Frank Edwin

"Friday 26 June 2026
Friday of week 12 in Ordinary Time
Matthew 8.1-4
MIND YOU DO NOT TELL ANYONE
*Jesus was more interested in doing his Father’s work than in gathering crowd and fame. He was more interested in the deed than the glory. He was not worried when most of his disciples left him for saying he would give them his flesh and blood. He was concerned about proclaiming the good news even when it made him unpopular. How can you cure a deadly sickness like leprosy and ask the man to tell no one? It’s like when Jesus raised a dead girl from death and told the parents to keep it secret-Mark 5.43. Signs and wonders were manifestations of the person and mission of Jesus, but His mission went beyond the miracles. It is very easy to get infected by vanity and folly; this can make us even take glory for what we did not do. This is why we might start seeking fame without making any serious effort to add true value, we might begin to acquire titles and magnify our little deeds and even tell lies to flatter ourselves. Grandiosity can lead us to unrealistic sense of superiority and make us feel we are better than others or better than we truly are. This is human nature which are meant to tame. Whenever people began to lay more emphasis on the miracles than the message, Jesus would withdraw. There is more to Christian message than miracles, this is why the scripture would say, ‘the Lord confirmed their message through signs and wonders’. When we leave the message and focus only on signs and wonders, we get it wrong. Jesus died a shameful death on the Cross, when we overemphasize signs and wonders we make it difficult for Christians to understand and embrace the message of the Cross. This is why people get obsessed with outcomes and are not interested in the process. Miracles happen everyday, the whole creation proclaim the greatness of God, if you doubt it, try to create an ant and give it life. Even those who create robots know what it takes to design such an artificial, yet it is a wonderful thing to see a robot in action. May the Lord help us to understand His person and mission, may He confirm it through signs and wonders in Jesus name. Amen.*
A CHRISTIAN IS NOT AN ORDINARY PERSON

With Brenda Hampton – I just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉

"Wednesday 24 June 2026
The Birthday of St John the Baptist.
(Isaiah 49.1-6, Acts 13.22-26, Luke 1.57-80)
THE LORD CALLED ME BEFORE I WAS BORN
The three readings of today talk about God’s call and purpose. In the first reading, Isaiah spoke of his call; he was called to gather the people of Israel. Israel was also called and chosen to be a light to the world. His prophecy also pointed towards the future shepherds called by God for a purpose. Paul, who was also called and chosen by Jesus spoke of God’s selection of David and John the Baptist. The gospel demonstrates clearly that John the Baptist was already called and chosen even before birth. We can see some important messages in these readings; God calls and chooses people even before their births. These calls and selections come in different ways. Isaiah’s call manifested in his adult age, David was in the bush minding his flock, Paul was converted on his way to kill people, John was captured in the womb, Israel was chosen through Abraham. You have been called and selected by God. God never calls anyone in vain, He has a purpose for us, we are not accidents. God’s call and purpose for each of us is unique, there’s no need trying to be someone else, your call doesn’t depend on your family, your name and destiny is beyond family and genetics. It is something divine. The easiest way to discover and fulfill our noble call is through service, God always call people to serve. Once we commit ourselves to serve the world, it won’t be long before our divine purpose manifests itself clearly and dramatically. May you discover your authentic call and purpose, May you discover your uniqueness and divine name, like these great people called and selected by God, May you fulfill your Divine mission on earth in an excellent and extraordinary manner through Christ our Lord Amen.
‘A CHRISTIAN IS NOT AN ORDINARY PERSON’

Tuesday 23 June 2026
Week 12 in Ordinary Time.
Matthew 7.6-14
DO NOT GIVE DOGS WHAT IS HOLY
When Jesus spoke of not giving dogs a holy thing, He was not referring to the real animal dog but to ‘human dogs.’ The dog attitude is controlled by appetite, gratification and sensuality; food, food, food. Anything you want to teach a dog is through food. Once you begin to feed a dog, you become the owner, the sweeter the food, the stronger the relationship. As human beings, we were taught as we grew up, to control our appetite and not to be controlled by it. There are many of us who live on the level of appetite, it could be appetite for anything; food, money, pleasure, comfort etc. We should not allow any of these sensual appetites to control us, if they do, we will not value holy things because we are on the dog and pig level. It sounds bitter but it is a reality. When the dog appetite and pig instinct is in control, people no longer go for higher values, they sell out, they fall for anything, they can even choose something dangerous to their lives just because of immediate satisfaction. The dog and pig instinct can blind us to reality and cloud our reason, it manifests in selfishness, narrow mindedness, greed and corruption. It makes friends to betray friends, parents to eat their children, children to kill parents. It makes people to sacrifice noble visions for worthless price, long term goals and gains for short term goals and gains. A dog will never prefer book to food no matter what is inside the book, a monkey will prefer banana to any amount money. May God help us to get rid of the dog instinct, May He enable us to aim for higher and noble goals, excellent visions, great purposes, May the Image of God in us shine out in Jesus name Amen.
‘A CHRISTIAN IS NOT AN ORDINARY PERSON’

