RELIGIOUS INSANITY: THE TRUE FACE OF MISPLACED PRIORITY IN MY HOME TOWN

The reason I am embarking on the voyage of looking into this religious matters is that when any believe system negatively affects other people, certainly we must rise against it. You can believe in a stone provided you don’t throw it at me and others. And it is in line with this understanding that we are doing our best to stop Boko Haram at all cost.

My Home Town Aku, have the highest number of academic Professors and legions of Associate Professors in Enugu State, and as such Education is our pride but the way things are going we may well be living in the past as other Towns will soon take our position.
To be fair, I just willfully decided to use four pictures above to buttress my points because if I try to present the true picture of the hospitals in my Town, the entire internet space may crash. We have Eight (8) Parishes in Aku and the two buildings at the top of the picture are just two parish houses. And there is an intense competition for other parishes to complete their Parish houses as soon as possible. So, within 2 years we will have 8 magnificent buildings all to the Glory of God while the parishioners languish in penury and abject poverty.
The house at the lower left side of the picture is Secondary School while the other is Primary School. What you are seeing outside is just the best look ever, because going inside will shock you to the marrows. These are few of the places we churn out students that will represent us at the University level. Most of the students will finish as science students without seeing a conical flask before because what supposed to be laboratories was just parking stores for petty traders in the school. There is no functional library for those that have the luxury of reserving a room as library while in most of the Schools there is nothing like library. If I continue to give graphic illustrations of what the Schools actually look like, this brief write up will be the size of Encyclopedia Britannica.
The Bible instructed Men of God in 1 Peter 5:2-3 “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing DISHONEST gains, but eager to SERVE; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being EXAMPLES to the flock”. What example are the Priests showing to the Parishioners by hoodwinking them to build such house? How can a Priest live in such house and tell you that Jesus is coming soon and you believe him? If you know that you are parking out soon to Heaven, why are you then wasting time and money to build a castle instead of managing ordinary tents temporarily?
How can our Community leaders, lead us into this spiritual and existential abyss all in the name of God? I doubt if any reasonable God of love will support the destruction of the future of our children for the comfort of His Men when He is a great provider Himself. Jesus said In Mark 9:37 "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." Are we benefiting more from the churches than on our own children and good health? All these Reverend Fathers are under Private Health Insurance but they keep telling us that God will heal us. Is it not reasonable for Priests to manage modest apartments that are in sync with the financial capacity of the Parishioners? In Luke 5:16 “Jesus frequently withdrew to the wilderness to pray”. If Jesus can pray in the wilderness why can’t the Men working for him live happily in more humble houses?
I know that some people will misinterpret my position as if I am fighting the "Men of God" No, far from it. My position is that we have more pressing needs to sort out at the moment and if we abandon that responsibility to the advantage of the "Men of God" we are mocking God. If we solve the problem that is making everybody uncomfortable in our Home Town we can then plan and even create our own Vatican City, but at the moment it is a clear case of misplaced priority.
How can we afford the luxury of outsourcing what we can even do for ourselves? We can do our prayers on our own for now and take care of our immediate problems. The Bible made it clear in Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them." The Bible did not say where two or three are gathered and a Priest or Pastor is among them. Also in Psalms 145:18 “The LORD is near to ALL who call on him, to all who call on Him in truth”. The Bible did not say those who call on Him with the help of Pastor or Priests. And in John 14:13 “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son”. And finally in Psalm 5:3 says” In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly”. My point is that we can pray to our God directly without any immediate need for the middle men for now, if they cannot respect themselves and live humble life.
How are we even sure they are working for God? The Bible told us in Matthew 7:22-23 “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” So, you can see that even when a Pastor or priest performs miracles, cast out demons and prophesy, they may still not be working for God and we must be careful. Assuming we discover that these people are not working for God on the "last day" how can we explain to God that the reason we destroyed the future of our Children is because we believed the con men without using our brains. In San Diego USA the dioceses paid more than $198 million to 144 abuse victims. This was not sexual abuse as we know it but Priests molesting altar boys (Crude Homosexuality!). So we have practical evidence that most of these people are misbehaving and may not be working for God, then why are we gambling for their comfort at our own Peril?
If we convert these magnificent buildings to hospitals and use the daily offerings and donations to employ 4 doctors within 3 months our town will turn to Mecca for hospital tourism. We have the key to our own survival but we desire to put our scarce resources in the bottomless pit and blame the government for everything when we have the capacity to help ourselves.
If we collectively fail to be creative and look for a way to make our children fit properly into the society, with the basic training to take care of themselves and others, we better start now to look for another place to call Home because if we keep mass-producing charlatans with the pace we are going, our Town will likely be called scene of the absurd soon. I am just writing about the buildings for now, i am not in any way talking about the physical cash they are gathering for themselves and their Roman slave Masters.
Let us all bear it in mind that if the churches are truly creating positive impact in the society, there is no way the churches will keep growing and the crime rate keep increasing at the same time. Something is wrong somewhere and until we discover the anomaly, we will keep ruminating in the dark. Every positive thing starts from the foundation. The only thing that is built from the top is grave! Let us unite and give our children the future we desire by channeling our donations and resources to make their future brighter. The money spent on these buildings can transform all the Schools in our Town. It is unfortunate that our fore fathers awarded Scholarships in 1945, but now we have battalions of professors, and catholic of Elites nobody is talking about Scholarship again even when those who benefited from the 1945 Scholarship are still with us. To cross a bridge and destroy it is part of man’s inhumanity to man. Matthew 7:5 “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye”. Thanks for your time!

