Olaniyi Olanrewaju

Recently, while praying, the LORD told me that when a Christian is praying, what happens is similar to what happens in a nuclear reactor. So I went online to read about nuclear reactors and I was amazed at the massive similarities between a praying Christian and a nuclear reactor. My residual knowledge of a nuclear reactor tells me that it is a big structure where nuclear reactions that release massive amount of energy takes place, but when I started reading more about it, I saw a greater insight. Wikipedia says 'nuclear reactors convert the energy released by controlled nuclear fission into thermal energy for further conversion to mechanical or electrical forms.' This statement struck me real hard as it looks like another modern version of James 5:16b. Firstly, the nuclear reactor is a store house of a large amount of energy that can supply electricity for a whole country or more. Germany's nuclear power plant supplies power not just to Germany alone, but also to ...

In the church where I grew up, we had one usher. We callled her Aunty Eli (Her name was Elizabeth). She was the only usher in the entire church which was not so big. Apart from the numerous offerings that she attended to, she also had a special duty that she carries out. The kids of the church were a set of people that she decided to oversee. She would make sure that we didn't run around the church, sit where we were meant to sit and more importantly, close our eyes during prayer. For me, sitting in the right place was quite easy, but closing my eyes during prayer wasn't just my thing. I tried severally to do, but it would not just work and this made me to be distracted during prayers. The gimmick that an angel would pluck out my eyes if opened during prayers didn't work on me, but this usher did not allow me to rest. She always had a short stick in her hand with which she makes sure that my eyes were shut! I am sure I must be the kid that gave her the most of the ...

Recently, I saw a chat I had with the vice-president of my fellowship in college when I was president. As you may have known (if you follow my blog well) that I was privileged to lead my fellowship. The chat was thus, between the president and his vice. I was telling him about how I felt concerning my health at that time and he told me not to say such again because I am supposed to be helping them and not be the one seeking for help. He was right, but I was not alright. I once bought a book titled "The Effective Pastor". I couldn't read much of the book because it has a lot of English words that I am not used to. I couldn't read two sentences without opening the dictionary. I got bored and I dropped it. Before I dropped the book, I read the first two chapters and from the little that I read, I got something very important. As a student pastor, I didn't know so much, but I knew enough to know that a Christian leader is seen as a man that is perfect all rou...

Recently, I have been sneaking into Lagos and this is not because I don't want people to know about my being in Lagos, but because I wouldn't be staying long enough to see my friends that live there. My first trip was to Oshodi while the second was to Ojota. Now, my third trip to Festac posed a great threat on my peace as I didn't know how to get to the place I am going, so I had to contact a lot of friends staying in Lagos to get accurate description of the place. All the descriptions I got looked similar, but I still nursed a fear for the Lagos Cabs. I have heard a lot about them that I don't want to have any thing to do with them. My previous trips had been without taking any cab, but this time it seemed like I have no choice. Google Map seems to think that everyone has a car. I needed a direct bus to Festac from Ibadan, but I was told that the closest I can get is to Mile-2. I had set my mind on getting a cab finally from Mile-2 to Festac. I had gotten the...

Some days ago, I woke up around 1am and I saw a message on my phone. It seemed as if my brain was suspended for a few seconds as I couldn't think about anything. It was a question and I had no ready answer for it. The message said 'Is God for real?' You know the kind of situation that makes you to ask that kind of a question. It comes after someone has done something you didn't expect or you were grossly disappointed by the person. My residual knowledge of God wanted to defend Him, but I decided to wait a little to see if I can really defend God in this case. Defending God is not something am not used to, but each time I have to defend Him, it's always like a fresh one. It seems that it is one of the job descriptions of a pastor. At times, you wonder why God keep disappointing people. I mean, why can't He prevent it from happening? What was He doing? After all the prayers and fastings, what happened? Or like my friend asked, is God for real? I have ...

My Mum and I plays a game and she has always won since Adam. Growing up has not made me to detect the trick she uses to make sure she stays unbeaten. At the beginning, it would look like I am about to win, but eventually she would come out with the trophy. The game is quite simple. There are some things that cannot stay for long in our house if I know where it is kept. One of it is bottled groundnut. Anytime my mum brings something she knows 'Lanre must not see into the house, she plays the game. Mostly, I would see it when she brings it into the house, but she would take it into her room and hide it. My cunny self would not ask for it when she is around. I would go and search for it whenever she is not around, but I wouldn't see it. When she returns, she would simply enter the same room I had ransacked and bring out the bottle of groundnut. It's can be really frustrating. You see, our God does the same thing too, but in for different reason. My mum hides the bottl...

I had to attend a wedding recently because I had no choice. It's all those far away relatives that would not allow anybody to miss their son's day of joy. My reluctant self sat in an isolated place where I had a broad view of the event including where they were dishing out food. I voted for the self acclaimed best African specie of Jollof. The wedding was really glamorous and the couple must be some talented dancers. The relatives were also not left out in the rhythmic hullabaloo that filled the entire stage. All the while, I saw a man of God I could recognize. He sat quietly just as I was sitting. He seemed to be concerned about something I really couldn't figure out quickly. After a while, I heard the servers complaining that the wine has finished! I didn't want to eavesdrop, but the next statement caught my attention. A woman said: "Go and ask the man of God sitting over there to give you the new wine." He said this pointing at the man of God I had...