DE 11: ELIJAH By Godwin Captain Kalu

The land gradually grew worse, and its people lacking regard for God. No day ever ended without a strange god introduced to our people. It almost became a fact that every home had a god somewhere hidden in their house which they secretly patronized while the bolder ones didn’t mind practising their idolatry in the open. The land indeed lacked regard for God and for His laws.
I kept wondering why God was silent on this matter; choosing just to watch from the bench while the King and his wife led the people astray. At least God had not forgotten how to make the ground open and swallow rebellious people neither had He forgotten in a hurry how He rewarded the land of Sodom and Gomorrah for their negligence of Him and deep practice of evil. In case you are new to the story, know that He set the land ablaze with its inhabitants not escaping. I soon realized that who to worship is a deliberate choice to make. The jealous God was patient enough at this.

The King had successfully turned the people’s heart against God. Of course, the last time any of God’s True servants had attempted to rebuke him, he didn’t live to see the next day. The queen had personally ordered his execution. At one time, I noticed that the true Prophets of God were no longer speaking the mind of God. They were afraid that the queen wouldn’t spare them. So, they ran away. The few that were a little bold ended up in Prison. Now, the queen was just the problem. Left alone for the King, he had soft spots but the queen had the heart of iron. At times, I kept wondering how this good man ended up with this agent of wickedness (Ohh! Did I just call her that?). How best can you describe a woman who imposed all her wicked decisions on her husband; that, not being healthy for his position as the King? She practically humiliated all his decisions as though she were the final authority in the land, turning her husband to a baby doll. Was that not how her wickedness saw to Bro. Naboth’s death? Chai, May his gentle soul find rest in God.
It wasn’t difficult to suspect that she had a hand in this sudden proliferation of baal and groves in the land.

Sooner, I sensed that God had planted me in their midst for a purpose So, I refused to bow to their service and idolatry. I grew wild and radical. I was the only Prophet that could stand before the king to rebuke him. My confidence came from the fact that I had a right standing before God. So, I said to myself: “if I can stand before God, then, I can stand before any man and circumstances”. With that conviction, I approached the King. By my words, I told him that no drop of rain will fall in the land except by my words. He thought I was joking and commanded me to get out of his presence before His wrath fell on me. I walked out provoked.

I saw God giving me a thumb’s up. The angels were clapping and this was fully connected to the fact that a man finally stood up for God, to condemn evil and to give the people a clear option of choice to make on whom to follow between God and Baal. Then, God spoke. As if He totally withdrew His hand from the land of Israel, He quietly told me to disappear from the King; to go into hiding at the brook, away from human sight and with a promise that for standing by Him, He has already placed a Raven under command to bring me meals in their right time. Ahhhh! The raven? I wondered. The raven for all I know had never been a good friend and has never seen food and not devour it. How God would use this greedy bird to prove a point was a puzzle I needed to figure out So, I hurriedly found my way to the brook.

STRIKING POINTS
1. True to God’s word the raven came calling in the morning and had to guard the bread and meat till I woke up. Never for a day did I wake up to ask: “Won’t food show up today”? Not even in the night as well. In all these, I was shocked that the raven knew it was food it was bringing to me yet, didn’t divert it to its use.

2. The raven couldn’t have met me in any other location than at the brook. That was God’s choice place for me and before God came to command me on where to go, He had first settled with the raven on where it should meet me with the provisions. Imagine if I had made another choice of place to run to? Then, I would have had to pay for my meals by myself.

3. The raven was not my best friend yet God used it to deliver me from perpetual hunger. I couldn’t have rejected God’s offer because it came from an enemy. Moreover, under the influence of Divine command, my enemy wished me well.

4. The brook was a place of fellowship with God. I was alone there but not lonely. God had me to Himself. I enjoyed Him at best.

Well, this was not the height of my encounter. Just a tea break please!. I’ll be back.

(To continue the story, read ELIJAH AND THE BROOK).

© DRASTIC ENCOUNTERS
GOODWIN CAPTAIN KALU

…  Creatively remodelling Biblical stories in contemporary light and with strong moral inferences.

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DE 10: ANDREW’S SIDE OF THE STORY By Godwin Captain Kalu

The day was as bright as usual. This was undoubtedly our third day away from home in what appeared to be more than a family get together. Different families were glued together for days. What some others who only watched from afar and didn’t get interested in joining us may have been thinking of was why people in their thousands could abandon their work and homes just to sit under one man, listening to his words? No matter what anybody might have been thinking, our stay together was however a wholesome experience. We so got filled with His sayings and words of wisdom that the slightest thing as what to eat didn’t get us bothered at all. Although I was one of His closest pals, I didn’t take that privilege for granted, I was as serious as every other person who had come to hear my master speak. In short, the blessing was for everyone. In the middle of the teaching, I was momentarily lost in sharp thoughts of what could happen if this large crowd of people were to be fed from one source. It amounted to an unimaginable huge budget. You can’t imagine that! In fact, the last time we took count of the crowd, we numbered about 5,000 men. We couldn’t even number the women and children. But then, assuming that a man married a minimum of 2 wives as was the case then according to the laws of the land and each wife giving birth to 4 children, this meant that each family must have had about 10 people (the men, not inclusive). So, multiplying 5000 men by 10 (2 wives and 8 children) could have implied that a minimum of 50,000 people were in attendance. Surprisingly, no one complained of not hearing my master’s voice despite the fact that there were no public address system by that time. Every one heard him equally at the same amplitude. Hmmmmm, His words were loud to every situation, viable and resounding. In the same words were different messages. No wonder there were no rowdy moments while He spoke.

