Morning Call – 15th of September, 2010

"Laughter doeth good like medicine!"

Good morning to you wherever you are on this vast earth! It’s a new day, and God is waiting for you to fulfill His dreams in it. He has seen this day in Him as beautiful and glorious for you, but you still have the authority to determine whether it’ll be so. Dear brother or sister, make sure to impose God’s word on your circumstances today.

Here are a few things that you can do to have a great day:

• Read Rhapsody of Realities: If you don’t have a copy of Rhapsody of Realities, get one immediately, preferably in electronic format. It is a trusted great way to set yourself up for a day in God. The no. 1 daily devotional by Pastors Chris and Anita Oyakhilome is also currently on the Amazon Kindle along with many other ministry materials. So, get a Kindle and get a Rhapsody of Realities September Edition!

• Follow Pastor Chris Oyakhilome on Yookos: Though believers around the world cannot gather in a single location to pray, Yookos - the father of all micro-blogging and social networking sites - has created an alternative avenue for us to pray together. By following, you join over 900,000 Christians (irrespective of denomination) across the globe, who pray for many different things on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for 15 minutes together at the same time. We have prayed in times past about topics ranging from the safety and protection of nations to the safety and protection of pregnant women around the world. If you pray at all, don’t give any excuses or ask too many questions, just join the largest prayer program on the face of the earth. 

• Learn to Laugh: “A merry heart doeth good like medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” [Proverbs 17:22] Regardless of what anyone has done against you to break your heart, choose to be joyful and merry in your heart. Give the word of God a little time to work on your heart. That scripture [Proverbs 17:22] lets you know you can stay in health just by maintaining a merry heart. Now, will you allow someone else’s actions rob you of your health? I didn’t think so!

There you have it. I sincerely hope and pray that you have a great day!

Much love,

St. Burnish 


Kindle 3G Wireless Reading Device, Free 3G + Wi-Fi, 6" Display, Graphite, 3G Works Globally - Latest Generation

Blissful Tears of Joy

What can separate us from God's love? Nothing!

Today is the 14^th of September, 2010. I woke up this morning to something that was supposed to be good news but began to tend towards thoughts of worry and anxiety on decision-making as though I am in this world alone. Well, the next thought was “let’s fellowship with the Holy Ghost,” and so I got on my knees to start praying. In the beginning parts of my prayer [while speaking in tongues] I was still entertaining those worry thoughts. Now, all these happened within the space of 45 minutes.

All of a sudden, the Spirit of God reminded me of the song you are about to listen to – How He Loves by Kim Walker. I never heard it fully before; in fact, the first time I heard some part of it, I didn’t really like the rhythm, but I was still able to pick out a few words that I thought were interesting: “if grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.” I really liked that being the grace-obsessed person that I am. That’s another day’s topic.

So, I began listening, and within a few minutes, I was in tears, experiencing the awesome billows of God’s tangible love that can only be best described in human words as blissful! In beautiful worship, like the song expresses, I simply forgot about any worries and focused on the fact that “He loves me…oh, how He loves me!” With that, anxiety was turned to joy unspeakable and complete confidence in my future. Glory to God!

My prayer for you right now is that, as you listen [please, listen to all of it even if you heard it before], all your worries and fears will be washed away by His awe-inspiring love. I pray that your heart will be open, even if you never experienced the love of God before. And, I pray that He causes your knees to tremble and that He ultimately sweeps you off your feet as you fall in love with Him like I did 5 years ago and still continue to do every new day [in a new way], in Jesus’ name. Amen!

The Essence of Diligence

Follow Pastor Chris Oyakhilome on Twitter

“Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.” [Proverbs 22: 29]

 Diligence is an indispensable virtue which every Christian must possess. A diligent man is one who pays attention to detail, one who is precise in all he does, thus making him efficient and effective  in every task he is engaged in.

Diligence causes one to excel where others have failed. Many times, people are engaged in various tasks, but the desired result often eludes them because attention is not paid to the details of the task. The bible says, “the hand of the diligent shall bear rule” [Proverbs 12:24 KJV]. Other versions say that the hand of the diligent tends to plenty. To be diligent, you need to learn to see what others don’t see.

A diligent man is in charge, well organized and exudes the sagacity of the Spirit in all he does. This is the quality of the new creation in Christ Jesus. God begat us of his own will that we should be the first and the best in all that we do [James 1:18 KJV]. Refuse to be the Christian that is disorganized and doesn’t get things done the first time. Just as you exhibit diligence in the house of God, have this virtue stirred up in you all the time.

Let men be at peace when things are committed to your trust. Also, not forgetting that a diligent man would not stand before obscure men, for as the bible says “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.” [Proverbs 22: 29 KJV] This is one sure way to excel and be the best of you. It may have to do with a project, tidying your room, organizing your books, arranging files or reports on your computer - whatever the task is, be diligent at it. No one may be watching you but always remember that it is an investment in your personality that would count for all times. Make up your mind to be diligent in all things you do from now on and trust the Holy Spirit who is the Father of all good gifts to strengthen and help you.

As you ponder on these thoughts remember that “... he who comes from heaven is [far] above all others [far superior to all others in prominence and in excellence]” – John 3: 31 (Amplified Version). Considering that you (as a Christian) are from above, because as He is so are we in this world [1 John 4:17], it means you have a head-start – an advantage – over others. And, like Pastor Chris Oyakhilome PhD says “work on being and not on having because when you are, you will have”.

