Gospel – Mimi's Thoughts

AI – Arrival Illusion

I logged onto the Elevation Church YouTube channel this afternoon for today’s worship experience. When the time came for the sermon, Pastor Steven Furtick shared a sermon titled This Time Around. It was a good sermon but one main thing he said stayed with me: AI — Arrival Illusion.

Not Artificial Intelligence. Arrival Illusion.

He talked about someone in his thirties, a friend, who was looking forward to being in his forties because, in his mind, life would somehow be better then. Pastor Steven is already in his forties, and so he could see something this young man couldn’t yet see.

Sometimes, we create an imaginary version of the future in our heads… We tell ourselves, When I get there, things will be better.

When I get married.
When I have children.
When the children grow up.
When I get that job.
When I make more money.
When I turn forty.
When I build my house.
When this particular problem is over.

Then we arrive… And there is another problem waiting.

That was the part that really got me.

He said; “No version of your life is frustration-free. No version of your future is struggle-free.”

There is no arrival point where everything suddenly becomes perfect.

He called it AI because sometimes the future we imagine is just that… an illusion. It looks beautiful and perfect from a distance, almost too perfect to be real. Like those strange, impossibly neat AI-generated videos or photos where everything seems to happen or look exactly as it should.

He referenced the book of Joshua, chapter 6.

The Israelites had arrived at the Promised Land, but there was still a wall by the time they got to Jericho.

There had been several hitches along the way for the Israelites…
Egypt > Wilderness > Plains of Moab > Jordan River > Promised Land > Jericho.

Every stage was not easy, and at Jericho, they had to walk around the city walls… Again… And again…. And again.

Seven times… And the walls fell.

There was no shortcut around the wall simply because they had arrived at the place God had promised them.

Whether it’s a wilderness or it is a wall, we must not assume we are lost simply because we have encountered another obstacle. We have only arrived at “another wall”…

What wall have you encountered? What wall are you currently facing? Fear, Depression, Anxiety, Addiction, sickness, Financial difficulties, Guilt, Self Doubt…

…Maybe the instruction is not to turn around or stand still… Maybe it is to keep walking.

Soundtrack

Every year, around my birthday, I tend to notice a recurring song on my speakers. Every year, a new song(s).

I actually don’t set out to choose it or them, they just quietly become the song. It’s one repeat in the kitchen, in the car, when I pray, at work in the office and sometimes in the quiet of my mind when I wake or I am about to fall asleep.

Looking back, I think I can almost trace my life by these songs.

When I turned 40, my song was The Story I’ll Tell by Naomi Raine. It was a season where I found myself trusting God with chapters I couldn’t yet understand. I didn’t have all the answers, but I believed one day I’d look back and see His fingerprints all over my life. I didn’t have these words back then. They just flow now as I look back and realise that’s what that song was helping me do.

At 41, it was Dependable God by Victor Thompson. That year reminded me that God’s faithfulness isn’t measured by how easy life feels. He’s dependable because that’s His nature. He doesn’t change.

At 42, Joy Is Coming by Todd Galberth became my anthem. I mean… Anthem. It didn’t cancel the difficult days but it simply reminded me that they don’t have the final word. Joy was on its way, even when I couldn’t yet see it.

Then came 43, and if I had to describe that year in one name, it would be Brandon Lake. His songs filled my days with worship. They drew my attention away from what was happening around me and back to the One who never changes. When my Spotify wrapped at the end of the year, I wasn’t surprised to find him up there as my artist of the year. He beat Morgan Wallen by a long long slide. My favourite song was Heartfelt Hallelujah. I even got the merch.

Now, as I prepare to turn 44, two songs won’t leave me alone: What a God by Seu Worship and Made for More by Bethel Music.

One fills me with awe while other fills me with expectation.

One reminds me of who God is and the other reminds me of who He created me to become.

Maybe that’s what this new year is about. Not striving for more, but responding to the God who has always been more than enough.

When I look back, I don’t remember these years by birthdays or calendars. I remember them by songs.

#23august1982

144 hours of Bible Reading

I’ve been thinking about something.

It’s interesting how we often rally around record attempts involving entertainment or novelty. We celebrate marathon cooking sessions, unusual talents, and all sorts of remarkable feats. We show up, donate, cheer, and make them trend. I mean, really trend.

Yet when someone dedicates themselves to reading the entire Bible aloud for 144 hours, the response is often much quieter.

I don’t say this to diminish anyone else’s achievement. Every genuine accomplishment deserves respect. It simply makes me wonder what our loudest celebrations reveal about what we value.

I’m grateful that her church community stood by her and supported her throughout. Every person taking on a challenge needs people in their corner.

I may not be in Port Harcourt to cheer her on, but I’m encouraged by her commitment. It reminds me that some of the most meaningful acts are not always the ones that make the biggest headlines.

