Ashton Jackson

Drew Houston’s company was born from a very millennial problem.

As a student at MIT, Houston repeatedly lost USB drives with important information on them, he told “Lenny’s Podcast” in an episode that aired earlier this month. In 2007, at age 24, he got fed up and created a cloud storage platform for his own personal use. Later, he built it out into the file-hosting company Dropbox — which has a $9.62 billion market cap, as of Thursday afternoon.

“I started Dropbox more out of just personal frustration,” said Houston, now 41. “It really felt like something only I was super interested in as far as file syncing, and focusing on one customer, which was myself.”

This wasn’t Houston’s first entrepreneurial foray: He’d launched an SAT prep company called Accolade in 2004. The gig was “ramen profitable, so to speak, but more importantly a great introduction to the wild world of starting companies,” he writes on his LinkedIn profile.

Dropbox’s success, in contrast, gave Houston a net worth of of $2.3 billion, according to Forbes. He remains the company’s CEO today, overseeing more than 700 million users from 180 different countries on the platform.

But Dropbox’s growth didn’t happen overnight.

‘They just totally nuked our business model’

Popularizing cloud storage was a double-edged sword, Houston said: As Dropbox became popular, it increasingly had to survive competition from giants like Apple, Microsoft and Google.

“All of them launched competing products in one form or another,” said Houston. “Steve Jobs was on stage in 2011 announcing iCloud, calling out Dropbox by name as something that will be viewed as archaic. And similarly, we always felt like we were in the shadow of the hammer of Google launching Google Drive.”

Dropbox was relatively large itself by that point, with a reported $4 billion valuation in 2011. Over the next few years, it acquired an email app called Mailbox and launched a photo management app called Carousel.

But new product lines couldn’t solve a bigger problem: By 2015, platforms like Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram were providing some of Dropbox’s core file-sharing services for free.

“They just totally nuked our business model ... [It was] even worse because it was so easily anticipated,” Houston said. “So this became a very public and personal embarrassment for me. How could we not have predicted that, or been out in front of that?”

‘All you can control is how you respond’

Houston read business books to help him strategize, including “Playing to Win” by ex-Proctor and Gamble head Alan G. Lafley, he said. His takeaway: Focus on what you can control and do well, instead of what your competitors are doing.

Dropbox shuttered Carousel and Mailbox, cutting an undisclosed amount of staff. It launched Magic Pocket in 2015, an “in-house multi-exabyte storage system” that allowed Dropbox users to handle bigger file uploads and store files at a larger scale — a new competitive edge, said Houston.

The lesson, he said, is to view challenges as opportunities to improve: Without the strong competition, Dropbox might never have pushed itself to grow.

“Every time you move up a league, your reward is a stronger and better opponent and potentially a more unlevel playing field,” said Houston. “That’s just the way it is. You can’t control that. All you can control is how you respond.”

CNBC

Okezie Ogbata, a 36-year-old Nigerian national, has pleaded guilty in a Florida district court to orchestrating a transnational inheritance fraud scheme that defrauded more than 400 elderly and vulnerable Americans of over $6 million. The U.S. Department of Justice revealed that Ogbata and his accomplices sent fraudulent letters posing as representatives of a Spanish bank, falsely claiming that recipients were entitled to multimillion-dollar inheritances from deceased relatives abroad.

The letters instructed victims to send money for purported fees, taxes, and other payments, warning them that failure to comply could lead to government scrutiny. Many of the victims, primarily elderly individuals, were deceived into sending funds under the false pretense of securing their supposed inheritances.

Ogbata entered his guilty plea on January 15, acknowledging his role in the scheme, which specifically preyed on vulnerable populations. “This case highlights the importance of international cooperation in combating transnational crime,” said Brian Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.

Ogbata is scheduled to be sentenced on April 14, 2025, by U.S. District Judge Roy Altman. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for his involvement in the fraudulent operation.