I soon caught goose pimples when my master who seemed to have followed up what was going on in my thought asked us if we could get food anywhere to feed the crowd. At first, I was wondering what kind of temptation was this. Food? For 50,000 people? This sounded like a joke but not for the fact that we’ve known our master so much to the point where He can’t joke on issues as serious as this. Still, what he said was not of much meaning to others than it was to me, maybe because I earlier imagined it but then, the earth was silent. No idea was just sufficient to make something out. I expected that of course. In fact, our initial suggestion which was that we send this crowd home so they could make their food seemed to gain popularity. Already, the looks on Judas’ face suggested that the money in our treasury was not for food, not even to talk about food for a crowd as dense as that.

Just then, I sighted my neighbour’s son getting set to eat his lunch. It appeared he came ready to stay for as long as the crusade which had entered into its 3rd day would last. What a faith! No other person came with enough food. With style I walked closer to observe his bowl. I could picture 5 small loaves of bread and 2 lanky-looking fishes. What more could I have expected from a little boy’s food? I was already exchanging pleasantries with him, engaging him in an interesting discussion, So that he won’t start eating. I then told him to wait for me so as to get for him something that would make him enjoy the food more. You know children! He paused eating waiting for me to resurface.

In what appeared to be an uninteresting subject, I told my master that I had found just a boy among these mammoth crowd that came with his five loaves of bread and two fishes for lunch. However, it wasn’t sounding like an answered prayer to me. On a good day, it would take a meal as heavy as Pounded yam with goat sauce to satisfy me. Well, a hefty- sized 3 loaves of bread and 4 extra-large fishes could still hold me till the main course showed up. To my amazement, my master told me to get that boy together with his lunch. I was imagining how to put words together to convince this little boy who was already in the mood to devour his food to spare his lunch. From my experience, I’ve always known that an average child gets so attached to things. They never get tired receiving than releasing. I decided to try my luck and to my amazement, the boy gave out his all cheerfully and without murmuring. He was just excited. The thought of keeping some bread for himself didn’t cross his mind. He was ready to go hungry just to meet a need. What a faith for exploit!

I took the loaves of bread and the fishes from him and gave them to Jesus. While I was fretting, He was giving thanks. Sooner, He took a loaf and passed it to us to pass on to others. Surprisingly, the bread kept flowing in. The same happened with the fishes. We couldn’t explain where roasted fishes as well as baked bread were flowing in from. While lost in thoughts, it occurred to me that Jesus needed more than the bread and fishes. He needed but a point of contact. He knew what to do with the point of contact to generate massive result. Multiplication was wrapped in the Word provoked by thanksgiving. The testimony climaxed in a 12 basket load of bread and fishes as proofs that God releases more than needed, expected or imagined. I can imagine joy radiating in the boy’s family as 12 hefty baskets of food were pushed into their storehouse.

There are a million lessons to draw out from these encounter. Trust what revelation can produce, but for today, let’s beam our lights on our hero: “THE NAMELESS LITTLE BOY”. He’s already seated on the stage. I’m trusting God that we’ll re-visit this story from another perspective sometimes later.

Leadership Traits to Emulate:
(1) Readiness to serve: You have what the world needs; the size notwithstanding. If only you can release yourself and your gifts into the hands of Jesus, record breaking results are possible.

(2) Excitement: Be an excited giver. Giving under excitement reduces the pains you feel when giving out something precious. The joy that accompanies the gift of service is as important as the gift itself. Service pays when it is fuelled with an unusual excitement.

(3) Pay Prices: The boy paid the price of hunger to satisfy the current need. It’s difficult to pay higher prices when all we see is ourselves. Have a heart for your generation and you will wake up.

Search out the rest. See you later.

© DRASTIC ENCOUNTERS
GOODWIN CAPTAIN KALU

…  Creatively remodelling Biblical stories in contemporary light and with strong moral inferences.

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EVE’S LOVE LETTER By Godwin Captain Kalu

My adorable star,
My pride and security.
The best among men.
The man of my dream.
My comfort, my king and friend.

On the marbles of my heart, the words in your expression well aligned travelled across every part of my heart. They descended deep into my soul to where I could not but preserve them eternally.

In your words I saw unbroken love; they were fire to my emotions, encouragement to my purpose, responsibility to my very essence and character. In them I saw pointers to my abilities. “What more do I want in a man?” I keep asking myself.  You are my world, my President, my hero, my best friend, my mentor, my everything.

Come on dearie! Feed me with more words; customize them only for my ears. I so love them. They are as fresh and reviving as ever.
They are like sugar to my soul.
 
