Faith and Christianity

When it comes to Faith and it's definition Hebrews 11:1 is the go to Bible passage for most Christians: 

"To have Faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see."

I was making notes on this particular chapter recently as I was reading through it. It didn't occur to me then to share what I had written down until I read over it today. It seemed like something everyone would know, until I realised that I only made those notes because even if I knew most of the things I often forgot them. So for those who are prone to forgetfulness like I am, I will leave this here so we can always come back and remember all that Faith is and should be. 

Through our faith we win God's approval: the Bible constantly reminds us that God doesn't bless us because of the works of our hands but because of His infinite grace and mercy. Yet it is by our faith in God that we qualify because we prove our obedience to God. God in His loving kindness never deserts us even when we desert Him, but it is important for us to understand that having faith in Him and trusting Him draws us nearer to Him. In this way we are able to please God because by putting our trust in Him we receive the gift of His righteousness. 

Because of our faith we present a better offering to God: before anyone bites of my head this isn't a prosperity gospel thing. Think of it this way. If you trust someone, you give freely to them. It's natural. In the same way when you put your trust completely in God you give freely to Him of ALL you have. Now of course that depends a lot on what it is that you have! You cannot give someone what you don't already possess. So by giving all you have to God I don't necessarily mean in a monetary way. I also mean an offering of the heart and the soul, a sweet smelling praise and worship, a heart wrenching prayer. Whatever you have, give.

Faith helps us carry out God's plan even when we can't see or understand it: believe it or not a few years ago saying "I surrender Lord" or "Not my will Father but Yours" was one of the most difficult things for me. Letting go of all that control just made me feel weak. I couldn't bring myself to trust God to do the impossible because it still looked impossible to me. Two things changed my mind. Firstly a lot of communicating with God about giving me the strength to let go made me realise that it took strength to let go. Thus releasing control stopped being a sign of weakness. Secondly it is easy to hold on to control when you're in control but when things are completely out of your control holding on becomes kind of stupid. 

Faith is a prerequisite for miracles: ask any children's book writer; the impossible cannot happen unless you are crazy enough to believe it. Faith MAKES the impossible possible. 

Through faith we can plan ahead: because we believe in the promise of tomorrow, we make plans for tomorrow. You cannot make plans for a time that does not exist.

Faith makes us reject sin by keeping us focused on heaven and it's future rewards, not on the world: saying no is never easy but it becomes much easier when there is hope for a better yes. Faith helps us defy the devil when he tempts us because we know that God has better things in store.

Faith strengthens us by helping us endure persecution: faith strengthens us in many other ways as I explained before but one of the most important ways for me is strength in the time of persecution. Now many will say they haven't faced persecution before and perhaps they are right. However if you think about it, chances are you have. Every time someone has laughed at you or ridiculed you for making time for God, every time someone has pointed out your faith as a reason for a joke, you have faced a degree of persecution. Of course that is NOTHING compared to thousands that are literally slaughtered for their faith in Christ. But how we deal with persecution shouldn't differ according to how serious we deem it. 

Matthew 10: 32-33

"If anyone declares publicly that he belongs to me, I will do the same for him before my Father in heaven. But if anyone rejects me publicly, I will reject him before my Father in heaven." 

Valentine Onah | The Graphic Chef

The Man. The Mantra.

Multi-talented isn’t a word that should be thrown around. So pardon me as I slip it into the description of this extremely creative, intelligent, forward-thinking, multi-talented perfectionist that is the Nigerian gifted artist and architect in the making Valentine Onah. The Graphic Chef as he likes to be known is a professional designer capable of "cooking" up breath taking artworks, brand identities and sustainable architectural designs. His brand, Eveonstudio is also known as The Graphic Kitchen.

So what could possibly be dream come true for this young man who seems to be on the track to having it all? “I have a lot of dreams! I would love to see Eveonstudio stand out as a recognisable, strong competitor in the field of art and design. I'm constantly developing, learning and increasing my capacity to drive it. If I wake up one day to realise my brand is suddenly nationally renowned, I think that would be phase one of that dream come true”. A man with a plan. And that plan is diverse, rich and multi-faceted because what many people don’t know about this artist and architect-in-training is that he is also environmentally conscious, a trait that is too often undermined.

Inspired by Breath of life | Florence and the Machines 

He spoke in detail to me about the importance of preserving the earth: “considering the rate of environmental degradation resulting from our actions and decisions, if we don't make conscious informed decisions today in the way we live and build there might be no earth for the future generations”. Yet we can’t just blindly build green and hope that this will somehow improve the environment. In order to avoid criticisms that will surely come such as those put against wind turbines that are supposedly killing off bald eagles in America, we must understand our environment not just on a global scale but also on a local, site-specific scale by recognising what works best where and why. When designing in such situations then it is the job of the architect to “meet the needs of the user without creating more negative impacts than necessary”. 

Charcoal on paper: Inspired by a photograph by Lee Jeffries of a homeless man. 

But Valentine being the ambitious young man he is takes it further, saying that minimising negative impact shouldn’t be where the goal ends; we should also be consciously trying to contribute positively to the world around us. He believes that if this mantra is accepted globally that we can restore the earth with a culmination of seemingly small actions. “We all should be aware that earth is currently sick, like an ill child. If we want her well again, we must do something other than continue our habit of poisoning her”.

This is all well and good but I’m sure many of my readers will be wondering like I was if this is something achievable for Nigeria. Valentine believes it is God’s gift to the motherland. He admits that if our aim is to finally shake the unreliable shackles of the Nigerian power authority PHCN then the initial installation costs will be high. However the money spent will be well worth it as we shouldn’t need to worry about power in the end. “Solar power can be harnessed any were the sun shines but wind power would require wind speeds in the area to reach a minimum velocity”. Most Nigerians will tell you that wind and sunshine are things we have in abundance. And he knows exactly how this can be achieved:

Proposed Abuja Art Expo Centre: Inspired by the Eyo masquerade. Solar panels, three 50kw vertical axis wind turbines for alternative renewable energy. GRFP pipes around the roof for harvesting rainwater into the annex building, "Greenhouse" for treatment and reuse. 

“An economical approach to natural alternative power will be incorporating inverters and batteries with a few solar panels. The public power charges the batteries when available, if unavailable your solar panels would supply power to charge them. The inverter could be configured to supply power to only a few electrical outlets and lighting fixtures (bulbs) to conserve energy when in use. Lastly the use of energy star rated appliances should be promoted to cut down power consumption. Your batteries would last longer that way”.

Seems complex but not impossible. According to the budget office of the Federal Government of Nigeria PHCN’s total capital for 2012 stood at over N51 billion (over $300 million). Surely some of those funds could be directed towards giving Nigeria a more stable, more environmentally friendly power alternative.

Beyond all that Valentine seemed excited for the future of the Nigerian architectural scene. “I'm aware that great and bold minds are emerging”. To him it is all a matter of getting the right equipment to our shores and developing the skill set to harness them. So where does that leave him? What will The Graphic Chef be cooking up five years from now? “Breaking newer grounds in arts and designs. Actively contributing in restoring earth with my environmental conscious designs. Engaged with philanthropic commitments from the plenty God would have blessed me with.” You know, the norm. Watch this space.

Madiba. A Tribute: Graphite on Charcoal

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