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Jeremiah 20.10-13, Romans 5.12-15, Matthew 10.26-33

DO NOT BE AFRAID; THERE IS NO NEED TO BE AFRAID

Fear is real and it is one of the most destructive emotions. Just like worry, fear often comes like a thief, it crawls in and starts growing till it becomes the master. Fear has causes whether it is real or not is another thing. Everyone who is worried believes he or she has enough reason to worry. Fear can lead to mental disorder of different types. A lot of people are living with insane mind that has been traumatised by fear. The most unfortunate part of it is that some of these brokenness are not even reasonable. Many people are living on medication due to one illness or the other caused either by fear, anxiety or worry. This does not mean we can live totally without fear.

The idea of fear brings certain feelings like panic, timidity, frozen, paralyzed, fright, phobia, anxiety, worry, confusion, overwhelmed, traumatised, intimidated, threatened, nervous, insecurity, etc to mind. Something happened the first time I boarded an aircraft. Immediately the plane took off, smoke filled the whole cabin. We were going for a pilgrimage in Israel. People were shouting different things; some praying furiously and others calling Jesus, while some were shouting in fear. I was totally confused, I could not even pray. I was only thinking how I would die the first time I am boarding an aircraft as if querying God about this. In all these commotion, what caught my attention and baffled me a bit was that the air hostesses were calmly moving around looking for any source of smoke and asking if anyone had plugged in something.

When everything calmed down, we were told it was a faulty ventilation system. I was happy that it ended well. Yet, the idea of those air hostesses moving calmly as if they were superhuman kept me thinking. Why were they not afraid or rather acting not afraid? And why were most of us who were supposed to be courageous with our Bibles and faith more frantic in that situation? Those air hostesses were young ladies, yet most of the passengers who were men were overcome by fear while the ladies moved around with grace as if they had everything under control. One of the reasons the air hostesses were not overcome by fear was that they were trained. They knew that so many things could cause smoke to appear in the cabin. For the rest of us, it meant only one thing; disaster! For them, it meant a lot of things and they were busy trying to figure it out while the rest of us were frozen by fear.

Jesus told his disciples and us not to be afraid. He knew that there are things that could threaten our peace. He knew that his disciples would face many oppositions, yet he told them there is no need to be afraid because those threats would not harm them. He gave us assurance that our safety is assured, our hairs has been counted. Knowledge changes a lot of things and fear thrives better in ignorance. Jeremiah in the first reading was confident because of the presence of God; knowing that the Lord Who is a mighty hero is by his side cancelled every fear he had. Jesus informed us that we worth more than hundreds of sparrows. He equally told us that God is so caring that a single sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His knowledge.

Fear can weaken and cripple us. There are many people who are being held hostage by fear. It could be fear of failure or fear of the unknown. We can conquer fear by enlightening our minds. Awareness can remove fear totally or at least reduce it. Jesus had to teach his disciples about their worth before God; you worth more than hundreds of sparrows. Awareness could come by reflection; if we know that most of the things we fear never happen, if we know that fear does not solve a problem, we can seek alternatives. Most fears are irrational; we often refuse to make attempts due to fear of failure, but, lack of failure does not mean success. One of the major causes of failure is actually fear of failure.

Courage is not absence of fear; it is the ability to act in spite of fears. A courageous and bold person has mastered his or her fears. He or she knows that the feeling of fear has no meaning apart from the meaning and power we ascribe to it. This meaning can change if we change. A person who is afraid driving today can become an expert in driving if he or she commits to learning how to drive. Children who are afraid of the stage can become bold if they see their parents in the crowd cheering them up. Our fear of a gun will automatically change if we find out it is a toy, this simple discovery that a gun held towards us is a toy changes everything because we know that a toy gun cannot harm anything. The power of fear lies most times in ignorance.

We are called today to examine our fears and other things holding us back from growing and exceling. Self confidence is not always a given, we need to develop it, we need to believe in ourselves. We need to examine our faith to ensure that it builds us up. Most times, we nurture fear, guilt, doubts and timidity as faith. Faith is meant to empower and equip us to do great things. Self-doubt and pessimism are not attributes of faith. True faith leads us to greater self-discovery and growth that is constant and consistent. It is a known fact that most of us never utilizes our potentials. There are people who achieve nothing simply because they have believed they cannot achieve much. We can become our own obstacles through fear and doubt. Jesus calls us to break every chain of fear and free our minds from the bo***ge of anxiety and phobias. Fear tells us that failure is the final point, faith tells us that failure is just the beginning of our success stories.