(Adam laughs: “hahahaha”. “No be only sugar words, na sugar refinery”, He added jokingly).

“Dearie”, (Eve continued),  I’ve  never told you this before:

“Away in the garden I had watch you sleep. In the cool of the day you lay. In your closed eyes I read loneliness. In another thought, I saw a hardworking man who needed another baptism of strength.

“You are his surprise gift”, I heard in my spirit. I was already drawn to you but “how do I wake him up to tell him this?”  I said to myself passively.

“Should I dare wake him up or allow his sleep continue undisturbed?” Then again, I reasoned, “Why must I wake him up? Won’t I appear too cheap before him if I tried it?  I’m a precious gold. Gold is dug for and found. A man will mostly value the woman he found. So, I’ll discipline myself to stay where God has placed me, singing with my sweetest voice and when He wakes up, He should know what to do.

Passively I continued: “Should he not know what to do, I’ll keep doing what I know how to do and that is, staying where God has placed me and loving my assignment, being nice to whoever approaches me without forcing them to like me, after all, God didn’t tell me you were the only man on earth (starring directly into Adam’s eyes and winking).

While you were still sleeping deep, I quickly walked around the garden to see what it looked like and in few minutes, I was simply overwhelmed. Every sight was glamorous and every part of the garden was an adventure. I saw organizational skills on display and great authority speaking.

In a moment I reasoned: “A man that could tame these Lions is wise enough to be my leader. A man that can be this patient with the snail can bear with my late-tendencies. A man that can tolerate the monkey will not hit me because of my imperfections. If truly He has allowed the parrot stay in the same garden with him, then, He will readily understand the fact that my words may not always be few. If truly he has survived the tiger, then, I am safe from divorce.

I sensed freshness as I walked in-between the shrubs. The aura rising from the pretty-looking, nicely-scenting flowers kept my nose suspended for minutes.

Sweety, I kept on thinking of how much energy you must have injected into dressing the garden. Indeed, you are my king; hard working yet loving. Disciplined yet caring. You are the wish of every wise woman. Your kind can only come from Heaven. You are my king and hero.

Shortly, I returned from my strolling. “Ohhhh, he is still sleeping”, I observed.

“I will wake him up ooo”, I thought. He is indeed too resourceful to be missed.

But again, I reasoned: “No, No,No”. Until He wakes up, I won’t give in.

It wasn’t long, I heard a Baritone voice right behind me. As he stretched, cleared his throat, he advanced towards me, held my hands and told me all manner of sweet bla bla bla bla (In passive tone). He started confessing how speechless my beauty almost made him blind. (Lolssssss )  He told me how much he has been praying for this day to come when He can announce to the whole world that He has found a virtuous woman and wife in me.

At first, it sounded like one of those super stories. But now, there is a happy home to show for. Our baby, Cain is already two years old and 6 months pregnancy is already smiling.

Ohhhh dear, I’m glad it wasn’t Jerry. I’m glad I waited for you. You are the best husband God created. Your worth is priceless. Guess what dear…..
!
(You too keep guessing)

HIGH POINTS:

(1) It is the man that finds a wife. That’s God’s pattern. These days, some women go finding husbands. That’s abuse of job description. No wonder they often do anything to get the men say yes by force.

(2) Healthy relationships thrive under mutual input. Don’t let Adam’s love letter go unreplied. Eve, you are not the only one that loves tender care. Teach him improved ways to show love.

(3) Don’t force any man who doesn’t know how to talk ‘something’ to talk ‘the something’. If he can’t open his mouth let him stay there. He might recover the day he is appointed the chairman, drinks sharing committee of your wedding to another sharp bobo who knows how to propose.

****PLEASE SHARE******

© DRASTIC ENCOUNTERS
GOODWIN CAPTAIN KALU

…  Creatively remodelling Biblical stories in contemporary light and with strong moral inferences.

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ADAM’S LOVE LETTER By Godwin Captain Kalu

My angel, the love of my life!

My Beauty, so bright and warm!

My brightest star, twinkling through the darkest storm.

My perfect companion, well-fitting completeness; so adorable and second to none.

Your eyes sparkle like stars in the night sky. When I stare into them, I feel like I am soaring high.

On the palettes of beauty, your colours stand out without competition. Your smile warms my very soul. You are nothing less than the very bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh”.

What a dark past it was without you! What a prolonged thirst only you could satisfy! Ohhhh! I painfully battled with boredom until the very day my heart welcomed you. The dog had kept on announcing her presence, the Tiger pretended to be a better companion. The monkey kept visiting and showing care with bananas and other goodies only God could decipher their motives.

“Na me una wan distract? You won’t get me ooooo”, I kept telling them in my mind. I’m waiting for my wife. Since when did a Tiger become this nice and amicable? For how long will she keep displaying a faked identity? Since when did monkeys stop jumping around? No be prostitute I dey find oooo. I dey find wife.

