WHY YOU MUST MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE!

In this article I would like to address the youth and discuss the fact that "CHOICES DETERMINE CONSEQUENCES." In the last chapter of the Old Testament book of Joshua, he was giving the nation his final message. Joshua ends his address with what has become known as one of the most powerful and courageous testimonies in all of scripture. In his old and perhaps quavering voice, he shouted in verses 14-15,

"Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. (15) And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

He knew these people had the POWER OF CHOICE.

They could choose to serve the false gods, and the idols their ancestors worshipped.

They could choose to serve the gods of the Amorites, whom God had overthrown from the land.

They could choose to worship and serve the God of heaven who had given them their life and this great land.

FIRST: This was an INDIVIDUAL choice. The verse says: "Choose you …" Each and every one of you have made or will make thousands of choices. You have or will be making choices whether to:

*Obey or to disobey your parents.

*Obey or disobey your pastor.

*Obey God or not to obey God's Word,

*Go to school every day, or not to go to school and face the consequences.

*Commit to keep yourself pure until marriage, or not to keep yourself pure and pay the consequences that will scar you the rest of your life.

*Lie or tell the truth about a situation.

*Commit to being in the house of God each and every Sunday, or to come only when you feel like it.

*Live in harmony with your family, or to live in utter disharmony and anger all the time.

*Finish school and go onto college, or quit school and then go from job to job wondering why things are so hard for you.

*Accept God's gift of eternal life though faith in Jesus Christ to one day spend all eternity in Heaven, or to reject God's gift of eternal life and one day die and go to Hell.

It's up to you; you have the POWER OF CHOICE.

SECOND: This is an IMMEDIATE choice, "Choose you THIS DAY…" This is a choice you must make TODAY, not tomorrow or when you grow older. The decisions you make in your life TODAY will impact you in the days and the years to come. Remember this:

Life has Choices… 
Choices have Consequences… 
Make the RIGHT Choices.

You have to decide whether or not you believe that this book, the Bible, is the absolute and final authority, the very Word of God. Your decision will have a decided impact on the direction of your life. Let this thought sink into your mind:

"There is no such thing as a small decision. Every decision is vital for this reason–decisions determine other decisions. Little decisions affect big decisions later. And each decision affects destiny.

THIRD : This is an INTENT TO SERVEchoice. The reason for this decision is to choose whom you will serve. No man is without service to someone. You will either serve God or Satan. You can make the choice to practice righteousness or iniquity. The choice is actually in your hands. God did a wonderful thing when He placed within our hands the power of choice. We are free moral agents, who have the ability to make vital choices and exercise our intellect in matters that affect our immediate and eternal future. Remember this:

Life has Choices… 
Choices have Consequences… 
Make the RIGHT Choices.

But also realize this: when God gave us the ABILITY to choose, He also gave us the RESPONSIBILITY to make the right choice. Every privilege carried with it a responsibility. God has clearly laid out for us in the Bible right and wrong, life and death, Heaven and Hell.

God said, "Here is right and here is wrong. You choose what you are going to do."
God said, "Here is Heaven and here is Hell. You choose where you are going to go."
God said, "Here is peace and here is turmoil. You choose which you want in your life."

Now although you can make choices, you cannot determine the outcome of those choices. You cannot choose what takes place as a result of your decision. The consequences are already fixed.

Galatians 6:7 tells us, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." KJV. You can make the wrong choices, but you can't decide the outcome. The outcome is already fixed. You CAN decide to do your own thing, but you WILL reap what you have sown.

When the Law was given to the children of Israel, Moses said in Deuteronomy 11:26-28 these words: "I set God's Word before you, and it is both a BLESSING and a CURSE. It is a BLESSING if you make the right choice and choose to obey. This same Law is going to become a curse to you if you choose to disobey." As your MINISTER, I can't make the right choices for you, nor can your best friend make the right choices for you.

We can tell you the TRUTH. We can point you into the RIGHT DIRECTION. We can protest when we see you making the wrong decisions, but if you decide to do it anyway, we really can't stop you.

All we can say is, "Go ahead, but you'll be sorry." The consequences of the wrong decision are fixed, AND WHAT YOU WANT IS NOT WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO GET.

You have the awesome POWER OF CHOICE, and YOU are responsible. You hold your destiny in your hands.

*The choices people make today are going to decide whether they go to Heaven or Hell.

*The choices you make today will decide what your life will be like five, ten, or even twenty years from now.

*The choices you make today will determine whether you will reap the BLESSINGS from God or the CURSES of the world.

