D Soup Kitchen

On the precipice of a New Year you’re probably considering a number of resolutions. But I put it to you that none would be as crucial as deciding that no circumstance, no inhibition and no person shall take charge of your 2017, save for you. I say this not necessarily as an advocate of stubborn independence, the kind of which does not accept advice or direction when it needs it. Neither do I speak of a self-centered individuality, the kin of which is selfishness. No, I speak of taking responsibility, of not delegating your 2017 to anything other than your own resolve of what it is going to be. This is not the year to be tossed to and fro by every wind of he said, she said. Neither is it the year to subscribe blindly to the conclusions of others who are regardless of their proximity to you, facing a unique set of demons with uniquely brewed anointing oil. A number of illustrations to highlight the merits of such a hands on approach. 1! A cool night in December, the stars litte...

It was a terrible, terrible day. I mean, what Amri did to those 12 people is unforgiveable, not to mention Trumps gonna make a lot of nervous nuclear trigger fingers even more uneasy with all his macho talk, but this, this was the worst! First of all, Herods men went around committing infant genocide by killing male babies like Christmas chickens. Then the Innkeeper had the nerve to tell me-the goose about to lay the golden egg, that there is no room for us (notice he didn’t say there’s no room, he said there is no room” for us”, as in lower class, poor people, you know the same way you get to a really nice club, but then the bouncers look you from head to toe and say VIP is full? Yeah, like that. Not that I’ve ever been to a club anyway, that’s from another century.) Mary. Mary, Mary, Mary! You’re gonna bear a son, and he is going to grow up to do all this wonderful things, but nobody ever told me that it was going to suck this much. And suck isn't  a word I expected would be ...

She’s so popular now, Warner Brothers just green lit a spinoff that might incorporate the Birds of Prey storyline. And why not? Harley Quinn is a very relatable character, everyone knows how it feels to break bad, to become the very demon you sought to exorcise. Becoming a believer, becoming a Christian places you in the position to become the most unsettling of paradoxes-for the people that are most likely to be vicious wolves, are those for whom sainthood has been purchased, or in this instance, sheep clothing. Harley Quinn was a psychiatrist hired to diagnose and maybe cure the Joker, but she became so allured by him, because psycho is just too infectious. Likewise we, the believers, are placed smack dab in the middle of a dark world, told to be in it and not of it. But sometimes, we become so enamored by what we were asked to overcome. Even in the Old Testament God warned the Israelites not to venture into a nation because its people still lived and He feared that they would ...

There was a time you wanted to die. You may not know it, you may be over it now, but I assure you, without a doubt that there was a time when somewhere deep in your psyche, you wanted to climb up to the roof of a burning building, drink some cyanide, inject yourself with aids, put a bullet in your temple, and jump down to a certain, gruesome death. Don’t believe me? Just watch. Romans 6 talks about how the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. It reveals to us that eternal life is a gift (as in a present, not strived for, not earned, not acquired, but gifted), whilst death is something we actively sought after as workers of sin. Let me put it this way, when we were yet sinners, we worked in a company which paid in a bullet to the head. Our flesh signed the contract, our flesh knew what it was doing, but  somewhere at the back of our mind we knew that this thing, one day, would kill us. Only a very few people get to ever realize it before it’s too la...

No, it's not MMM, this will be our entrée to discussing that though.  When I'm not brooding about my many duties as an executive in fellowship, or trading penny's for the thoughts of some dear friend (often female, because they understand the deeper things of life), when I'm not doing any of the above, I'm doing something geeky, like listening to a Jane Austen audiobook, catching up religiously on The Walking Dead or watching a Ted Talk video. The latter was the case when I happened upon a good looking black man. He started off his presentation saying such narcissistic things as "you're the CEO of your life", “you're the only one you need to make happy”, and basically you just need to do you. It was all sounding quite worldly and I was already tuning off when he disclosed that he had gone from zero to millionaire in three years. Now that caught my attention, why not, it was plausible, and verified by the very fact that he was on Ted. I guess ...