The pressure was high, at least to go on a-3 minute romantic adventure with one of the monkeys to ease my emotional stress and afterwards continue waiting for my wife, but it was difficult. “Even the Monkeys play around with their kind”, I reasoned. So, I feared God and held myself. On the literal sense, it was an abomination to have sex with an animal.

Life was an open tomb without you. From Eden to Havilah down to the hills facing Ethiopia to the far east of Assyria. It was an empty vacuum suitable for two. When I saw the birds flapping their wings in 2’s, and the Lion though wild-hearted, lost in addictive smiles, this thought quickly came to my heart: “Why won’t he (Referring to the Lion) feel on top of the world when the lioness was resting on his chest, singing love songs and reciting love poems into his ears”. In a little while, I saw in the stream fishes strolling in 2’s. Then, I quickly perceived that the world was too big for one person, too lonely without a companion.

“Something is definitely missing”, I thought. But how do I get what my heart is yearning for? My eyes travelled far, looking up and down. Little did I know that what I was in dire need of was inside of me, hidden in my ribs.

“How do you mean?” Eve asked.

“My love, I am glad you asked”. I responded. “This is the same question I’ve had in mind to ask God. He made me sleep this deep maybe, so He could take His time to give you an excellent finishing. I continued, “You are the mother of all living. The model of all beauty. The pride of womanhood”.

At this time, her head was swelling in excitement. I continued, “Hold my hands sweetie, and let us walk tall around Eden. Let’s keep the garden together. Let me perceive the alluring fragrance of your body. Let me feed from your encouragement and hear you sing some adrenaline for creativity into my spirit till we become the envy of the monkeys and baboons.

With these, my soul found rest with God on the 7th day of creation.

DON’T FORGET THESE:
(1) To the man, your success in life attracts all manner of women and “things”. Your wisdom compels attention. Be careful all the same. Every woman can’t be your wife and don’t try to force any to be your wife. It’s not by force.

(2) Your ideal wife must fit into you. God took out a rib from the man to form a woman, fit for the man and for the work God gave him to do. Adam saw her and recognized her. She wasn’t a stranger to him. I’m sure you won’t love to live with a stranger husband or wife. Her presence neutralized the pains from the surgery he had some minutes earlier. Whether the pains were still there, I don’t know but I know that the sight of a beautiful wife with a merry heart is medicinal; it heals all pains. (Don’t ask me how I know)

(3) To the woman, stay fitted to your husband. Make the impact of his calling better than it was before he met you. Give him reasons to keep singing your praise. Help him in the work. You are a partner in destiny fulfilment to your husband. Be an asset to him and not a liability. Two is better than one. It takes two like-thinking persons to chase 10,000.

******GENESIS 2******

I shall return to share Eve’s reply!

(Please share this with others)

© DRASTIC ENCOUNTERS
GOODWIN CAPTAIN KALU

…  Creatively remodelling Biblical stories in contemporary light and with strong moral inferences.

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ABRAHAM’S SACRIFICE By Godwin ‘Captain’ Kalu

I almost wished the day shouldn’t break. May be to give me a longer time to reflect on how to present this issue to my wife, to really prove to her that I heard God expressly on this matter.

It wasn’t an easy decision at all to make as a Father. All through the night, I almost didn’t want to believe it was God demanding the life of my son by my hands. While thinking harder, the voice re-echoed: ”Abraham, Abraham, Give me Isaac”!

”God, why Isaac”? I asked but the heavens were silent. In my mind, I was planning to remind Him that the Isaac in question was that Son of promise He gave me and to suggest if I could offer any three of my servants in his place or alternatively, a thousand cattle. But, the heavens were silent the more. At this point I knew God wasn’t joking. I was engulfed in the heaviness of having to slaughter my own son by my hands. No true Father can bear this. I didn’t know when I started shedding tears. I have never done this before to the best of my knowledge. I so loved Isaac! He was dear to my heart and instrumental to the covenant God had with me. Again, I couldn’t hold it. Tears rolled out the more.

Sarah was by my side snoring. I was almost tempted to wake her up and discuss this with her but I quickly felt a restrain. I just knew she would have told me to kill her first. You see, you can never predict my wife, Sarah.

How can you predict a woman who at one time, persuaded me to marry our house girl? When I finally obliged, she later felt jealous that I was giving away part of the attention I used to give her to the maid. She almost ate up my peace that I had to send away Hagar and my son Ishmael as she demanded. At another time, she almost embarrassed me before my visitors when she laughed uncontrollably after one of the men said she will carry a son by the same time next year. Funny enough she denied it. I quickly understood. Of course, she was my wife so I covered her up.

As I was meditating, something jumped into me. I caught a revelation of resurrection. That was Faith coming. I quickly confessed: ” God can raise up my son again from the dead even when I slaughter him and that He will do” (Heb.11: 17-19). So, I decided to walk in that revelation and the fear died but to tell Sarah, I changed my mind.

It wasn’t long, the cock crowed. I woke up Isaac and called 2 of my servants to accompany me to mount Moriah to offer sacrifice to God leaving a message behind for Sarah.