GOOD CHOICES are paid for in advance. Before Daniel ever got to Babylon and was ever tempted by sin, he had already determined he was going to do right. In Daniel 1:8 we read,"But Daniel PURPOSED in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank…"

*It takes Character to make the right choices when the wrong choices are more convenient.

*It takes Character to make the right choices when the wrong choices are more popular.

*It takes Character to make the right choices when the wrong choices are more prosperous.

*It takes Character to make the right choices when the wrong choices are more enjoyable.

RIGHT CHOICES must always be paid for in advance, before you enjoy the results of your right decision. Victory in the Christian life and the power of God are paid for in advance by making the right choices when the wrong choices are available.

BAD CHOICES are paid for AFTER they are experienced. This is like the use of CREDIT CARDS as they do in the USA. You whip those things out like there is no tomorrow. You buy and you spend. You enjoy all the freedom, until one day in the mail there arrives this itemized list and with it a bill. Not only is there a bill for all you owe, also there is this 14% interest tacked on to the final balance. Now you must pay the price for all that enjoyment. That's a very clear picture of making wrong choices.

Wrong choices are always paid for after they are experienced.
Many people who make wrong choices are deceived by the devil into thinking that there is no price at all, until the decision has already been made and experienced, and it is too late to change.

Remember there is a time of sowing, and there is always a time of reaping. Someone said,

1. You always reap exactly what you sow; you cannot expect to sow one thing and reap a crop of something entirely different.
2. You always reap later than you sow; the sowing may seem to be innocent and innocuous, but those seeds sown will come up after a while.
3. You always reap more than you sow; one tiny seed may multiply itself may times over in the future.

There is always a day of reckoning where the wrong choices will be paid for with interest. Please listen, "NO MATTER WHAT STAGE OF LIFE YOU ARE CURRENTLY IN, TODAY YOU ARE LAYING THE FOUNDATION UPON WHICH  YOU MUST LATER LIVE.

*David made the wrong choice, and it cost him trouble in his family.

*Jonah had his own way, but he paid for it in the belly of the whale.

*Lot had the convenience of "Easy Street" in Sodom, but he lost everything that he had a little later.

*The prodigal son had worldly pleasure for a short season, but he paid for it in the hog pen.

God has placed in your hands the POWER OF CHOICE.

It costs something to make the right choice, whereas it costs more to make the wrong choice.
Right choices are paid for in advance.
Wrong choices are paid for after they are experienced.

It will cost you a little now to obey, but it will cost you a whole lot later to disobey. The choice is yours. You can pay now, or you can pay later. You hold your destiny in your hands.

Over the years I have watched many teenagers make choices, some made the right choices and they reaped blessings. On the other hand there were others who made the wrong choices and reaped curses and destruction in their lives.

Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 12:1 these words, "Remember now thy CREATOR in the days of thy YOUTH, while the evil day come not, nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them." Then King Solomon draws all this to a conclusion in 12:13-14 when he says, "Fear God" (that implies faith); "Keep His commandments" (that implies obedience to God's commandments which are found in the Word of God). Now notice the verse concludes with: "This is the whole duty of man." The whole duty of man is to believe God and obey His Word.

As we consider our lives and the ministry which the Lord has entrusted to us, it is wise, I believe, that we consider the seeds we are sowing. If we want a blessed, fruitful tomorrow, we are well advised to sow wisely today. Every choice we make has a consequence.

Instead of dealing with consequences when the harvest comes in, we would do well to deal with our choices in the season of sowing. The day of reckoning is always preceded by the day of reasoning. If we will yield ourselves to scriptural authority in the time of reasoning, we will be well served in the time of reckoning.

Choices! Choices! Choices! They are unending! There are decisions to be made every day. Take thought in these choices. Use godly wisdom rather than the rules of expediency. The consequences will be forthcoming based on how the choices are handled. Make the right choices today in anticipation of happy consequences tomorrow! THE CHOICES OF TODAY DETERMINE YOUR CONSEQUENCES, either BLESSINGS or CURSES.

I don't know the choices you want to choose right now, that business startup, that education? That job? That marriage partner?  All I know is that when you connect to the owner of the mental faculty you will always have the better choice.

David never lost any battle because he always enquired of the Lord before making any choice.

1Sa 23:2 "Therefore David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the LORD said unto David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah."

1Sa 23:4 "Then David enquired of the LORD yet again. And the LORD answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thine hand."

2Sa 2:1 "And it came to pass after this, that David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the LORD said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron."

You need to always inquire from the Lord to acquire your heritage.

