Bitter and Sweet [in This Pilgrim's Way]

Bitter and Sweet
by John Newton

1 Kindle, Saviour, in my heart,
A flame of love divine;
Hear, for mine I trust Thou art,
And sure I would be Thine;
If my soul has felt Thy grace,
If to me Thy name is known;
Why should trifles fill the place
Due to thyself alone?

2 'Tis a strange mysterious life
I live from day to day;
Light and darkness, peace and strife,
Bear an alternate sway:
When I think the battle won,
I have to fight it o'er again;
When I say I'm overthrown,
Relief I soon obtain.

3 Often at the mercy-seat,
While calling on Thy name,
Swarms of evil thoughts I meet,
Which fill my soul with shame.
Agitated in my mind,
Like a feather in the air,
Can I thus a blessing find?
My soul, can this be pray'r?

4 But when Christ, my Lord and Friend,
Is pleas'd to show His pow'r
All at once my troubles end,
And I've a golden hour;
Then I see His smiling face,
Feel the pledge of joys to come:
Often, Lord, repeat this grace
Till Thou shalt call me home.

Man's Mists of Darkness

In our quest to solve man's problems using scientific and social theories,we have over-solved & over-simplified these "solutions". In fact, these solutions have been man's undoing and shall remain his greatest burdens. I think of his attempt to solve his problem of nakedness in Eden. Man's only solution without side-effect is to be broken before Christ accepting his need of deliverance and his failures to proffer one. But man is proud and man is evil!

As a point of correction, those "solutions" were not and are not solutions at all. They are worse than morphine, worse than the drinking of liquor or beer to "feel" good. Of all the "solutions" man has been proffering for himself, which one has worked? Which of those that relieve man's misery are without side-effects? But oh, how one hour sincerely and heartily spent at the feet of the Cross remove a world of troubles, sorrows and confusions with a single stroke. Science  and philosophy is to make  us feel the misery of man and acknowledge more and more the terrible mists of darkness that have engulfed man since he departed from God's ways. 

"Let man consider what he is in comparison with all existence; let him regard himself as lost in this remote corner of nature; and from the little cell in which he finds himself lodged, I mean the universe, let him estimate at their true value the earth, kingdoms, cities, and himself. What is a man in the Infinite?.... For, in fact, what is man in nature? A Nothing in comparison with the Infinite, an [all] in comparison with the [n]othing, a mean between nothing and everything. Since he is infinitely removed from comprehending the extremes, the end of things and their beginning are hopelessly hidden from him in an impenetrable secret; he is equally incapable of seeing the [n]othing from which he was made, and the Infinite in which he is swallowed up." (Blaise Pascal, 1660)

A man without science live and die happy, but how many great "minds" have lived in sorrow and died in misery. Dear friend, I beseech you that you submit to God's solution; "be ye reconciled to God".  And it is a simple one. You don't pray, you don't read the Bible, you don't think about eternity, you don't think on Christ. How can you be happy? O be wise and consider your latter end. Your heart is evil, your enemies are many and your mountain is too great and difficult for you to scale! But there is a friend that can help you; a Saviour that can save you and a God that will accept you, if only you return. I returned years ago (5th Aug., 2002) and it's been grand all along.

Olatunji, Owolabi

Ile-Ife.

(Edward is my favorite alongside R. M. McCheyne)

The Thoughts of Jesus is a Great Cheer to The Weary Pilgrim

The Thoughts of Jesus is a Cheer to The Weary Pilgrim

"The Christian confesses that he is a pilgrim here. All the children of Zion- all who have ever traveled to the Canaan on high, have acknowledged that they were strangers and pilgrims in this wilderness world. Of those ancient worthies who died in faith- in the bright hope of a blessed immortality beyond the darksome grave, and who are held up in the precious volume of inspiration, for our imitation in the Christian life– it is said, they 'confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.' To this land of shadows and of death, their views were not confined. No. They looked higher than earth. 'They were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a heavenly city for them.' Of Abraham, it is said, 'And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in a tent. And so did Isaac and Jacob, to whom God gave the same promise. Abraham did this because he was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.'

"The earthly Canaan was but a type of the heavenly; and therefore the patriarchs, overlooking the passing scenes of a sublunary world, elevated their views to the true land of promise beyond the skies. In contemplating his present state, each child of God is ready to exclaim with the Psalmist, when addressing his Heavenly Father in earnest prayer, 'Hear my prayer, O Lord! Listen to my cries for help! Don't ignore my tears. For I am a stranger with you—a traveler passing through, as my ancestors were before me.' His feelings with regard to earthly objects are beautifully expressed in the glowing language of the Christian poet–

"'Nothing on earth I call my own;
A stranger to the world, unknown,
I all their goods despise
I trample on their whole delight,
And seek a city out of sight,
A city in the skies!
Not a foot of land do I possess;
No cottage in this wilderness:
A poor, wayfaring man;
I lodge awhile in tents below,
Or gladly wander to and fro,
Till I my Canaan gain!'"

A Pilgrim's Wish

Once upon a time,
In the city of Lagos,
Amidst the bustles and hustles of a mega-city,
A baby boy was born.

He was born in Lagos,
And bred in the Country-side.
Like his Biblical predecessors,
He lived the life of a pilgrim.

A wanderer he called himself,
But he met a Deliverer.
A sojourner he was dubbed,
But he met a Saviour.

And now, he is becoming a man,
A man of many parts he called himself,
Of many parts but one passion, one aim, one wish.
His wish he has spread before his Saviour.

What does he wish?
He wish the world is one;
One in tongue, passion, spirit and worship.
That the world is one in all its facets.

He wish humanity is not divided,
That men do not toil unnecessarily to make ends meet,
But toil because he love it;
And his fulfilled in doing work.

He wish we are all one,
In spirit and morals and judgment;
That we worship one God,
In holiness and righteousness.

Though, he has read it,
In the great Book he has read it;
That humanity will know oneness:
One God, one worship, oneness in judgment.

He now looks and toils;
He toils to see that world of unity.
Where man is man in his original form,
And God is loved and worshiped the way He truly deserved.

Olatunji, Owolabi (198D - )
Ile-Ife, Nigeria