At the foot of the mountain, I told my servants to wait for I and the lad till we returned. A voice quickly said: ”who told you, you will return with the lad”? I responded quickly, ”I believe in resurrection”.

As we advanced a little further, my Son asked: ”Daddy, is it that we forgot the lamb for the sacrifice. Every other thing needed is here”? Again, I felt emotional but I couldn’t tell him that he was the sacrificial lamb. So I said: ”Don’t be anxious son, God will provide”.

Sooner, it was time to offer the sacrifice. I set the wood in place. Then, bound my Son Isaac and laid him on the altar. I was wondering why he didn’t scream: ”hey Papa, what are you up to”! Then I knew that he had so much trust in me as a Father. He had the Faith that I could not harm him no matter what. Oh! What an enviable thought Christians must possess towards God, their Father.

Just at the time I raised my hand with the knife to slay my Son, I heard the voice: ” Abraham, lay not your hand on that boy. Now I know you love me. Don’t harm him”. Immediately, I perceived that Jehovah Jireh had done it again. I quickly turned around and behind me was a lamb. How it appeared there, I can’t really say but I quickly told Isaac, ”see the lamb over there. I told you God will provide. Go get it”. With it, we sacrificed to God and returned to meet the servants. Isaac didn’t understand the drama. No wonder he didn’t tell my wife at home that Daddy almost killed him.

I’ll be right back but until I return feed on this:

(1) When God demands your Isaac, He wants to bless you with generations. If you can’t withhold little from him, you won’t have a challenge releasing more to Him.

(2) Loving God takes more than saying it. You need the heart to love God. If there is any one thing you can’t lay down at His demand, then, you still need to grow in love.

(3) Faith is the key to walking with God. When He calls you, look at His Word for a revelation not at your condition.

© DRASTIC ENCOUNTERS
GOODWIN CAPTAIN KALU

…  Creatively remodelling Biblical stories in contemporary light and with strong moral inferences.

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DE: JOSEPH By Godwin ‘Captain’ Kalu

Growing up for me was very difficult especially in a polygamous family as mine. I was one of the youngest sons of my Father but my Mum’s first son. I was so close to my Father and he loved me dearly in return especially after the death of my mum. No wonder he would occasionally reward me with a piece of meat whenever he was eating. He said I was the Child of his old age. …

Why my brothers hated me was what I could not understand because it was not so from the beginning. I started joining them to the field to take Care of our Father’s flock but then, out there, they lived a kind of evil and hypocritical life that was not consistent with their kind of life at home. Is it Reuben? You need to see Reuben at home. My God! You would mistake him for an angel of God even when he had offended my Father and attracted a curse for sleeping with one of my Father’s concubines. Simeon and Levi were species of anger. At one time, they killed a man in their fierce anger. I so learnt from my Father’s confession.

I couldn’t keep my mouth shut when they behaved this way especially when outsiders would be wondering, “are these Jacob’s children?” I reported them to my Father and when Daddy would summon them, I would quickly take position behind him lest Simeon nor Levi in their fierce anger land me a deadly blow I won’t recover from. At least Daddy once told me he had fighting skills and that he had fought an angel before so, I relied on his defence by hiding behind him. All I wanted was for them to amend their ways and not bring embarrassment to our family but they misunderstood it. I kept on reporting them.

One of those days, Dad surprised me with a coat that has many colours. Wow! I was the happening boy amongst my folks and friends. No one hardly passed by me without touching my coat. From afar, friends would be hailing me: “Joseph the Joseph!” Well, it didn’t enter my head but that’s to show you how much this coat meant to me and to the people that saw it.

People often said I had audacity. I understood this better at the palace when I was having a flash back on some of the drastic steps I had taken in life. On one day, after our morning devotion at home, I took permission from my Dad to address everybody. “Who is he reporting this time around?” my brothers may have thought. Then I told them how I had a dream the previous night where we were at the field, and their sheep formed a circle around mine and bowed down to mine. Immediately I said, “Bowed down….” the next thing I heard from a bass and scary voice was, “will you shut up that your stinking mouth”. Behold, it was Judah talking. The Lion himself. So, I cooperated. The next thing I heard was: “you are still dreaming. Go back and sleep. How dare you vomit that. How can you say that we, your elder brothers will bow down to you”. In my heart, I was saying: “I didn’t say so oo, you are the ones interpreting it. So be it.”

All this while, our Father said nothing, not until few days later when I had a similar dream and shared it with the family. In my words I said: “in my dream, the sun and moon and the eleven stars bowed down to honour me”. Naphtali forcefully pulled me down from behind. “Come on, sit down”, He said. Until now, my Father who had not spoken was analysing the dream and counting with his finger. “Sun, – that is I; Moon,-that is your Mother; the Eleven stars, that is, your brothers”. He then voiced out: “Boy, say no more word”!

From that day, I saw intense hatred. I was the subject of contention. My greetings would be replied with mockery. Questions like, “didn’t you dream today” were raised to mock me. I wasn’t perturbed either. I knew God had a plan.

1. The presence of God’s plans is not the absence of mockery. People will talk especially when they see that you are a threat to their idleness, laziness, immorality and dead comfort.