Keep soaring and be blessed with multiple wisdom from heaven to make the right choices.

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CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT AND REPORTING ON BISHOP KODJI COMMUNITY.

The Policy Advocacy Project Partnership on Climate Change (PAPPCC), a network of Civil Society Organization and professionals concerned about the threat of Climate Change to Lagos recently organized a 2 Day Sensitization workshop for Media Professionals with two cardinal objective of; demystifying the concept of climate change and advocate for a robust policy framework on Climate Change in the State.

The workshop for journalists and media practitioners was held in partnership with DFID – State Accountability and Voice Initiative (SAVI) with the theme, ‘Strengthening Citizens Voice and Climate Change: The Role of the Media’.

According to the organizers, the workshop was aimed at building the capacity of Media Professionals and prevailing issues on Climate Change in Lagos State.

The Day 1 of the workshop witnessed training sessions by Speakers in the field of Climate Change Advocacy and Intervention.

Speaking at the workshop was Barr. TitiAkosa, Executive Director, 21^st Centre for Century Issues. She implored Media practitioners to be vaster while reporting Climate related issues.

‘Reporting should be human centers. Human faces should be on reports as regards Climate Change. Taking cognizance of people that are socially vulnerable, people with disabilities and hot it affects these different set of people differently for the differences to make a difference while reporting’, Akosa noted.

The Second Speaker was Dr. Ayo Tella, Producer, and ‘Our Environment’ Film with focus on what the Media should look out for when it comes to delivering Climate Change Reports.

According to Tella, ‘for effective communication to enable the citizens know about Climate Change, media practitioners need to share in the idea of the citizens as well as their opinions. When communicating with the masses, media practitioners must ensure barriers of noise, language, perception, jargons are avoided’.

Rounding off the workshop for the day was a presentation delivered by Francis Anyeagbu giving insights on how to utilize Social Media Networks to report Climate Change Issues as well as other advocacy services to Humanity with discussion focusing on ‘Citizen Voice Advocacy: The Place of Social Media’.

‘The Power that New Media has created ensured that different issues are generate and solutions are propounded and implemented as prompt as possible’, Francis said.

The Day 2 of the workshop was a field task where Media Practitioners cutting across; Broadcast, Print as well as Online Media Networks took to Bishop Kodji Community, a community under AmuwoOdofin Local Government Area (LGA harboring about 25,000 – 30000 residents.

The Island can be accessed from CMS with the aid of a speedboat in less than 30 minutes.

Bishop Kodji Island is made up of seven communities amongst which are Sabo Kodji, GonureKodji, Akopanawa, Iredu, AgalaAyedun. The major occupation of residents on this Island is Fishing.

Other Communities under this LGA include; SagboKodji, WhlakKodji, Akoponawa and Agbonjido Communities.

The aim of the field task was to identify Social issues the community was facing and that which can be categorized under; Livelihood, Environment, Health, Water and Energy. Also the visit to the community would also be used as a point of reference for other communities under the AmuwoOdofin Local Government Area (LGA).

To witness the visit as well as have chat with Press Men on the field were representative of the communities as well as their Head of the host community, Chief Sewanu Felix.

According to Chief Sewanu while addressing pressmen, he noted that the community is presently faced with a lot of challenges, to mention a few, he places these challenges under; Educational Challenges, Electricity and Water.

Bishop Kodji Primary School

It was also disclosed during the Press briefing by the Heads of Community that the only Government Nursery and Primary School in Bishop Kodji community, Bishop Kodji Nursery and Primary School needs total rehabilitation as the building is totally dilapidated. Students don’t get to have access to a conducive environment for reading and proper assimilation.

A visit to the School environment also proved that Students in the best state of reading as the environment looked unsafe and scanty.

Speaking with Instructors in the School, it was disclosed that sometimes when they get to class to start School Activities, they find dead Pigs in the classroom, thus, Instructors have to first clear the pigs and clean up the classroom in their little way before commencing classes with the students.

The School building lacked doors, Sufficient Chairs and windows. Tutors also complained about Security Level of the School which is loosed due to all these missing factors and lack of Government Assistance.

Olumide Idowu with students at Bishop Kodji Primary School.

Also in the terms of water, Chief Sewanu noted that the people of the community do not have access to portable water. They tend to sail their canoes away from the community to get water that can be bought and drank by the residents.

A visit into the community also proved that things are way behind when it comes to development and livelihood.

Found in the community is a non-functioning state-sponsored solar project at the community which was installed years back. The solar project was meant to power water pumps and fish driers in the tiny fishing and boat-carving community that would help the water system of the community, but, reverse is the case now as it i s not functioning.