Other than the fact that we share a name in common, there are many reasons why I love Batman. His is the only comic book lore that remains consistently true to itself. Even if you've read only three batman comic books in your life, several things become readily apparent. He is a tortured hero whose self-sacrifice springs from great loss. He is anchored by the moral code of never killing his antagonists, he believes in justice, and most of all, he perpetuates himself as a myth, as more than a man in a bat costume, but something otherworldly, that cannot be killed. So what in the world does this have to do with God? A lot, in fact I don't think anything exists that is not inclusive in the narrative of God. In Genesis 1 the bible reveals that " God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: He made the stars also. " As you must know, scripture openeth scripture, and a great deal of weight must be given to word...

Daddy issues are like secrets, everybody’s got them, and almost no one likes to talk about them. They arise out of a lapse, perversion, or total non-existence of a relationship between a father and his offspring. You’ve heard it said that a loose girl who dates or marries a sugar daddy (old, pot-bellied aristocrat) is merely venting her latent daddy issues. And that a boy or a man who is constantly seeking the love and approval of his peers is due to the insufficiency of the same from his dad.  Psychologically speaking, this is all true, spiritually speaking, you haven’t even scratched the surface yet. But before we get all deep and serious, let’s look at a brief history of Dads shall we? Dads arose out of a need for balance. The woman progenitor nurtured, salved her offspring in a safe, comforting place called home. The male progenitor however, accoutered the offspring, provided him with the tools to survive out there in the wild. The offspring ran to the mother for warmt...

I am tempted to tell my story but maybe some other time. What I will do however, is share the lessons I have learned through this experience. I am a Christ-Centred boy, so excuse me if I allude to God every time. This is not another religious rambling but this is me telling another, how not to give up even when it doesn’t make sense. I consider myself as someone who is very logical and theoretical, I believe that everything makes sense if we dare question it (them). I have never been part of the bandwagon that says “what will be, will be”, well I honestly believe we are responsible for our lives and actions are what create consequences. I believe in the finished work of Christ, hence my salvation is eternal (That again will be something we should talk about over a few plates of rice and beans). I cannot begin to tell how I felt when I heard the doctor say “Sir, it's terminal, there is relatively no known cure except an open heart surgery, we have procedures that can help ease...

The international Women's Day is celebrated once every year on March 8. This is a travesty, if you're a woman, you deserve to be celebrated every day of the week! But in a world that lobbies to drag you into one of two extremes (the oldest being sexism that positions you as a subservient creature that dwells in the kitchen and churns out babies by the dozen, and the youngest being feminism that lionizes you as a conceited goddess that ought to take charge now and take care later) the truth is easily a middle chil and lumped between these two ideals is the truth that you are a wonder, and you are a woman, God made you that way, and it is good. Yet the world will not agree. The world has taken it upon itself to tell you who you should be, how you should dress, what careers to choose, and whom you should or shouldn't try to impress. But let's get back to the original blueprint shall we? In the beginning there was man and there was woman. But man fell and by and by it...

Just like every church  is one nation under God, serving towards a similar goal, the Air Nomads and the Earth Kingdom played a critical part in Avatar: The Last Airbender. The two fictional nations banded together in the universe to upset the tyrannical reign of the Fire Nation. The beauty here is that both these sides are entirely antithetical. Air can be light and lithe, earth on the other hand is intrinsically heavy, rigid and ungracious. But together they made for some of the most dynamic fighting the animated series ever provided (just look at the fights between Toph and Aang). Two variant nations that shared an Avatar and an Earth King in common seem like an odd pairing, but nothing unites more than a mutual enemy. Yet in today's world the liberalistic church of grace and the older, more conservative church are at cross hairs, constantly pointing their fingers at the noses of each other, spotting the holes in their opposing theologies. That's why Pentecostals thi...

