THE JOY OF THE SEASON

THE JOY OF THE SEASON

‘Tis the season of Christmas

‘Tis the season of joy

‘Tis the season of sharing

And love unbounded.

‘Tis the season where the aged feel eighteen again

And a season of smiles for all.

As we swim through the drinks of X’mas,

Upset our bellies with a legion delicacies,

Lick around candies,

Unwrap gift boxes,

And torture our jaws with barbecues,

Let’s not take our eyeballs off the Object of celebration.

As we bask in soothing carols,

And jump in ecstasy at the sight of a gift box,

  Let’s have it imprinted on our minds,

That the reason for the season is Jesus!

Joy to the world!

The Lord is come!!

Merry, Merry Christmas!!!

MY SPIRIT IS NOT WITH THEM

MY SPIRIT IS NOT WITH THEM

‘The Lord Is Here International Church’

‘10 Virgins Ministries’

‘Through The Red Sea on Dry Grounds Bible Church’

‘Last Supper Evangelistic Ministries’

‘Let There Be Light Family Chapel’

&

‘I Shall Come Like A Thief In The Night Outreach Church’

These were just a fraction of the churches I chanced upon

Within a kilometer distance in a neighbourhood.

Within a matter of six days,

Another had added up to the multitude.

‘I Am That I Am Gospel Church’

While just last week,

I found two new additions within the same vicinity.

‘Virgin Mary, Innocent Joseph Family Church’

&

‘Five Loaves, Two Fishes Miracle Church’.

On the surface,

The aim of this battalion of churches is to draw people to Him,

Who is the Way, the Truth and the Light.

Their activities and teachings are meant to

Call sinners unto repentance.

Their evangelistic operations are meant to win over

The spiritually corrupted and morally decayed minds and hearts

For the Father who is pure and has no blemish in Him.

The onus rests upon them to point out the ills of their congregants,

And aid them retrace their steps unto the path of righteousness.

Naturally, one could expect a better people and a better society

With the proliferation of new churches.

Yet, the contrary rather appears to gain grounds.

The more churches that spring up,

The more sexual sins and robberies surge.

The more ‘men of God’ preach on the airwaves,

The more the moral fabric of our society gets shredded.

The more churches organize crusades and revivals,

The more filled up the night clubs and brothels get.

The more ‘appeal for funds’ are organized,

The more politicians literally steal from the nation.

The church has turned us into Weekend Saints, Weekday Sinners.

There are more churches now than ever,

Yet, our societies have morally decayed now more than ever,

And crime has skyrocketed now more than ever.

So, one may ask,

‘Why is humanity not really being positively impacted

 By the multiplicity of new churches?’

I pondered over this for awhile

And guess what a little bird whispered to my tired brains?

‘Churches are expanding with aggression,

Yet the Holy Spirit says,

‘Behold, my Spirit is not with most of them’

LET'S PRETEND

LET’S PRETEND

Let’s pretend Ghana is really a developing country.

Ok?

Let’s pretend Kotoka ‘International’ Airport is an international airport.

Let’s pretend our police officers highly dislike ‘tips’.

Let’s pretend Kumasi is a ‘Garden City’.

Let’s pretend the ‘lawns’ at the Seat of Government are lawns.

Let’s pretend our professional footballers

Are not warming benches in Vietnam, Uzbekistan & Kazakhstan.

Let’s pretend Vodafone, MTN, Airtel, Tigo, Glo & Expresso

Are telecommunication networks who really provide services.

Let’s pretend NADMO really prevents & manages disasters

And don’t only distribute blankets & plastic buckets when disasters strike.

Let’s pretend our country has a Vice President.

Let’s pretend 2% of our ‘men of God’ really preach about salvation

 Instead of selling anointing oil from Israel & Jerusalem on God’s behalf.

Let’s pretend most government workers report to work before 10am.

Let’s pretend Ghanaians respect their fellow Ghanaians

Just as they do to nationals of other countries.