Yours in the Lord,
Evangelist Odoh.

CHRISTIANS ARE CALLED TO SUFFER IN NIGERIA

A Christian does not have peace in the world: he has peace in Christ. A Christian does not have peace in the world: he has trouble in the world. 

Jerry Brown-Johnson took his young son, Jedidah, to a children’s hospital. When he got there, he was told Jedidah would have to be given an injection. Because it is often difficult to find a vein in children, the injection would have to be inserted through his head. 

Jerry had to hold down Jedidah while a vein was provoked by slapping him repeatedly on the head. Then a needle was inserted. You can imagine how painful this must have been for a boy barely two years old. But Jerry was pleased for his son to go through the ordeal in order to prevent him from the greater agony of sickness and death. 

Trusting God 

The truth is that Jedidah needs to be taught to trust his “old man” in pain as well as in pleasure. Even though he might not understand why he had to be given the injection, the presence of Jerry while the pain was being inflicted on him should be sufficient as a source of reassurance. 

Job said of God: “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him.” (Job 13:15). He asked a telling question of his wife who wanted him to curse God when he fell into adversity: “Shall we receive only pleasant things from the hand of God and never anything unpleasant?” (Job 2:10). This shows Job’s commitment to God was on a solid foundation for better for worse. 

To what exactly is the believer called? What kind of life can we expect in the world? Are we called to prosper in the world as many have led us to expect? The answer is an emphatic “No.” It is the ungodly who prosper in the world. (Psalm 73:12). As a matter of fact, the believer is called to suffer in the world. Peter says: “To this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow his steps.” (1 Peter 2:21). 

Peace (shalom) is another word for prosperity in Hebrew. For a Christian to have peace in the world is to negate the ministry of Christ. The bible pronounces woe on those who are at ease in Zion. (Amos 6:1). If we have peace in the world, then we have no need for Christ. A Christian does not have peace in the world: he has peace in Christ. A Christian does not have peace in the world: he has trouble in the world.

 Overcomers 

Bad times are inevitable in a world of sin and sickness. Therefore, Solomon counsels: “Enjoy prosperity whenever you can, and when hard times strike, realize that God gives one as well as the other- so that everyone will realize that nothing is certain in this life.” (Ecclesiastes 7:14). Christianity does not promote expectations of worldly advantages, but of heavenly reward. Jesus says: “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). 

There is a fundamental difference between gaining the world and overcoming it. The Christian faith is an instrument by which we overcome the world. John says: “Whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world- our faith. (1 John 5:4.) 

When a man overcomes the world, he survives without those things the world esteems. When a woman overcomes the world, she sings even though she is barren. (Isaiah 54:1). She is unfazed, even though she is single. When a man overcomes the world, he is not ashamed to be born in lowly Nazareth. He is comfortable riding a donkey instead of a Cadillac. 

