He woke up with a headache.
His head was pounding like a pestle was being used to hit it.
He checked his watch: 8am!
Ah! He'd slept for just about 2 hours.
He looked around: where am I? The room looked very unfamiliar.
He stretched out on the bed. His hand hit a head...
He froze: who is in bed with me?
He pulled the duvet: he saw braided hair.
Who is this, he wondered.
He tried gathering his thoughts.
He remembered he was in Port Harcourt for a conference.
He flew in from Abuja earlier yesterday.
He remembered he went clubbing last night...
He got drunk & returned to his hotel room.
He had no idea who this lady in bed with him was, but he was sure he came back with her from the club.
He was still very groggy, he tried going back to sleep.
The lady turned & smiled at him: "Hey, Boo."
He stared at her...
What am I doing with this girl, he thought.
She's not even half as pretty as my wife!
His mind went back to the family he left behind in Abuja.
Suddenly, he felt very bad.
He had been married for almost 10 years, but he was faithful to his wife just for the first 2...
He always looked forward to these out of station conferences where he could do whatever he liked without any fear of getting caught or seen.
He never kept a permanent side chick: any available one is fine.
In that moment, he heard the music coming from the hotel banquet hall...
He listened.
It seemed a church meets in the hall!
The praise & worship session just started.
His mind went back to his teenage days when he used to be zealous for God.
That was 25 years ago.
He had drifted far off from God & he knew it.
He could remember the songs being sung...
Suddenly, his heart was cut. He felt very remorseful.
He woke up the lady.
"Please, you have to leave NOW!"
She was surprised.
But one look into his eyes told her not to bother trying to make him change his mind.
She got out of bed & dressed up.
He gave her some money.
She left.
He went to take a shower.
He decided he'll go to the church downstairs.
He hadn't been to a church service in over 5 years!
But today, he felt a strong desire to go.
As he showered, his heart went to his wife.
How much he had hurt that woman, he thought.
I don't deserve her...
He finished his shower, dressed up & prayed: "God, I'm so sorry! Please, forgive me! I want to change my ways, please help me! I am going to church right now, please touch me in any way you can, set my heart aflame for you again!"
He started crying profusely...
After a while, he composed himself, got up & walked out.
He followed the sound from the church.
He got to the hall.
It was closed.
2 men stood in front of the door.
"Good morning, gentlemen!" he greeted them.
"May I go in?"
He reached to open the door.
"No sir! You can't!"
He was confused. "is this not a church?"
"It is, but you can't go in, sir. You're late! Once pastor goes up to start preaching, nobody is allowed to go in or out. It disturbs the flow of the Spirit. Next time come early!" one of them said.
He couldn't believe what he just heard!
I can go into the church because I'm LATE????
Seriously?
He was late because he was crying out his heart to God in his hotel room!
He wants to change the trajectory of his life!
He wants to go in there & rededicate his life to Jesus!
What nonsense church law is this?
Nobody can go in or out when the pastor starts preaching!
What if I were inside & I want to ease myself? I can't even go to the toilet?
He looked at the 2 men at the door in anger.
"You guys are mad. You, your pastor, your entire church- you're all mad!"
He turned & walked off.
He got back to his hotel room, seething in anger.
To think he was remorseful & wanted to change his life!
He sat on the bed.
He noticed the lady who left earlier had scribbled her name & number on a piece of paper on the side drawer.
He picked his phone & called her:
"Babe can we continue from where we stopped?"
She replied, "I'll be with you in 30 minutes!"
This happened to a friend.
I invite him to church often.
He always declined.
Last month, he told me of this experience.
Today, he's so pissed off with church & he's back to his old ways.
I don't know which Church that was, but I think we should be careful about these church rules we churn out.
I honestly don't understand how people coming into church late "hinders the flow of the Spirit."
People have different reasons for coming late- rain, car issues...
Or like my friend, crying & confessing their sins to God in their closet.
He came to my office this morning.
And as he left I thought, there goes another one the Church has damaged with unnecessary rules!
May God give us wisdom & understanding.
And TACT!
Amen.
Shalom...
😖
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I worked on a site in Abuja years ago.
An Okada guy would drop off his wife on the site with her food to sell to the workers in the morning & come pick her later in the day when she's done selling.
He would hug her before leaving after dropping her in the morning...
Many years ago, I sat in the car with my then girlfriend around 10pm.
I just drove her home after we hung out that day.
This was about 2 weeks before we got married.
We were just gisting, laughing & enjoying each other's company...
Then I asked her a question:
"Babe, if we ever get into a fight & you feel I have gone MAD & you can't reach me again, who do you think you can call to talk to me?
Who do you KNOW that no matter how MAD I get, I will ALWAYS listen to because of the RESPECT I have for him/her?"
She responded with a name...
She didn't even THINK about it: she just mentioned the name as soon as I asked.
Her response gladdened my heart: she KNEW I had a RESTRAINER.
She knew I was not a headless man who had no RESPECT for AUTHORITY.
She was comfortable knowing her man was under CONTROL...
Bola Ahmed Tinubu was the Governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007.
From the time he left office, his next ambition was to become the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
It took him 16 years & 4 Election Cycles to get there.
He understood TIMES & SEASONS...
That IS wisdom, folks.
Now, look at Atiku Abubakar who had been running for the same office since 1992.
He has been on the Ballot several times, but he NEVER won it.
Why?
He does NOT understand TIMES & SEASONS!
That IS foolishness.
He lacks the capacity to THINK & STRATEGIZE!
Atiku Abubakar ALWAYS throws his hat in the Ring, crossing from one Party to another in search of a Presidential Ticket.
And whenever he gets it & is on the Ballot, he LOSES.
He WILL get the ADC Ticket in 2027.
But he WILL lose as he always does.
I built an 11 unit Estate in Abuja in 2019 & needed electricity meters for the houses.
I went to see the MD of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, Engineer Ernest a Zambian & he told me to talk to the AEDC Area Manager about it.
I did, he told me they had no meters available.
I called the MD & put it on speaker.
MD told him, "you KNOW we have over 20,000 meters in the store! Why do you folks keep telling customers we don't have metres???"
It was a Friday.
The MD told the Area Manager: "if that estate doesn't have meters by Monday, heads WILL roll!"
Monday, 9am I got to the site.
10 meters had been installed, they were on the 11th.
They begged me to wait for them to finish with it before calling their MD.
You wonder why the Zambian MD had more sense & was more easily accessible than the Nigerians under him...?
Bola Tinubu is an interesting character.
He makes his detractors & opponents underestimate him on purpose.
He has this demeanour of a dour sleepy Man with half a brain, but he is FAR from that!
He is a very deep thinker & master strategist.
He always KNOWS what he's doing...
Do you remember the song, "hand dey shake, leg dey shake, Baba wey no well...🎵"?
The Opposition thought he was going senile!
When he presented the 2025 Budget to the National Assembly, he made a Freudian slip (or so we thought): he called them the 11th National Assembly...
I think today y'all should KNOW he was DELIBERATE! He ended his speech with, "That means you are ALL reelected!"
They gave him a standing ovation!
That man ALWAYS KNOWS what he is doing, folks.
Underestimate him at your peril!