Now let me ask you, Have you heard about her? The Nigerian woman who recently completed a 144-hour Bible reading marathon?

Her name is Habibat Salawudeen Ihiovi-Jack, and she completed the six-day Bible reading challenge in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria as part of an attempt to set a Guinness World Record. She began on June 22, 2026, at the Novotel in Port Harcourt and concluded on June 29, 2026… six days of non-stop reading aloud.

The event, titled “144 Hours in the Word,” was not organized solely to break a record. According to the organizers, its main purpose was to encourage Christians around the world to develop a deeper habit of reading and studying the Bible.

Her senior pastor, Andy Osakwe, shared that the vision for the project began around 2022 and was inspired by a desire to exalt God’s Word above the pursuit of records or recognition.

It’s worth noting that although she has successfully completed the marathon, it is not yet an official Guinness World Record. Guinness World Records will first review all the submitted evidence to confirm that every requirement was met before making a final decision.

Whether or not the record is eventually approved, her commitment has inspired many people to spend more time in God’s Word. I played it in the background on some days as I went about my chores.

So Be It

Elevation worship 2026 album cover Image

Last week I spent some time making a list of Elevation Worship albums titles… Not for any particular reason, just for knowledge sake.

1. We Are Alive (2008)
2. God With Us (2009)
3. Kingdom Come (2010)
4. For the Honor (2011)
5. Nothing Is Wasted (2013)
6. Only King Forever (2014)
7. Here as in Heaven (2016)
8. There Is a Cloud (2017)
9. Hallelujah Here Below (2018)
10. Graves into Gardens (2020)
11. Old Church Basement (2021)
12. LION (2022)
13. Can You Imagine? (2023)
14. When Wind Meets Fire (2024)
15. So Be It (2026)

I found fifteen, and I don’t know if that is all there is, but since the Graves and Gardens album in 2020, I have been drawn to their music. It lifts my mood and spirit.

I shared here in Can You Imagine about how good the 2023 album was. Before that I had written and shared my obsession with the album LION. Today I am in awe of the current one… So Be It.

I’ve caught myself crying a number of times while listening to some of the songs on this one.

From the humbling feeling that comes with the song ‘Thank You’ to the way I just surrender to ‘God I’m just grateful’ and also the vibe in ‘Alleluia’… The entire album is just beautiful.

As usual, Elevation Worship brings in worship leaders to praise and worship along with them on every album. The worship leaders on this album are Tiffany Hudson, Chandler Moore, Brandon Lake, Davide Mutendji, Tori Elliott, Isaiah Templeton, Leeland Mooring, Jonsal Barrientes and Chris Brown (When I say Chris Brown).

The album is available on music streaming platforms.

Easter Message

Growing up, Easter was always a dramatic rememberance of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, my Saviour. It was always fascinating and interesting, especially on the last ‘stations of the cross’ at our parish on Good Friday. Perhaps as a child, I never really thought deeply about the real meaning of the entire season.

One of the first times Easter really hit and shook me was in my adult life when I saw Mel Gibson’s ‘The Passion of The Christ’. I was demoralized. I haven’t been able to see it again as other people have done. It was so vivid and real and left me really pondering and realizing exactly what went down.

In addition to this experience, I began to listen to Pastor Steven Furtick a lot. Easter is his favorite Christian celebration and he tells the story well in amazing sermons. I remember listening to a Christmas morning message where he preached an Easter sermon. At the beginning I doubted it would fit, but it did. Who would have thought that?

Good Easter sermons can make you pause and think a lot. Just like today, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral Makurdi, Reverend Father Abela shared a story after his Homily about a boy who decided to pick up and read the story of Jesus from His birth to His adult life. As he read and enjoyed the story, he got really interested until he got to the place where Jesus died. This little boy ran to his mother, crying, “They killed him, they killed him”. His mother consoled him, told him to stop crying and urged him; “Go back and continue reading, that is not the end”.

Just like the mother urged, Fr. Abela urged us to keep moving forward even when we hit the dark moments, it isn’t the end.

What’s the dark moment that looks like it’s the end for you today? Go back and continue…it will get better.

Amen.

Happy Easter Sunday everyone

Ghost Writer

At Elevation Church, Steven Furtick has been doing a teaching series for 5 weeks now. The series is titled Ghost Writer.

The Holy Ghost can write your story…with you.
The past 4 weeks have gone like this;
1.Page Turner
2.Plot Hole
3.Source Material
4.Places Everyone
Today I will share bits from week 5.

Title : Cutting Room
Scripture Reading – Acts 4:23-31

The cutting room can bring clarity. You get to decide what to leave in and what to cut out (of your life).
In the book of Acts we can see miracles and we can see mistakes. They were all left in scripture for a purpose;to guide and teach us today.
Some bad stuff are meant for lessons…not only in the Bible, but in our lives too.