2. Dare to dream. The dreamer will always stand out. I stood out in each of those dreams I shared because I was the one that dreamt them.

3. If you are not also dreaming, you might be among those throwing stones at dreamers. It is difficult to be accepted by men that are not also dreaming.

(…the story continues)

© DRASTIC ENCOUNTERS

GODWIN CAPTAIN KALU

…  Creatively remodelling Biblical stories in contemporary light and with strong moral inferences.

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DE: HANNAH By Godwin ‘Captain’ Kalu

Everyone that saw my latter days found it difficult to believe that I was that same barren woman they all knew in town. Before now, my condition was so pronounced and from their reactions, many people had even concluded that I had sold out my womb to the devil. Peninnah, who was also married to my husband was pushing out children in geometric progression. The more people came in to congratulate her, the more my enemies took advantage of that to strike bows of disapproval at me. I became the subject of every gossip from market squares to village meetings.

But then, my husband, Elkanah so showered me with love. Peninnah made life worse and regrettable for me even to the extent that she seldom allowed her children to run errands for me. “Give birth to your own oooooooo, Witch! So that they can be running errands for another person “. “Do you know what the labour room looks like…. hahahahaha?”. ”Elkanah, are you a gay? Don’t you know that a woman who cannot get pregnant is a man?”. These and many more were such missiles from her mouth that pierced my heart almost on daily basis. She would make such rantings around announcing to the whole world that I ate up my womb. I couldn’t bear the pains and would weep profusely, such as could fill an empty drum to the overflow. It seems Peninnah always targeted times when I bended a little to the breeze of joy. And at the next minute, she would strike and tears would roll down my tears factory.

If God answers to only tears then, He should have answered to mine long before the whole world knew I was barren. I cried in the day and in the night. I woke up with swollen eyes. I cried even on the streets and during meals.

In one of those days, we went to Shiloh for our annual family sacrifice. It wasn’t long that Peninnah provoked me. I lmmediately lost appetite for the meat in my mouth. Tears rolled out again. This time around, out of concern my husband said: “Honey, even if you can’t bear a son for me, what can 10 sons give you that I can’t give you”. This came from my husband but then, he was not in my shoes.

Unlike other Shiloh experiences, I gave them some distance after the meal. I located a spot around the temple and in tears, I poured out words of heartfelt prayer to God. Only my lips were moving but every part of my body was aware that I was praying. “LORD, give me a Son and I will give him back to you….. Lord,Give me a Son and in him I will give you a Prophet..”. This was what God heard and sent his Priest, Eli to my direction. Up till this time, we were in the same temple but Eli was only marking my mouth.

Immediately, he must have thought from where he was sitting: “what a woman! She has drank over-dose. I better go and help her put off the bottles”. He came nearer and heard me speak. Then, I guess the Priest must have learnt some new things:

1. Prayer is in levels. When the need touches your heart, you can pray like a wounded Lion.

2. When a man prays in the spirit, he can get drunk by the Spirit. Until then, pouring the deepest burden in his heart to God might not be actualized.

As I finally got Eli’s attention, I thought he would ask me, “So then, what is the subject of your prayer?”but he didn’t. He only said: “may God grant you the petition you have asked of Him”. I quickly interpreted his prayer to suit my current need. From that day, I ceased to cry. Not even the provocative tendencies of Peninnah could drill out a drop of tears from my eyes any more. It wasn’t long. I was confirmed pregnant and the result of that grace I found before God and Eli, his servant was my one in a million son, Prophet Samuel.

You See:

1. When prayers leave your heart, even God will feel it. Many pray from their mouth, few pray from their heart. Pour it out friends but from your heart.

2. Prayers alone might not give you the kind of victory you need. Add a vow. Sow a seed..

3. God decides who stays up. Don’t mind those mocking you now ; they’ll soon lose their voice and their places for you if you faint not.

© DRASTIC ENCOUNTERS

GOODWIN CAPTAIN KALU

…  Creatively remodelling Biblical stories in contemporary light and with strong moral inferences.

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DE: NOAH AND THE ARK By Godwin ‘Captain’ Kalu

“Dad, must you always be amusing everybody? Why must you always do things that can’t be understood? The other day, you told us the world was sick as if you were a Doctor on duty and now, you are gathering all manner of wood. The whole village knows you are not a carpenter and you are not planning to be one, yet, you are claiming that God has asked you to build a big ship. What for? If only you hear what people are saying, you’ll just decide what to do with these set of wood.”

Son, I interrupted: “Nobody makes a difference by standing still to hear what people are saying concerning his pursuit. It makes no sense. In life, spot out your destination and face it alone”. Now son, I continued, “if only you know what God has in mind, you will weep for the earth”.

Your great grandfather Methuselah was alive for up to 969 years. He was that despised preacher sent to warn whoever cared to listen that, “After his death, the flood will come”. As real as his message sounded, the world today has lost interest in it. They’ve taken to their lawlessness and wickedness. Evil rings in every heart. Can’t you sense it? The world is resting on immorality; it will soon sink.

