevaricate or time for indecision before nipping collision in the bud, that can occur within the twinkle of an eye. Such driving requires foresight and cooperation leading to successful competition to the benefit of the profit motive of their sponsors. These are just some of the mindset for the success of the usually hyped expensive and flamboyantly prestigious competition.

It is expected that the mindset of racecar drivers should be the paramount concern to our leaders, managers or captains of industry, educational and religious leaders. People should work towards team-building and be adaptive, psychologically balanced, and get educated in a form of continuing education to step up the tempo of readiness for purposeful achievement in individual and corporate enterprises.

Steps Through Failure to Success

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I like to take cue from the following statement: “In most endeavor, overcoming slings, arrows, setbacks, and rejection is a crucial element for a crucial success.”, by Alex Dalenberg. It has been a common but profound statement that there is no royal road to success; otherwise, the world will not have gotten series of flat, low, or undulating plains as well as valleys, deep canyons, precipices, plateaus and mountains.

The point I am making bothers on success and failure which are a common phenomenon in the life every individual. However, my concern is to state clearly that failure in one or many endeavors does not mean that one is a total failure in life. Every individual wants to be proud and be seen as successful and not a failure.

In any event, life is a journey through bearable and unbearable terrains. The bottom line requires putting courage into life. Almost all the successful people would have experienced failure many a-time in the past. A fact of life that is undeniable, is that failure can be a stepping stone to an enduring success that can become a legacy to unborn generations

My dear sister once failed a promotional examination which was humiliating to her. It was so painful to her that it turned out to be a spontaneous wake-up call for putting better effort in her studies. Thereafter, she started making the first position in class until she left school and that failure birthed success throughout her school career. It happens in small and great endeavors in life.

Celebrities like Oprah Winfrey started life in a hard way which could have led to failure in life but she braced up through life’s harrowing experiences to become a TV star. She has since become a philanthropist and now in business in helping lots of girl-child in South Africa. In business, the like of great philanthropist Henry Ford (1863-1947) tasted the bitter pills of failure before embarking on successful motor manufacturing industry. One of his children became President of the United States of America.

In politics, Abraham Lincoln turned failure into success to become President of the United States of America, Despite failing so many times to do well in elections ,unarguably the trials and errors taught him to perfect his strategies and later became an unforgettable 16th President of the United States of America from 1861-1865. In spite of all odds, he accepted failure as an inevitable fact of life. His recilience made him fulfill the adage “When the going is tough, the tough gets going”. He amazed wealth of experience that crystalized to become his stepping stone to his eventual success. Since then, he had always been a looking glass self or a reference point to many Presidents across the aisle

In politics, Abraham Lincoln turned failure to success to become President of the United States of America. Despite failing so many times to do well in elections, unarguably, the trials and errors taught him to perfect his strategies and later became the unforgettable 16th President of the United States from 1861-1865. It is instuctive that he was able to accept failure as an inevitable fact of life. His resilience made him fulfill the adage “When the going is tough the tough gets going”. He amassed wealth of experience that crystalized to become his stepping stone to his eventual success. Since then, he had always been a looking-glass self or a reference point to many Presidents across the aisle within the political spectrum of his country.

THROUGH FAILURE TO SUCCESS

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I like to take a cue from the following statement; “In most every endeavor overcoming slings, arrows, setbacks, and rejection is a crucial element for ultimte success” by Alex Dalenberg. It has been a common but profound statement that there is no royal road to success. Were it to be so, the earth won’t have had series of flat, undulating plains, plateaux, mountains, deep gorges and precipices.

The point I am making bothers on success and failure which are a common phenomenon in the life of every individual. However, I have to state clearly that failure as one of man’s many endeavors, does not mean that one is a total failure in life. Every person expects to be seen as successful and not a failure.

In any event, life is a journey through bearable and unbearable terrains that calls for the courage that one puts into life come rain, come sunshine. Almost all successful individuals have experienced failure many a-time in the past. A fact of life that is undeniable is that failures are not supposed to be the end of the road, rather they are expected to be sure stepping stone to success that can lead to an enduring legacy to unborn generations.