The believer is called not only to suffer, but even to suffer unjustly. We are called to suffer persecution for righteousness’ sake. (Matthew 5:10). We are called to do good and suffer for it: “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake.” (Philippians 1:29). 

New wine 

The Holy Spirit is given to prepare and strengthen us for the journey ahead. He is given that we may be supernaturally empowered to bear all our trials without complaining. He is given that we may be patient and longsuffering in the crucible of life, and that we may face its inevitable ordeals joyfully. (Colossians 1:10-11). The promise is that, after we have suffered for a while, God will restore, establish and strengthen us. (1 Peter 5:10). 

God has left the new creation as new wine in old bottles? This is because he wants us to work out our own salvation. (Philippians 2:12-13). He wants us to take the kingdom by force. (Matthew 11:12). He wants us to strive to enter the kingdom through the narrow gate. (Luke 13:23-24). He wants us to labour for the food which endures to eternal life. (John 6:27). He wants us to labour to enter into the rest of God. (Hebrews 4:11). 

For this reason, Jesus warns us to count the cost before accepting his invitation to discipleship. If we are not prepared to pay the price, we should not even embark on the project. (Luke 14:28-30). 

Losing to gain 

A lady phoned me from the United States with a burning question. “Doctor,” she said, “since you committed your life to Christ, what have you gained?” I told her I had gained Christ but this was meaningless to her. She wanted to know what I had gained in the world. 

She hit the nail on the head by asking the wrong question. I told her that her question came from lack of understanding of kingdom dynamics. In the world, you gain by gaining. But in the kingdom of God, you gain by losing. Her question should therefore have been: “Doctor, since you committed your life to Christ, what have you lost?” In order to know Christ, we have to lose so many things we have acquired in the world. 

What are the Isaacs in our lives? What are those things that compete for the love of God in our lives? What are those things that compete with God for our attention and devotion? Is it our husband, wife or children? Is it our homes, jobs and possessions? Jesus requires that we give them all up for him. (Matthew 10:37-38). If we are not prepared to give them up we cannot expect to be heirs of God. 

How do we recognise a true believer? Not by his church attendance record. Not from the number of scriptures he can quote. One of the ways we recognise a believer is by how he responds to affliction, to temptation and to difficulties. (2 Corinthians 6:4-10). Satan has a simple thesis: slap the Christian and his faith will be scattered. Kill his son and he will become an unbeliever. Break up his marriage and he will stop going to church. 

However, true believers put on the whole armour of God and are able to stand against all the devices of the enemy. They do not put on the armour of Saul: they put on the whole armour of God. (Ephesians 6:11). “Take heed, do not turn to iniquity, for you have chosen this rather than affliction.” (Job 36:21). 