Son, I saw God shed tears. He showed me the broken portions of His heart. I saw heaviness in His breathe. But then, I saw determination in His spirit. He kept regretting that He had created man. He is determined to flush out humanity from earth and start all over again. He told me that since the world had despised His mercy, it was time to try judgement. In His words, He added: “In that day Son, this despised ark shall be the hope for the living and a judgment to the dead, but I’ll wait for you son, hasten up! Build this ark. My judgement is drawing near”, but because of you, I’ll save your family. Every other person had an opportunity from the days of Methuselah to decide who to follow but all I see in return is hardness of heart, rebellion and mockery. I can’t take this any longer. There is a terrible flood coming that will spare no man. If anybody decides to follow you while you are building this Ark, mercy will speak for him but not when the rain of judgement starts.

Soon, work on the Ark started. There was no sample to pattern the building after. That was not a setback. I was determined to make it the first of its kind. It sounded like one of those elephant projects that only end on paper so, people didn’t believe it. In this matter, I was purely alone. I saw possibility only because God was the one who sent me. Day after day, I kept driving in the nails. The best encouragement I got from the world was a mockery. I kept telling them I was preparing for the great flood. The best I got was sarcasm. No body showed interest but I refused to join them.

Days later….

The woods had become an Ark, and together, my family and I went in. We took in some animals as God also instructed. There was no drop of rain as at this time so; people thought we were more foolish than before. They called us names but to us we were safer in the ark even if the long anticipated terrible rain would not fall. It wasn’t just an escape alternative but a safe place to be at all times.

We kept beckoning on our friends to join us but they kept asking, “what for”? Not until the only door the Ark had was shut from outside. We knew God meant business.
At this time, I can’t tell what happened but I know that rain fell uninterrupted for more than a month and the whole earth was swallowed up by flood. Before now, people were knocking on the door of the Ark. I only had one response: “The key is not in my hands”.

I’ll share further on what the experience was like inside the ark while we were there and how wicked the world outside thought we were but before then, a glass of water please!

TOUCHING LINES:
(1) If only you know the end of the world, you won’t struggle to surrender your life to Jesus.

(2) Only 8 persons out of the whole world made it to the ark. Number will not change God’s mind concerning judgement.

(3) The picture described above will repeat itself soon when Jesus shall return. Are you in the ark? You won’t like the experience after it is closed. The Ark is a safe place even before judgement.

****PLEASE SHARE******

© DRASTIC ENCOUNTERS
GOODWIN CAPTAIN KALU

…  Creatively remodelling Biblical stories in contemporary light and with strong moral inferences.

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DE: DAVID AND GOLIATH By Godwin ‘Captain’ Kalu

At first, I was wondering why I had to be the one my Father sent with food to the battle field for 3 of my elder brothers whom the King had enlisted into the army to fight the Philistines. I innocently obliged despite the fact that I still had some heavy duty brothers who were doing nothing at home. Why my Father didn’t send any of them remains a puzzle to me. I’ve overheard some gossips saying I wasn’t my Father’s favourite at all. Well, I took my Catapult along. I was hoping to do some hunting on my way back.

As I arrived the camp of the Israelites, most people may have been wondering what a 17 year old teenager was doing in the battle field. Seriously none of my mates were there. I was rotating my eyes around to identify even one. Suddenly, I felt a hand pulling my Khaki from behind; behold, it was my eldest brother, Eliab. He started his usual ranting: ”David, David! How many times have I called you?  What are you doing here? Have you seen any of your mates here? Before I would close my eyes and open it, if i still meet you here, you will….”. Words were still in his mouth when suddenly we all heard a voice from the other side of the mountain, the camp of the Philistines threatening. Before I could lift up my eyes to see who was talking, behold, not even King Saul was standing; they all took cover under rocks including Eliab. I was the only one standing. Guess who I saw at the other side! ‘‘A semi-giant”. This man was as tall as my Father’s bungalow, hefty, with sophisticated armour all over him. Seriously his words were getting me provoked and I was wishing I could talk back at him.

Eliab tilted his eyes a little to see me Standing. He gently pulled me down and was whispering into my ears in fear. He said: ”that man is Goliath. He has been threatening us for the past 40 days morning and Night. We’ve never fought any battle since we came here. Even our best of trained men are afraid of him. Our King, Saul can’t even survive his sight”. I was just getting provoked the more. So, I told Eliab: ”I can handle him”. Eliab quickly pulled my cheeks and showed me the way home. I kept telling people: ” I can handle him” till my words got to the King and he sent for me.

When the King saw me, I could read the disappointment on his face. Seeing a tiny looking boy could have been the least of his expectations. But I quickly said: ”King, let no man’s heart fail, I can summarize Goliath. Is this uncircumcised philistine stronger than the Lion and the bear I killed with my hands! The Lord helped me then, He’ll help me now”. At this point king Saul was looking at me with his mouth open. He may have been thinking whether he has ever withstood the sight of a Lion all his life.