Ruled by Fire lord Ozai, the Fire Nation in Avatar would be what you would call the Nazis if we're being European, or the Terrorists (if the terrorists were winning), the insurrectionists if we're being political. However, if we're being Christian they would simply be the World System. The fallen mentality that crept into the world slowly over the millenniums and created what we have today, a world where sin is legalised and morality is increasingly subjective. The Firelords agenda like the Anti-Christ is straightforward-world domination, and they'll do anything to get it. Wars, media propaganda (remember the stage play in Season 4?) And so on and so forth. The Fire Nation is an empire, and you're the one to step up against them. Now let me level with you, we're a talented bunch, banded together we're a formidable front, but we're outnumbered. For every one Lecrae we've got there are a hundred Drakes. If we're gonna take back what's righ...

Avatar: The Last Airbender is perhaps the best cartoon series to ever hit Nickelodeon. It had action scenes the stuff of Naruto, and it had story and depth the stuff of Oscar nominated dramas. It was epic. I remember watching the first season and it bringing a brief resurgence in my break dancing (story for another day). For those of you who just crawled out of a cave here's what Avatar was about. Benders. Bender's were talented people who had the ability to manipulate a certain element. There were Earth Benders, who manipulated rocks, stones and the like. Water benders who manipulated as the name suggests, just like  Fire Benders, just like Air Bender's. But these Bender's could only manipulate one element. A Fire Bender could not bend water. There was only one exception; The Avatar, whom was granted the ability to manipulate all elements for the purpose of maintaining equilibrium in the world. The Avatar had a connection with his past lives. Past Avatars,...

Watching the Rio 2016 Olympics you can't help but attest to the fact that something important is going on. You sit through the javelin and discus throwing, and all other obscure sports because somehow, everything is now of import. The world is coming together to breed unity out of competition and even if your nation isn't there, you're sitting watching to see whose flag will be raised high above the others, because everyone loves winning, even if you're just a witness to it. We love watching it happen, but just because we're not fit and firm athletes doesn't mean we don't have our sports-we write, we sing, we dance, we do math and ultimately we are trying to win, to beat our fears and outrun our dreams. So what can these more physical  sportpersons teach us about victory? A lot, and some of them, you've probably heard before. Never Underestimate The Power of Support Thiago Da Silva. A young, vibrant Brazilian with that hopeful look in his eyes...

We're all of us clamouring to become something, but there's a big difference between being successful and fulfilling our purpose, it's the difference between being another star and the moon. Thousands dream, hundreds reach their goals, but only tens reach their full potential and die empty. Even more tragic is we surround ourselves with people, events and commitments that shine bright like diamonds in our skies, that are stars and not the moon, but a star is never supposed to be the centerpiece of anyone's life. So pick up your telescope and look up into the universe that is you, as we try to discover, if you're trying to become a star, or the moon. STARS Are Everywhere! Two years ago I was beginning to have strong affections towards a certain girl. She was colourful, like a rainbow to the dark cloud that I was those days and I thought the feeling of opposites attract was mutual. Unfortunately she intended to be safe, not ready for the upheavals and risks th...

A dream is the only thing that would move a man out of the reality he's familiar with-his comfort zone- and propel him to chart a new course. However, if you know anything about a dream you know you can only catch glimpses of it at a time, and yes everyone wants to be an overnight success but to realise your dream it's gonna probably require more nights than one. A dream is like a three course meal, there's the appetizer (investment), the main course (success) and then dessert (legacy). The first of the three propelled me to Warri where I met some wonderful people, and learnt a lot of lessons on the road. So pack your stuff, let's go. 1) The World Helps What It Needs The rain was coming down heavy and I was stranded on a pavement, trying not to sacrifice my shoes to the puddles of rain around me. Then I heard a man scream "Warri"  and I screamed "yes" in return. He huddled over to me, offering an umbrella and a ride on his back to the bus...