 By Femi Aribisala

A Christian does not have peace in the world: he has peace in Christ. A Christian does not have peace in the world: he has trouble in the world. Jerry Brown-Johnson took his young son, Jedidah, to a children’s hospital. When he got there, he was told Jedidah would have to be given an injection. Because it is often difficult to find a vein in children, the injection would have to be inserted through his head. Jerry had to hold down Jedidah while a vein was provoked by slapping him repeatedly on the head. Then a needle was inserted. You can imagine how painful this must have been for a boy barely two years old. But Jerry was pleased for his son to go through the ordeal in order to prevent him from the greater agony of sickness and death. Trusting God The truth is that Jedidah needs to be taught to trust his “old man” in pain as well as in pleasure. Even though he might not understand why he had to be given the injection, the presence of Jerry while the pain was being inflicted on him should be sufficient as a source of reassurance. Job said of God: “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him.” (Job 13:15). He asked a telling question of his wife who wanted him to curse God when he fell into adversity: “Shall we receive only pleasant things from the hand of God and never anything unpleasant?” (Job 2:10). This shows Job’s commitment to God was on a solid foundation for better for worse. To what exactly is the believer called? What kind of life can we expect in the world? Are we called to prosper in the world as many have led us to expect? The answer is an emphatic “No.” It is the ungodly who prosper in the world. (Psalm 73:12). As a matter of fact, the believer is called to suffer in the world. Peter says: “To this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow his steps.” (1 Peter 2:21). Peace (shalom) is another word for prosperity in Hebrew. For a Christian to have peace in the world is to negate the ministry of Christ. The bible pronounces woe on those who are at ease in Zion. (Amos 6:1). If we have peace in the world, then we have no need for Christ. A Christian does not have peace in the world: he has peace in Christ. A Christian does not have peace in the world: he has trouble in the world. Overcomers Bad times are inevitable in a world of sin and sickness. Therefore, Solomon counsels: “Enjoy prosperity whenever you can, and when hard times strike, realize that God gives one as well as the other- so that everyone will realize that nothing is certain in this life.” (Ecclesiastes 7:14). Christianity does not promote expectations of worldly advantages, but of heavenly reward. Jesus says: “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). There is a fundamental difference between gaining the world and overcoming it. The Christian faith is an instrument by which we overcome the world. John says: “Whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world- our faith. (1 John 5:4.) When a man overcomes the world, he survives without those things the world esteems. When a woman overcomes the world, she sings even though she is barren. (Isaiah 54:1). She is unfazed, even though she is single. When a man overcomes the world, he is not ashamed to be born in lowly Nazareth. He is comfortable riding a donkey instead of a Cadillac. The believer is called not only to suffer, but even to suffer unjustly. We are called to suffer persecution for righteousness’ sake. (Matthew 5:10). We are called to do good and suffer for it: “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake.” (Philippians 1:29). New wine The Holy Spirit is given to prepare and strengthen us for the journey ahead. He is given that we may be supernaturally empowered to bear all our trials without complaining. He is given that we may be patient and longsuffering in the crucible of life, and that we may face its inevitable ordeals joyfully. (Colossians 1:10-11). The promise is that, after we have suffered for a while, God will restore, establish and strengthen us. (1 Peter 5:10). God has left the new creation as new wine in old bottles? This is because he wants us to work out our own salvation. (Philippians 2:12-13). He wants us to take the kingdom by force. (Matthew 11:12). He wants us to strive to enter the kingdom through the narrow gate. (Luke 13:23-24). He wants us to labour for the food which endures to eternal life. (John 6:27). He wants us to labour to enter into the rest of God. (Hebrews 4:11). For this reason, Jesus warns us to count the cost before accepting his invitation to discipleship. If we are not prepared to pay the price, we should not even embark on the project. (Luke 14:28-30). Losing to gain A lady phoned me from the United States with a burning question. “Doctor,” she said, “since you committed your life to Christ, what have you gained?” I told her I had gained Christ but this was meaningless to her. She wanted to know what I had gained in the world. She hit the nail on the head by asking the wrong question. I told her that her question came from lack of understanding of kingdom dynamics. In the world, you gain by gaining. But in the kingdom of God, you gain by losing. Her question should therefore have been: “Doctor, since you committed your life to Christ, what have you lost?” In order to know Christ, we have to lose so many things we have acquired in the world. What are the Isaacs in our lives? What are those things that compete for the love of God in our lives? What are those things that compete with God for our attention and devotion? Is it our husband, wife or children? Is it our homes, jobs and possessions? Jesus requires that we give them all up for him. (Matthew 10:37-38). If we are not prepared to give them up we cannot expect to be heirs of God. How do we recognise a true believer? Not by his church attendance record. Not from the number of scriptures he can quote. One of the ways we recognise a believer is by how he responds to affliction, to temptation and to difficulties. (2 Corinthians 6:4-10). Satan has a simple thesis: slap the Christian and his faith will be scattered. Kill his son and he will become an unbeliever. Break up his marriage and he will stop going to church. However, true believers put on the whole armour of God and are able to stand against all the devices of the enemy. They do not put on the armour of Saul: they put on the whole armour of God. (Ephesians 6:11). “Take heed, do not turn to iniquity, for you have chosen this rather than affliction.” (Job 36:21).

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/christians-are-called-to-suffer-in-nigeria/

BIZARRE LAW: SINGLE WOMEN BANNED FROM USING MOBILE PHONES

A village in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat has banned single women from using mobile phones, with elders deeming the technology a “nuisance to society”.  