Also Residents are unstable health wise due to the community gradually taking over by dirts and garbage from the Sea.

The Deputy Baale, Bishop Kodji Community, Chief Victor, in the same vein implored the government to come to their aid and help the present state of living of the community as well as neighbor communities under the LGA.

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CLIMATE CHANGE IN NIGERIA: ANY IMPACT?

Climate change has become a new reality and a worldwide phenomenon but a second look at the topic suggests that Nigeria may be immune from it.

In effect, climate change will mean a change in such weather condition for a particular location over time.

Impact as used may be negative or positive or a combination. A literal definition of climate states that a significant time variation in weather patterns occurring over periods ranging from decades to millions of years and area such as Nigeria over a period of time.

What therefore is climate change; can Nigeria be affected; what impact has it on Nigeria? How can we mitigate the negative impact and ensure that climate change/global warming does not have disastrous consequence on Nigeria?

Giving answers to these questions are at best guesstimate as no one can be definitive about them, but we still need to start thinking about them today to find answers to tomorrow’s challenges.

What then is climate change? This can be looked at as the continuing change of the earth’s climate, which, in time past, was seen to be caused by natural causes.

However, the term ‘climate change’ today is generally used when referring to the change in our climate which has been observed since the early part of the 20th century.

The changes which are seen over recent years and those which are predicted over the next century are thought to be mainly due to human behavior rather than due to natural changes in the atmosphere.

What causes this change cannot be treated in isolation without looking at greenhouse effect which is caused by the release of destructive gases by human action which in turn brings about the warming of the earth surface by increase in the earth’s temperature.

The increase in temperature in turn causes the melting of ice which contributes to the rise in sea level among other disastrous consequences.

Arising from this, is the question: “Climate Change in Nigeria: Any Impact?” In this regard an example may suffice.

According to the report complied in 2010, investigations revealed that over 200 people were killed by meningitis in Nigeria and Niger Republic in one week. There were outbreaks in 76 areas. There were 25,000 suspected cases and 1, 500 deaths in the first quarter of 2009. Although meningitis is a disease caused by an infection of the meanings, which is the thin lining that surrounds the brain and the spinal cord, experts have found a correlation between the weather and this disease. It is generally known that the disease attacks more people during the dry season because of dust, wind and cold nights. There were indications in the past one month that many people were treated for acute pneumonia in some hospitals as a result of the erratic and unpredictable weather which has also confused farmers about planting seasons raising fear about food production and security.

Apart from the reign of diseases as a result of harsh weather conditions in Northern Nigeria agriculture has been affected as a result of erratic weather patterns. The dryness has led to dry waterbeds and movement of people and their pasture to the southern regions thus causing tension and conflicts between the original inhabitants and the new comers. Experts at the United Nations and other global bodies have found over the years that the world’s climate has changed.

The drought of the 1970s that swept most of the Sahel region of Africa left the region, including Nigeria, with general water resources issues. The consequence of that are the low agricultural output, limited water supply and inadequate water reserve for power generation which the region is associated with.

Again the increasing flooding in the coastal and non-coastal regions of the country is indicative of the expected effect of climate change.

There are two extremes of the expected challenges of the climate change in Nigeria, viz, increase in rainy and dry seasons with each lasting approximately six months on the average, that is, April to October and October to March, respectively.

Nigeria daily temperature average differs according to location and period of the year. Average temperature ranges from 25oC in the southern coast to 40oC in the north.

A rise in temperature of between 1.4^oC to 5.8^oC by 2100 according to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, will have serious negative effect on the socio-economic wellbeing of the country in the following ways: increase in amount of rains and number of rainy day-flooding in the coastal areas, higher risk of 100years flooding occurring at shorter intervals;

• Deforestation as a result of relocating of people from the flood affected areas of the coast;
• Change in land use in the coast may have drastic effect on agricultural output and hence livelihood;
• Desertification will increase and more droughts which encourage locusts and white flies, which in turn will affect food and water supply;
• Wildlife will also be affected with possible effect on the entire food chain.
• Landslides especially in erosion prone areas;
• high temperature in the north will cause increase health issues such as meningitis, cataracts, malaria and yellow fever etc
• High cost of construction especially in the coastal areas;

I will stop by saying if we don’t put all this in mind, then what will our future be?

“Climate change in Nigeria is a ticking time bomb and it exists little or even nothing to mitigate its effects.” NnimmoBassey, Nigeria.

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