Coming Soon!

St. Burnish

First, it is with great pleasure that I say this hearty “thank you” to all the faithful readers of Burnivine’s Blogoscope. With thousands of views so far, several testimonies I’ve heard, and many new friends I’ve made, I am more than grateful to God and to you for this opportunity to be a blessing to the world. So, once again, thank you!


Shifting focus to a very important issue, we have been away for about a month now, and I sincerely apologize for that. As you may already know, we were working on a project that I’m mega-excited about – The Pastor Chris Online Transcripts Blog. It’s the written (transcript) version of the online question and answer forum of Pastor Chris Oyakhilome called Pastor Chris Online. Make sure to visit the site; there’s a ton of information 0n it. And, if you’re already acquainted with the original Pastor Chris Online, you’ll still find this site helpful, because it categorizes all the questions that have been answered under labels like Christian living, prayer, and such topics, making the blog a topical compendium of some sort.
 Burnivine’s Blogoscope has officially returned as of today, however, with a slightly different strategy. Instead of weekly posts, you can expect more frequent posts (up to one post per day) with shorter (ultimately fresher!) content. But, the longer posts (like those we’ve had before) will still be coming up, only every two (or so) weeks – less frequently. In addition to those changes, you can also expect stories, poems, and informative posts, all still under the Christianity (and lifestyle) genre.

So, how can you participate? Tell, tell, tell people! If you’ve been blessed by this blog, then you’re its no. 1 publicist. Under every post, there are buttons (though tiny) through which you can share the post through Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, and other means. Also, make sure to post comments and reply to other people’s comments. Your support is needed and appreciated.


Finally, we may be moving the blog to WordPress soon; you’ll hear about that if it does happen. But, whichever way, remember that “the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day” [Proverbs 4:18], so whatever changes we’re making will only result in greater glory and more impact.


Thank you once again, especially to the readers that have ‘bugged’ me with questions concerning our inadvertent period of hibernation and those awesome readers I was blessed to meet at the Higher Life Conference with Pastor Chris Oyakhilome in Houston, TX.


I love and appreciate you! God bless you!


-- St. Burnish

At Trust's End

"At trust's end, we cease to be humans"

“Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” [Matthew 10:16]

Expressions of regret, remorse, care, compassion, and love, amongst other emotions, cease to mean anything when we stop believing them. The day we stopped comprehending sincere emotions, that day, those very emotions stopped existing. Caring is what it is, only because it is understood by everyone – or at least most people. Anger can only retain its meaning when the one you express it towards understands it. Ever been furious at a baby and he/she just kept laughing? Your anger meant nothing to that baby; that emotion was simply not recognized by the child at the time, because that child had not grown enough to master the elements that make up the human person. Little wonder as to why your relationship with that baby is so limited.

We live in a highly polarized generation – one most easily explained by the idea encapsulated in Jesus’ statement: “because of the increase of wickedness, the love of men shall wax cold” [Matthew 24:12]. Due to so much wickedness in our world, many have lost love. Today, it is harder than ever before to believe the sincere people but much easier to believe the dishonest folk. We watch infomercials discussing opportunities to help children, nations, and our world, but the first thought that comes to many minds is how the man on the television is only seeking his own gain. We are quick to think that everyone’s after our money. Though we often think we’re being smart, we’re actually truly expressing the state of our hearts – what our humanity has become.

Imagine a world at trust’s end. Imagine a world where every truth is a lie, love is hate, caring is selfish, and hope is foolish. Imagine our world at trust’s end. Imagine a world that didn’t believe your tears at the death of your father just because he was rich and left you a will, forgetting that a father’s a father no matter how good or bad of it he is. Imagine a world where the poor and needy reject the pure no-strings-attached help of the rich and powerful [no matter how caring they truly are] for fear of that rich one returning to them later in future to get his payment or returns-on-investment. Imagine a world where your love was misunderstood for an attempt to take advantage of the one you love, where your concerns were misunderstood for an opportunity to mock those in trouble, a world where every emotion of yours you can think of – platonic care, brotherly/sisterly love, and motherly/fatherly affection – was confused with evil beyond your conception.

Don’t be too small in your heart, too closed in your mind, or too myopic in your sight to understand the danger of a world at trust’s end. As seen in the opening scripture, the idea is not to abandon all caution, ditch discernment, or throw out wisdom; rather, the imploration to us all is that we make room for trust - just a little more room to believe the man crying over his daughter’s grave, the child claiming it was rape and not consented sex, the rich man desiring to change the lives of many impoverished fellow human beings, the preacher who believes he has a gospel that can change men’s lives. Let us believe them just for a second; after all, it is said “innocent until proven guilty.” Don’t be quick to assume that everything on television is fake [though a lot of it is]. Good will always overcome evil. It has to be so.

When we question motives, disbelieve sincere emotion, reject help through a belief of the worst concerning the helper [when we do all these], we lose ourselves. We lose the bond that holds us together when we don’t deem other human beings as capable of genuine emotion, the same emotions we express and expect others to believe. At trust’s end, we cease to be humans – we become babies – limiting our potentials to love, communicate, and create the world in which we live.