Members of the Suraj village council in Mehsana, the premier’s home district, passed a resolution in early February outlawing the use of mobile phones for teenage girls and young women.  “Community leaders felt that just like liquor, the use of mobile phones by unmarried women was a nuisance to society,” village head Devshi Vankar told AFP, adding that a similar ban would be announced for school-age boys soon.  

He said mobile phones were distracting unmarried women from carrying out their studies and household chores in the village, which has a population of 2,000.  If caught owning or speaking on a mobile phone, the violators will face a 2,100-rupee ($30) fine, according to the council, which is also offering 200 rupees to informers for tip-offs.  However, they can talk on their parents’ or relatives’ phones.  

The ban was imposed at a meeting originally called to discuss the community’s growing alcohol abuse problem.  It comes amid a nationwide campaign by Modi to spread the use of technology in rural India.  Last year the government launched its “Digital India” initiative to help boost connectivity in India, where nearly a billion people do not have access to the Internet.  

AFP

http://www.punchng.com/village-bans-mobiles-for-single-women/

WHY I HATE PRAYERS

I’m a big fan of meditation and personal reflection.  I try to spend an hour each day in thoughtful introspection. I’ve found that practice to bring me inspiration, clarity and peace.  While I no longer call this exercise prayer, I’m comfortable with those who frame this experience as a connection with something beyond themselves – be it god or some power.  Maybe it is.  As long as your inner voice isn’t telling you to hurt yourself or me, I’d recommend listening to it.  That being said, when it comes to making requests of god, I hate prayer.

Prayer

I haven’t always hated intercessory prayer – the type of prayer intended to alter future outcomes.  Indeed, there was a period of my life when I often requested things of God and even thought some of those prayers were answered.  When prayers weren’t answered, I’d repeat the Christian mantra – sometimes God says yes, sometimes God say no and sometimes God says wait.  This formula was fairly easy to sustain as an affluent American Christian.  All of my basic needs and most of my desires were met.  It seemed as if my prayers were often answered.

Ironically, it was in becoming a pastor that this understanding of prayer began to fail.  As a pastor, I was constantly asked to pray for some of the most heart wrenching situations – physical healing, broken relationships, destitution, addiction, and psychological trauma.  Again and again, the answers “no” or “wait” made no sense.  “Yes” seemed the only appropriate answer to such pleas.  When I told people – in response to their unanswered prayers – that God’s ways were mysterious, it rang hollow in my ears.  Answered prayers began to look more like happy coincidence than divine intervention.

Even before I became an atheist, I gave up intercessory prayer.  When people would stand up in church and celebrate the most trivial occurrences as answered prayers, I felt embarrassed.  I knew there were people in the pews dealing with unanswered prayers about horrific situations.  I began to research the science behind prayer.  I discovered there was not a single study that found prayer capable of altering outcomes unless – and this is very important – the persons being prayed for knew they were the objects of prayer.  In other words, telling someone you’re praying for them has a positive effect on them, but praying for them without telling them is useless.  Obviously, the positive impact had nothing to do with god and a lot to do with human psychology.

So for the last few years of my religious life, I tolerated talk of intercessory prayer.  What could it hurt?  If people told others they were praying for them, it brought that person some real comfort.  If people prayed for someone without their knowledge, it did no harm.  Most claims of divine intervention seemed expressions of gratitude rather than of how the universe worked.  People prayed and some disaster was avoided.  People wished for some good outcome and it happened.  Crediting such events to God was gratifying.  While there was no evidence I could see of God intervening in the world, people seemed to like to think so.

Today, I no longer see such sentiments as harmless.  Hearing them from outside the confines of religious culture, I am aware of an arrogance and ugliness to which I had been oblivious.  In the past year, I’ve begun to cringe when I hear statements like “God answers prayer” and “Prayer works.”  I’ve bitten my tongue when people describe some trivial occurrence as evidence of God’s responsiveness.  Do they really think they are so special?  I finally understand why such claims are so damaging both to the speaker and the hearer.

Consider this example.  When I was sixteen, one of my friends received a brand new car as a birthday present.  As a person driving an old beat up truck, I was obviously envious, but I understood the inequities of life.  I didn’t get irritated until my friend made it a point at every opportunity to announce, “Look at this car my parents bought for me.”  Eventually, I avoided him and his car.  Of course, there was nothing wrong with my friend being grateful for the present and for thanking his parents.  What was obnoxious was his constant need to make certain everyone knew of his good favor.