Enter the cutting room – Revisit a previous experience with a better perspective and you will get a fresh lesson.

While you are in the cutting room, who is there with you? Take positive people and vibes. No negative people, cynical people, complainers.
Enter the cutting room with God. Let Him help you with your processing. Any process that does not start with God is doomed.

Let the Holy Ghost come with His scissors.
Don’t listen to what the enemy has been telling you… don’t take those words to the cutting room.
We grow through what we go over with God. That’s the review.

We shouldn’t start with the problem when we want to process the problem. We should start with God.
It’s bigger than us.

Some of the things we need to cut are the things we cling to.

Stop praying about the problem so much that you never get to God.God is bigger than this.He has a million ways to solve it.

The devil can’t do anything to you without going through God first.
Let go.

When you release yourself…God releases THE FINAL CUT.
That’s a fact. Stop battling with your edits. Let God.

There’s a lot more…you should look it up at elevationchurch.org

Can You Imagine

Since their album titled Old Church Basement and LION, I’ve always had something to say about Elevation Worship albums.

This time it’s ‘Can You Imagine‘

It’s an Eight track album.

Being an e-member of the Elevation Church, I had heard and rocked all songs long before they debuted on Spotify, apple music, YouTube and the lot.

Just like my son, I found that most people loved ‘Praise‘ a lot more than the other seven.

Praise is very upbeat… Just like ‘No One’ from the LION album.

I don’t have a favourite…yet. I love them all.

On this album, along with the Elevation Worship team, we have our usual collaborators; Chandler Moore and Brandon Lake.

Waking thoughts

When I was a little girl, maybe about 8 or 9 years old, my dad had an office space. For the life of me, I can’t even remember exactly what they did there.

I remember making jokes with my sister; we’d say if anyone asked, we would tell them our dad was a JoPoBu… Journalist, Politician, Business man.

Yeah, all those activities went down there. There was a newspaper publication one time…The Public. There were business contracts here and there and then he never left the political scene.

Politics…that one finally won.

So back to this office space, we had Uncle Patrick in one of the offices. Uncle Patrick wasn’t related by blood but he was one of those… We wouldn’t call him anything else.

He was a good man and one of the few who genuinely loved our family. He would come by our home and we would have lunch and sometimes dinner…as a family.

One day after school, we were hanging at the office, waiting for someone to drive us home when Uncle Patrick suddenly shouts “oh my goodness, no wonder things have not been going so well”.

He went straight to a framed photo, turned it back from where it had been facing the wall, cleaned it up with a handkerchief and then placed it properly, displaying the photo of his master.

Uncle Patrick was a servant of Guru Maharaj Ji, a Nigerian spiritual leader.

He was convinced that his master must have been upset about his photo facing the wall and was definitely making life difficult for him. There was no convincing him otherwise.

I lay in bed just as I woke up this morning, wondering, asking… “Why do you love me so much dear Lord? Your grace is so beautiful…even when I am the worst…You give me your hand and say come.”

Uncle Patrick passed on some years ago… I’m not sure where he went but I wonder if he has changed his beliefs.

Scriptural Guide

Hebrews 4:16
Hebrews 13:15
Psalm 103:8
1 Peter 5:10
2 Chronicles 30:9b
Isaiah 30:18

Divisions

I’m deep in thought this morning.

There must be different segments up there.

Probably Gabriel takes care of the VVIP area. Michael heads the VIP. Raphael must be at the Common Room. Surely there must be another, maybe Uriel is stationed at the shed.

There has got to be segments up there, because we live and act like we aren’t preparing to go to the same place.

Someone help me out here.

I’ve seen us, we pass each other on the street without as much as a ‘hello’… on our way to worship… In different worship houses. Or maybe even the same house.

Some say “He hears us better, we are more righteous”… Others call out “Join us and you will be saved”… I thought we were on the same path, I thought we all call on the same name…

🤔

If we can’t get along here, if we can’t love each other here, if we can’t respect each other here…. And we are all preparing to go to the same place, then…

…surely there are segments up there.

Listen

Sometimes God just tries to speak through several means when He really wants us to hear Him.

Ene called me today, she told me she had only just read the post I shared with her and she just had to call me immediately.

Ene is my friend’s sister and we had shared stories about our writing at her dad’s 80th birthday party and I promised to send her something of mine that I thought she would love. That was a month ago.

Fast forward to today, after doing a back and forth with God on a particular topic, she got a whisper from Him and just as if God wanted to confirm this, He reminded her of the post she was yet to read and when she did read, my post was just a confirmation of the conviction she had received earlier.

Why hadn’t she read the post all this while? Could God have known she would need this confirmation today? Damn straight. He knows, He waits, He makes us wait too… and at the right time, He lets us… He tells us.

All we always have to do is listen and be attentive. He is going to use different ways to speak and to confirm His word.

John 10:27

1 John 4:1

James 4:8

Prov 3:6