These words are meant to help us build internal confidence, faith and boldness. Our faith as Christians should not rest merely on external factors like security created by human beings alone. Our confidence and faith should be built on the knowledge of the presence and power of God Who is both caring and loving. This knowledge gives us immunity from fear and anxiety that comes when situations around us becomes threatening. It gives us peace even when storms threaten us because we know that God is bigger than our fears. Fear and worry are habits which can be learnt and can equally be unlearnt. We are called as Christians to cultivate the habits of faith; courage, confidence and boldness. We are called to master the negative emotions that can cripple us and prevent us from developing the potentials in us. May this Good news release us from every fear and anxiety and fill us with peace and power that is strong and profound through Christ our Lord. Amen.

‘A CHRISTIAN IS NOT AN ORDINARY PERSON’

With Jenny Mary’s Tv – I'm on a streak! I've been a top fan for 14 months in a row. 🎉

Saturday 20 June 2026
Week 11 in Ordinary.
Matthew 6.24-34
YOU CANNOT BE A SLAVE OF TWO MASTERS
You cannot eat your cake and have it is one of the harsh realities we find difficult to handle. We want to eat our cakes and still have them. Making choices and decisions in life is difficult simply because it always involves letting go of one thing for another. This is the major cause of unfaithfulness whether in marriage or any other thing. Many times, we know what we want but the problem is that we want other things as well, we want to live in a glass house, but we want to throw stones as well. We want to lose weight but we still want to enjoy our cakes and chocolate, we want to excel but we still want to spend much time on TV and bed. We know that our friends are leading us astray but we can’t afford to lose them, we want to go to the Promise Land but we are still longing for the Egyptian delicacies. What is the meaning of non alcoholic beer? I don’t want alcohol but I still want my beer. There is no shortcuts to this dilemma, one of the masters must lose his/her/its position, there’s no other way out. It is either… Or… Working harder, smarter, faster etc will not solve the problem. Yes, this is one of those tough choices we must prepare to make on a daily basis. May the Lord give us the grace and courage to choose wisely especially when the options are too tempting and too complicated, through Christ our Lord Amen.
‘A CHRISTIAN IS NOT AN ORDINARY PERSON’

"Thursday 18 June 2026
Week 11 in Ordinary Time
Matthew 6.7-15
PRAY LIKE THIS; OUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN
*Jesus teaches us the Lord’s prayer. A simple and powerful prayer. A prayer of trust and confidence. Jesus addresses God always as father to teach us the relationship we have with Him. God is not a terrifying or intimidating Being that is interested in scaring us away, rather, He is a loving and caring Father. What He expects of us is not paralyzing and freezing fear but reverential fear born out of love, wisdom and knowledge. We do not just have a God but a God who is a Father. And, He is in Heaven. Heaven is a place of the highest authority. It is not a geographical place but a mystical state of power, dominion and authority. If your father is a president or a king, it changes your status. It gives you greater confidence, access, power, etc. We may not be powerful or kings but Our Father is the greatest, the most powerful and ultimate. Our status should be affected by these knowledge. As you meditate on the powerful contents of this prayer, as you continue to make it with faith, I pray that God will demonstrate His authority as a Father over you. He is our Father and Fighter; May He demolish every mountain in your way and feed you with the wild honey of holiness, love, peace, progress and prosperity through Christ our Lord Amen.*
‘A CHRISTIAN IS NOT AN ORDINARY PERSON’

Wednesday 17 June 2026
Week 11 in Ordinary Time.
Matthew 6.1-18
ACTING TO ATTRACT PEOPLE’S ATTENTION
Most of the things we do in life are for attracting attention. We want to be noticed, we want to be acclaimed, we want to be approved. Even when we are hiding from people, we are also seeking someone’s attention. In the market we struggle for the customers’ attention, the politicians campaign for your attention though they are not interested in you after election, even your baby has to cry louder if you deny him/her attention. 90 percent of your makeup and dressing is attention oriented, what about adverts, pictures, books, even Churches seek attention, as I’m writing this, I hope it gets your attention. We equally do not want to be seen as failures or wrong, this is why we do everything to hide our bad sides from people, this is equally why we often shy away from taking risks out of fear of being seen as failures. Jesus only told His disciples and us to seek for the right attention. The Pharisees were interested in getting people’s attention with their prayers and alms giving. This is a waste of prayers. Prayer is meant to draw God’s attention, alms giving, fasting, are meant to draw supernatural attention and higher benefits not human admiration. Imagine a politician campaigning among people who don’t have voters’ card. Praying, fasting and giving alms to get human attention is an exercise in futility. May God help us to direct our efforts and energy to the right source and get the Divine attention and favours through Christ our Lord Amen.
‘A CHRISTIAN IS NOT AN ORDINARY PERSON’

With Florence Onyeche Ogwuche – I just made it onto their weekly engagement list by being one of their top engagers! 🎉