This is how I feel about claims of answered prayer.  If you really think God has intervened on your behalf, thank God and keep it to yourself.  The minute you broadcast that good fortune as divine blessing, your purpose is no longer gratitude.  It is pride and arrogance.  You are convinced at some deep level of God’s special favor.  In proclaiming this good fortune, you are also calling into question the status of everyone else.  When you celebrate even the most amazing occurrences – successfully overcoming cancer, surviving a tornado, or a sudden and unexpected financial windfall – you are suggesting those who are dying of cancer, killed in the tornado or poor and destitute are less favored by God.  Your prayers were answered, but not theirs.

Perhaps the more graphic examples of this cruelty happened in one of my last years of ministry.  One Sunday, a woman stood to announce that – after several months – her prayers had been answered and she was pregnant.  Everyone was excited and happy for her, except for me and one other.  As I looked out on the congregation I saw the crestfallen face of a woman who had recently shared with me her long depression over her infertility.  It wasn’t enough that she would never have children.  Now she had to struggle with why her prayers went unanswered.

If there is a god who answers the prayers of some men, women and children, but ignores the prayers of others, I have no interest in such a god.  That god would be source of inequity and not a god of justice.  I would hate a god who answered trivial requests while ignoring the pleas of the parents of starving children.  However, I don’t think that god or any other god exists.  I think what people claim as answered prayers are happy coincidences.  I don’t begrudge them their good fortune, but I’ve come to despise their expressions of spiritual privilege.  Isn’t it enough that life is good?  Why besmirch the character of those less fortunate?

Usually, I say nothing when people celebrate intercessory prayer, but I don’t know how much longer I can give my silent assent to such ugliness.  I wish far more Christians obeyed Jesus and did their praying – and their celebrating of answered prayer – in a closet rather than in the public square.  Those who insist on flaunting their good fortune remind more and more of my sixteen year old friend – insecure, immature and insensitive.

 ==================

Jim Mulholland spent twenty-five years as a pastor. He wrote several best selling Christian books and spoke nationally.  In 2008, he resigned when his faith faltered.  After several years of transition, Jim published the book Leaving Your Religion and began writing a blog on becoming post-religious.  You can read more of Jim’s story and reflections atLeavingYourReligion.com.

See more at: http://www.patheos.com

SCIENTISTS CRASH INTO GOD'S BEDROOM

Five hundred years ago, people in the supposedly civilized world of that time believed that men had one rib less than women. The Bible told them that God used one of man's ribs to make a woman.

 

Nobody bothered to open up a man and count. And nobody asked the people in other parts of the world who ate human flesh how many ribs men had. That ignorance persisted until Flemish anatomist, Andreas Vesalius, in 1543 opened up a man and found out that he had the same number of ribs as a woman.

It would take another 400 years before German scientist, Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, in 1895 discovered the X-ray. With the discovery of X-ray we no longer need to open up a man before we can find out how many ribs he has or which bone is broken or where the coin he swallowed is lodged.

Until Thursday, February 11, 2016, our universe has been like man- 500 years ago. We cannot touch it. We cannot open it up. We do not know much of what is inside of it. We call most parts of it dark matter, black holes, supernova.

And then, we got an X-ray, sort of.

I don't know what you were doing on Thursday, February 11th, 2016, but chances are that 200 years from now, nobody will remember. What nobody will forget 1000 years from now is that on that day, Albert Einstein's theory of relativity was proven right. And with that accomplishment, the 200-year-old arc of wonders started by Michael Faraday and advanced by Albert Einstein was completed.

Before February 11, 2016, the questions being asked were: Is there a limit to science? What comes after science has ended? How are the questions that science cannot answer different from the answers that religion cannot prove? If laws created the universe as Leonard Mlodinow and Stephen Hawking argued in “The Grand Design,” who created the laws? Do laws really make things happen? If the universe did not create itself, then who created the universe? If God created the universe, then who created God? Why is the universe there? What is the universe expanding into? Where did time and space come from and what were they before they came into existence.