Let’s pretend it doesn’t take a fortune to get married.

Let’s pretend state institutions function properly in the country.

Let’s pretend inflation has been a single digit for more than 3 months.

Let’s pretend at most 2% of our musicians really sing.

Let’s pretend Ghallywood & Kumawood are movie industries.

Let’s pretend our ‘celebrities’ detest skin bleaching.

Let’s pretend we have uninterrupted power supply for 3 straight days.

Let’s pretend more than 3% of our media transmit an iota of ‘sense’.

Let’s pretend public officials & politicians respect the laws of the land.

Let’s pretend Ghana Commercial Bank & ADB serve us better.

Let’s pretend the party in power is serious

And the opposition is extra serious.

Finally,Finally,Finally,

Let’s pretend Ghana is a country worth taking a bullet in the head for.

We have to pretend in order to survive

Coz that’s the only option available on our plates.

Else if we opt to take things as they openly are,

We’ll have no further option left

Than to heed to the advice of our public official who humbly proposed that,

‘If the kitchen is too hot for you, get out!’

A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY,A TIMID CITIZEN CALLED GHANAIAN AND A BLUNDER CALLED LEADERSHIP

A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY,

A TIMID CITIZEN CALLED GHANAIAN,

AND A BLUNDER CALLED LEADERSHIP

‘God bless our homeland Ghana

And make our nation great and strong

Bold to defend forever

The cause of freedom and of right…’

These were the humble wishes of the bricklayers of this country.

Just a few decades after their demise,

The once great nation Ghana which lent money

To other countries is now a wealthy pauper.

Blessed with minerals and cash crops

And the recently discovered oil,

One would naturally expect Ghana to rock shoulders

With the likes Singapore and Malaysia at least.

Yet, as Robert Nesta Marley aptly put it,

‘In the abundance of water the foolish man is thirsty’

This is where we now find ourselves.

A nation of countless ‘leaders’

Whom upon all their academic accomplishments and laurels

Continue to remain clueless in practically solving basic problems.

A bunch of so-called leaders

Who see ‘yellow’ yet decide to call it ‘pink’.

A bunch of so-called leaders

Who invest heavily in blaming past political regimes

For the current predicaments of the country,

When they could have spent less in finding solutions.

A bunch of so-called leaders who will never embark on projects

Without being accused of misappropriation and corruption,

Accompanied by a bunch of Parliamentarians

Who do not sit to deliberate on vital national issues

But take delight in voting on party lines

And approving needless loans irrespective of their future implications.

Evil they say thrives when good men remain silent.

As timid as most of us are as Ghanaians,

We have continually failed to stand for our rights.

These so-called political leaders plead with us

To elect them to power all in the name of serving us.

Yet when elections are over and they get intoxicated with power,

We become Kunta Kintes to them instead.

We have elevated them into demigods

And accorded them powers far beyond their reach.

We are where we are as a nation

 Due to our timid nature as Ghanaians.
We're in this mess
Because high profile religious authorities,
Professionals and revered opinion leaders
Have conspicuously held their tongues in cowardice
And allowed some ignoramus politicians to have their way.
They're scared of being labelled as affiliates of a particular political party.

We are in this state of rot

Because we’ve turned public servants into public princes.

We’re in this state of chronic energy crises

Because Ghanaians have failed to question authority

And failed to call for accountability and efficiency.

It’s with a bleeding heart that I say these.

But before I bow out,

I pray God continues to bless the nation Ghana.

I pray He bestows confidence and boldness upon Ghanaians,

And for the so-called leaders,

I offer them for deliverance.

GOD IS TIRED!

GOD IS TIRED!

After all the shouting and wailings,

Countless days of dry fasting and tongues-speaking,

One fact stands for sure,

That, God will never do for mankind

What he ought to do for himself.

Man needs to wake up and perform.