My half sister once failed a promotional examination. It was extremely painful to her. It turned out to be a spontaneous wake-up call to put in more effort at her studies resulting in taking the first position throughout her remaining years in school. That failure birthed success that followed her into adult life.

Oprah Winfrey started life in a hard way suggestive of failure in life. She braced up herself in spite of all odds to become what she became; a TV star for decades, now one of the richest women of note, as well as a philanthropist. Her early threatening failure turned into a situation of “Rag to Riches”. She graduated from the school of failure to become a celebrated success.

In business, Henry Ford, American Industrialist (1863-1947) earlier in life, tasted the bitter pills of failure before his business boomed in the Motor manufacturing industry. Ford Foudation is the legacy left behind as testimony for his enduring legacy.

Abraham Lincoln, an American Lawyer and statesman (1809-1865) experienced a chain of failures in politics, but with rugged determination and courage he got to know the possible causes of his seemingly unending failures. He has an attitude which I love to describe as that of ” when the going is tough , the tough gets going”. He became the 16th President of the United States from 1861- 1865. His eventual success included wartime leadership, unifier of the Union and abolition of slavery. Till today history has projected him as the greatest in American Presidents in history across the aisle.

You snooze, You lose

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To snooze is to have a catnap or kip. It is usually momentary that may just make one lose a golden opportunity which may never be possible to recoup. The magnitude of the loss may be out of tune with the individual’s expectation. If one had remained watchful or always expectant of a worthy cause, to lose would be very rare. Even if one had achieved success, it is still another thing to pay candid attention to maintaining the standard already reached while there could still be more of future opportunities. Vigilance, they say, is the price of liberty.

Nehemiah knew his homeland was in distress and wished he could return to Jerusalem to effect the needed transformation. In-spite-of his heavy heart over the situation in Jerusalem, he continued to work diligently in the service of King Artaxerxes but clearly focused on getting an opportunity to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls. Under this obsession, the king noticed the change in his countenance for Nehemiah was on fasting and prayer mode. It paid off for the king sponsored his return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Walls round Jerusalem. On arrival, Nehemiah undertook to do need analysis, mapped out strategies for accomplishing the goal of his mission and kept strictly focused before showing up to the public. Those who worked with him never snoozed and armed themselves to the teeth, to accomplish the task in fifty-two days. The result was obvious. Adversaries, in the persons of Sanballat, Tobias, the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites conspired against the work being done. Nehemiah 4: 1-23

King Saul snoozed as he effected an agenda alien to God’s instruction requiring him to wipe out the Amalekites. In consequence, he lost the King’s dynasty that God promised him. 1 Sam 15:1-35. He lost his sanity for the rest of his life during which he fruitlessly pursued the life of David who eventually became the king over the twelve tribes of Israel.

Col. Muammar Gaddafi (June 7, 1942 – Oct 20, 2011) ruled Libya for 42 years  49 days. He was the longest ruling non-royal ruler from 1900 till he died (Wikipedia.org). For his failing to quit when the ovation was loudest, he was killed as if he did nothing good to his country before the Arab spring. President Robert Mugabe was adjudged to have deviated from his revolutionary ideas and ideals and was ‘respectfully’ eased out of power recently.

From other angles, a judge that fails to uphold justice and equity will ever remain a snoozing judge and would in the end lose out from the revered seat of justice as well as in the case of a politician. However celebrated he or she may be, up to the time the keg of the gun powder of his sexual harassment explodes, such a politician will then come to realize that he/she had snoozed and should lose out in disgrace. An African proverb says, “Pounded yam of twenty years can still be too hot for the hand to touch”. In the present US congress (Senate and the House) the spate of accusation of sexual misconduct is no more news. We have witnessed series of accusations and denials leading to loss of vital election, abrupt resignation to preempt formal call for withdrawal or going under the hammer of being found guilty of having violated the ethical rules of the Congress. This idea is relevant to individual relationship to self and others as well as in intranational and international relations.

Failure to resolve to carry out the purpose for which one had set out to achieve amounts to snoozing. Surely, losing out is not negotiable.