It is in the nature of science to first study what we know and expand on it by making a guess- a hypothesis. Using complex tests and equations that originate from known laws, scientists predict what they believe is out there- a theory. It is then followed by the difficult task of proving it in experiments that can be replicated.

The last big puzzle piece of Einstein’s theory of relativity, gravitational waves, was a path to finding answers to these questions about our place in the universe. For the last 50 years, the National Science Foundation had spent over a billion dollars trying to find the gravitational waves. In the last 25 years, the foundation has spent half of the money supporting two facilities for this purpose in a project called Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in Livingston, Louisiana and Hanford, Washington. The facilities house two 4-km long tunnels emptied of all air and at right angles with a mirror at the end. A laser beam split into two was sent down one tunnel and reflected back where they are recombined. When gravitational waves pass the LIGO lasers they will change the pattern of the laser light. Over one thousand scientists from around the world were working on the project.

The simplest way to explain gravitational waves is that when you drop a coin in a bucket of water it causes ripples. Likewise, when mass moves in the universe it bends time and space, which in turn causes ripples. This ripple is the gravitational waves. It is often referred to as the ripple in the space-time curvature.

On September 11, 2015, the two LIGO facilities detected gravitational waves in space. The one in Louisiana picked it up first and 7 milliseconds later, the one in Washington picked the same waves up. The gravitational waves occurred 1.3 billion years ago when two massive black holes about 30 times the mass of the sun and travelling at half the speed of light collided. Remember, 1.3 billion years ago when humans had not appeared on earth and when we were beginning to see the spread of multicellular life here on earth.

This is how big a deal this is. In 2012, the CERN’s discovery of the Higgs particle solidified the standard model of physics and opened up new ways to understand our physical world. With the detection of gravitational waves, our interaction with our universe has changed forever. Not only did this discovery prove Einstein’s theory of relativity, it also proves the existence of a binary black hole.

Since Michael Faraday discovered the electromagnetic induction in 1831, scientists have been fascinated about how energy is transported. Working off Faraday’s law, James Clerk Maxwell discovered that magnetic fields and electrical fields when coupled together lead to electromagnetic waves. While mechanical waves need a medium to travel through, electromagnetic waves do not. Meanwhile, German physicist Heinrich Hertz applied Maxwell's theories to his work on radio waves. He proved that the velocity of radio waves was equal to the velocity of light and as such radio waves were a form of light. He also figured out how electric and magnetic fields transform into electromagnetic waves.

With an electromagnetic wave, scientists were able to see objects that emit visible light, like X-rays and gamma rays.  That could only show us objects further back 400,000 years after the big bang. Beyond that, we were blind. Light could not penetrate the earliest period of the universe due to interstellar dust. Objects in those spaces do not emit electromagnetic radiations but instead they emit gravity.

Unlike electromagnetic waves, gravitational waves will pass through any matter without being distorted. In gravitational waves, we can retrieve information about astronomical events that happened billions of years ago. With the discovery of the gravitational waves, we will be able to see what happened at the initial singularity. Which means it is now possible to find out what happened seconds after the Big Bang.

It is going to change everything we think we know.

When Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves in 1915, it was not clear how to unify forces of nature and quantum gravity. As scientists start to 'hear' and 'see' black holes, those remnants of dead stars, the possibilities are endless.

Scientists say that the discovery of gravitational waves is like a deaf person hearing for the first time or a blind person seeing for the first time. "It's like Galileo pointing the telescope for the first time toward the sky," LIGO team member Vassiliki (Vicky) Kalogera, a professor of physics and astronomy at Northwestern University in Illinois, told Space.com.

Within the reach of scientists is an understanding of the inner workings of the black hole; what happens in a supernova; what are dead matter; and a possible look inside of the burnt-out stellar corpse called neutron stars- a teaspoon of a neutron material weighs up to a billion tons.

An advanced LIGO three times more sensitive than the old LIGO that discovered the gravitational waves is already in place to take mankind to a new frontier.

Michael Faraday’s work on electricity and electromagnetic induction made it possible for us to have electricity, satellite, cell phone, cars, internet, and all the modern gadgets that make us have a better understanding of our world. With the discovery of the gravitational waves, we can now understand better how galaxies and stars are formed and their evolution. One thing is for sure- just like the X-ray, the radio wave and the electromagnetic waves have enhanced our knowledge of our place in the universe, gravitational waves is poised to lead us to objects we never imagined.