Your prayers will take your thirsty self to the river side,

Yet,

It’s your actions by the river that’ll quench your thirst.

***

You’re a charming daughter of Eve at age 39.

You spend time desperately praying to meet Mr. Right

Yet you barely respond to a simple ‘hello’ from a man.

Your Mr. Right isn’t waiting for you at a prayer camp.

He’s the everyday man you meet on the streets.

Get out and act!

God is tired of your empty prayers!

***

You’re a student who spends each minute

Studying the Bible and engaging in church activities.

Yet you’re puzzled as to why you keep failing

Miserably in your exams every semester.

Passing exams doesn’t rest on empty prayers.

Enough of the prayers.

Your Bible says ‘Study to show yourself approved’

 So start studying now!

God is tired of your empty prayers!

***

You’re a career woman who desperately needs a child.

You spend the day in the office,

The evenings at lectures,

And the nights praying for the fruit of the womb.

You get home at a time when your husband is fast asleep,

Yet you expect God to bless you with a child.

Open your legs and let the Spirit use your husband!

God is tired of your empty prayers!

***

You’re a government worker who needs promotion badly.

You get to work at 10am and close before 2pm each day,

Just to attend prayer meetings.

Enough of the prayers.

Sit in your office and work diligently.

God is tired of your empty prayers!

***

Your God is a God of principles and order.

Before you go on your knees to interact with Him,

Be sure you’ve honoured your part of the bargain.

He will not do for you

What you ought to do for yourself.

Enough of the prayers

 Act now,

For God is tired of your empty prayers!

LET US PRAY

LET US PRAY

As we close our eyes,

Go on our knees each day,

And pray for ourselves, family and friends,

Let us not forget to say a word of prayer

For the needy who appear far yet near.

Let’s say a word of prayer for eighteen-year-old Dorcia,

Who could have been your sister,

Whose aspiration was to be a professional nurse,

Yet finds herself on the streets of the city at night,

Prostituting to make ends meet.

Her parents died tragically,

Leaving her with five other siblings to fend for.

Do not judge her.

Pray for her.

Let’s pray for Mr. Whyte, a pensioner

Whose only son Paul,

Left for university and is yet to return home.

It’s been six years and Paul is still missing.

Please spare a moment,

To say a little prayer for Yohannie,

A father of three adolescents,

Who lives each blessed day on a life-support system,

After he was hit in the abdomen,

By a stray bullet from a police who attempted a warning-shot.

When we go down on our knees to pray for ourselves,

Let’s remember Veronica, a hawker

Whom you’ve never met,

Who needs to cough out $2,000 for an emergency spine surgery,

Yet can’t even afford a single strip of paracetamol.

Our world would certainly be a better place,

When the cries of others become our cries,

And the ills of our neighbours become our headache.

So when we go on our knees to pray,

Let’s not forget the needy that we know not,

And the emotionally disabled who seem far, yet near.

Let’s all pray for each other

For no man is an island.

GONE WITH THE WIND

GONE WITH THE WIND

You were a swift-flowing river on Saturday,

Yet by Sunday morning,

You had become muddy pool.

You were here on earth for a mission.

You were with VANDALS by day,

And with your lovely wife & kid by night.

Yet you left without a goodbye.

The wind blew

And you were gone!

You were gone with the wind.

Gone to a land of no return.

Gone & will never come back.

Life indeed is a puff of smoke.

Here today,

Gone tomorrow.

Enoch Kelvin Nii Okang Lomo!

Chief Toto!!

Vandals have lost you

Your family has lost you

Your friends have lost you

But Heaven has found you.

In our eyes you’re no more,

But in our hearts of hearts,

You continue to soldier on.

The labourer deserves his rest.

Take your rest in the bosom of Father Abraham.

The curtains have rolled down on your performance,

But your awesome presence on earth’s stage

Will remain in our hearts forever.

Rest in perfect serenity, Chief

Rest in boundless peace!