Saul ordered them to kit me for the battle. My God! I was looking like a Gorilla. The armours were over-sized on my body. I told them to take them off. They were wondering where I went to when I quickly dashed out to a nearby brook and returned with 5 smooth stones which i later put in my Shepherd’s bag and approached Goliath.

When Goliath saw me, he was amused. He must have been thinking: ”are we acting one of those Nollywood drama”? He then vowed to squeeze life out of me. I also vowed to rip off his head that day in the name of the same living God he was insulting some minutes ago.

‘‘What an effrontery”! Goliath said. It must have ran through his spines.

The battle line was finally drawn after 40 days. Goliath drew near to meet me. May be he was thinking that I will run away but I quickly gathered adrenaline and ran towards him. Before he could say his final Prayer, I had pulled out one smooth stone from my bag, fixed it on my catapult and slung it towards his forehead since his head was my target. As I released the stone, I was silently echoing: ”hit his forehead, hit his forehead”. The stone went straight to its target and in split seconds, mighty Goliath fell like a palm tree. I quickly took his sword and separated his head from his body. That was mission accomplished.

My encounter with Goliath taught me that:

(1) Many people looking down on you will soon give up when you ruggedly turn off their suggestions; when they see that your success is not even dependent on their approval but on God.

(2) Until it touches your heart, then you are not yet provoked enough to act. Goliath abused God and that aroused anointed anger within me.

(3) The most difficult-to-break barriers can be handled as well. It is another opportunity to stretch out untapped potentials. This was my first battle at a time I didn’t pre-rehearse.

© DRASTIC ENCOUNTERS
GOODWIN CAPTAIN KALU

…  Creatively remodelling Biblical stories in contemporary light and with strong moral inferences.

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DE: ELIJAH AND THE BROOK By Godwin ‘Captain’ Kalu

An instruction could sound very foolish but when God is the one giving it, following it to the latter is expedient and rewarding. Such was my experience! I was already some months into my stay at the Brook and if I must say, life was gradually becoming interesting. I was getting used to the alone kind of life as long as my bills were paid for without my having to work for it. Gradually, the raven became my only friend; the only one that actually knew where I was; the one God used to teach me key lessons of life, most importantly, the lesson that, it is only God that knows who will be there to assist us during our critical times in life. True to God’s Word, the Raven was faithful to delivering my meals as at when due.

If you ask me, I’ll tell you that I was prepared to stay in the brook for as long as my provisions were not denied and of course, I wasn’t even expecting that to happen going by the rate at which they were flowing in. I woke up each morning with gratitude to God for giving me a place like the brook to stay. Food was not my problem although I had a problem which I wasn’t quick to foresee: “I was just living for myself. I was swelling in comfort yet; my life affected no body, not even my immediate friend, “the Raven”. I was of no use to it as much as it was to me.

I wasn’t fast to foresee that the brook was about to dry up. In that instance, the question of whom I’d run to for survival didn’t cross my mind. My “only me” lifestyle equally did me some harm. Before I could wake up from my slumber and put things right, the Raven had stopped coming and the brook that made my head swell and eyes blind to my calling ceased to flow. The free food was no longer flowing. The bread I didn’t work for to get stopped coming. My new friend, the Raven stopped coming and no amount of tears could bring it back. Few days without food and water weren’t a good experience at all. Having to yawn and see stars flying before my eyes taught me to learn to value every one and privileges that come my way.

Sooner, God commanded me to walk into a nearby city. I didn’t deserve this second chance but He told me that He had already commanded a Widow to take care of me there. What a love! This time around, I was determined to make a greater impact than just eating. I took a step hungrily to Zarephath and true to God’s word; I met a widow gathering firewood. Her son was helplessly lying somewhere waiting for her. I politely asked her for water. She didn’t appear difficult So, I took advantage of that to ask her equally for food. Then, I saw the other side of her. In split seconds I was already wondering: “did God really command her to take care of me?” This was unlike my encounter with the raven, then, I knew that all days are not the same. So, I decided to play along. I told her that She should just go ahead and get me the food to eat assuring her that I came because of her, to draw down an all sufficient food favour to her and her son. She complied. I could see her in tears as she reached out to prepare her only meal for a stranger to eat. Then, a miracle broke out. We were just eating and making savings yet, we couldn’t explain how the meal kept growing and didn’t show any sign of finishing. That’s how somebody reading this will be spending more money yet still saving more and won’t be able to explain how his bank account is not going down.

Drastic LESSONS:

1. When God is the one leading you, He sustains you. Creative miracles are possible with God.

2. God can push a man out of his comfort zone. That is always His better way of telling him, “I love you”. Don’t so celebrate one level of fruitfulness that you forget that God can do more for and with you at another better level. Don’t get carried away with the blessings of God that you can’t see your big future looking helpless.

3. Beyond being blessed in life is being a blessing in life. What’s your vision? Don’t die a receiver. Who are you blessing? When your desire is to be a blessing, God constantly supports you with a Seed to sow.

© DRASTIC ENCOUNTERS

GOODWIN CAPTAIN KALU

…  Creatively remodelling Biblical stories in contemporary light and with strong moral inferences.

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