Scientists have crashed into God’s bedroom and in the fullness of time, it will be clear that our understanding of our place in the universe has changed forever.

By Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo 

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Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo's latest work is This American Life Sef! It is available on Amazon.com

WEIRD: A LIVING CHILD RAISED FROM THE DEAD BY PASTOR

Pastor Chris Okafor, 45, the founder of Mountain of Liberation and Miracle ministry (also called Liberation City) has further exposed the gullibility and ignorance of the Nigerian christian when it comes to claims of miracles. One week ago, I heard that he had raised a child from the dead, but I did not write about it as I could find no video. I knew of course that it was a lie, but I needed to prove it was, and the video below in which he puts up a show for his congregation two Sundays ago was all the proof I needed.

From around the 1:30 mark, he carries the 'dead' child to the altar where he lays her down, and she can be clearly seen, as the camera zooms in, to be breathing, and that her eyes are wide open. He then pours 'holy water' on her and she of course reacts to water being splashed on her face to a tumultuous applause from the congregation. The only extraordinary thing that happened was that the thousands gathered there that Sunday morning were too blinded by their utterly absurd christian beliefs to even notice that the child was alive. What is wrong with these people? The story was that the parents of the child who fell ill rushed her to the church instead of a hospital, and this is actually a very normal occurrence in Nigeria. It was reported that the child died just before they got to church, and she was promptly handed over to the pastor who resurrected her.

Mr Okafor, also known as 'the oracle' is separated from his wife, with whom he has four children, amid allegations, from her, of physical abuse. His miracle is no different from this one I wrote about where another Nigerian pastor purportedly grew a shortened limb. It is extremely saddening that these charlatans and fraudsters are allowed to get away with so much flimflam. Those who speak out against them are shouted down and warned not to invite the wrath of the christian god for speaking out against a 'man of God'. Well, I will continue to expose their deceit and villainy and wait for the wrath of God. For now, God is certainly feeling mine.

Posted by Nigerian Anarchist

Heading Edited by me.

WHO IS GOD?

"I think God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability."
― Oscar Wilde

Some time ago I was sitting with a group of people who were intrigued by me; and kept on asking me questions about my work. One of them finally asked "What religion do you follow?" I'm always weary of this question so I said in a diplomatic way "Well I believe that there is a superior being that has created us all, I call Him God. He is everywhere and all around us and is plain simple love." And then the dreaded question "What is your God called, who is He?"

It was one of those questions that had come to my mind so many times before -- is my God different than yours? Is yours better than mine? Does that mean that there is more than one creator of the Universe if people from different religions have different gods? Am I right to believe in a certain God while you are wrong because you don't agree with what I call my God? Who IS God?

From the beginning of time humans believed in a higher power, something bigger and more powerful than themselves. They needed to believe in someone who had inconceivable powers and was so much bigger than themselves and also to answer the big mysteries of the world. So they worshiped the sun, the moon, fire and even created gods of the seas. Anything explainable was considered an extension of the holiness of God even love and beauty intrigued humans and they made goddesses of love and beauty.

When I look into my heart and think about God or as I'm told "my God", this is who He is:
1- He is my friend and confidant
2- He is everywhere all around me in the littlest corners of the world
3- God doesn't reside in some holy building where I need to go to find Him; he lives inside of me in the deepest darkest corners of my heart.
4- He is not there to just make me feel small but he sees my successes as his own, as I am created by Him.
5- God is love, the love I see and feel everywhere
6- He talks to me through my heart and soul- if I only listened
7- Religious rituals don't bring me closer to Him but loving his creations does

I know that God, Allah, Jesus, Bhagwan, Buddha are all names of the same higher power that created all of us. The same powerful being that created all of us from love, yet we separate ourselves from each other trying to prove that our religion is better than the other. We are fighting wars, killing people trying to prove how we are the righteous ones and it is our right to demean and destroy others who don't agree with our religious rituals or the name we give to our creator. What we need to remember is the
My God or yours-God is Love and that is all that we need to know.

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 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tami-shaikh/who-is-god_2_b_9165058.html?