The United States has stopped issuing passports with the gender-neutral “X” option, the State Department announced, following an executive order from President Donald Trump that restricts federal recognition of transgender identity. This decision reverses a policy introduced under the previous administration of President Joe Biden, leaving many individuals uncertain about the status of their pending applications and already issued passports.

Shortly after taking office on Monday, Trump signed an executive order mandating that federal agencies only recognize male or female gender markers. This move is part of a broader effort to swiftly overturn policies enacted by his predecessor.

“In accordance with the Executive Order, the Department’s issuance of U.S. passports will now reflect the individual’s biological sex as defined in the directive,” a State Department spokesperson stated on Friday. The spokesperson confirmed that the department “is no longer issuing U.S. passports with X markers” and has “paused processing of all applications requesting a gender marker other than those specified in the Executive Order.”

The spokesperson added that guidance for individuals holding previously issued passports with the X marker will be provided soon, with updates to be posted on the department’s travel website.

The State Department first introduced the X gender marker in October 2021 following a legal battle initiated by an intersex individual from Colorado. By early 2022, the department had begun routinely processing passports with the X designation. While exact figures on the number of X passports issued or requested have not been released, a study by UCLA Law School’s Williams Institute estimated that over 16,000 people would apply for such passports annually.

During his campaign, Trump criticized transgender-related policies, particularly those involving women’s sports and medical care for children.

In a series of separate attacks, suspected bandits have abducted 22 residents from Kugauta and Kitanda, both within Kumana Chiefdom of Kauru Local Government Area, Kaduna State.

A resident and student pastor, Emmanuel Johnson, said the attacks occurred around 10:30 pm on Friday. He explained that the bandits stormed Kitanda, abducting 12 people, mainly women and children, before attacking Kugauta, where 10 more were taken.

Johnson expressed deep frustration over the persistent insecurity in the communities, lamenting that only three policemen were stationed to secure the village and nearby areas.

“Our communities are constantly under attack. People are being kidnapped daily,” he said. “The three police officers here cannot secure us. The government must show that we, too, are Nigerians with equal rights to protection.”

He further revealed that over ₦60 million had been paid in ransom to the abductors, with several residents still in captivity.

Many villagers have been forced to flee their homes due to the relentless attacks, leaving the communities in despair.

The worsening situation, he said, had compounded residents’ struggles with poor infrastructure, including bad roads, lack of hospitals, and inadequate schools.

“We can’t even take our farm produce to the market because the roads are impassable,” Johnson lamented.

He urged the government to deploy more security personnel, establish police stations, and set up army Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) in strategic areas to counter the escalating threat. He also called for offensive operations to dismantle bandit camps in the region.

“These bandits have crippled our economy and pushed us further into poverty. The government must act decisively to end this hardship,” he said.

Efforts to reach the Kaduna State Police Public Relations Officer, Mansir Hassan, for comments were unsuccessful as calls and messages to his phone were not responded to at the time of filing this report.

Daily Trust

Four Israeli soldiers swapped for 200 Palestinians; north Gaza shut over hostage still held

Hamas freed four female Israeli soldiers on Saturday in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners, but a delay in freeing another hostage prompted Israel to block hundreds of thousands of Gazans from returning to the enclave's bombed-out north.

The four Israelis freed in the second swap of the week-old Gaza truce were led onto a podium in Gaza City amid a large crowd of Palestinians and surrounded by dozens of armed Hamas men. The hostages waved and smiled before being led off, entering Red Cross vehicles to be transported to Israeli forces.

Soon after, buses carrying released Palestinian prisoners were seen departing from the Israeli Ofer military prison in the occupied West Bank. Israel's Prison Service said all 200 had been released.

The releases on either side were greeted by cheering crowds, including Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv and Palestinians assembled in Ramallah.

But the failure of Hamas to release another hostage, a female Israeli civilian, led Israel to announce it was halting plans to let Palestinians return to northern parts of Gaza, the area worst hit in the war.

Hamas, which considers the return of Gazans to their homes to be one of the principal elements of the ceasefire, said it would free the hostage next week, and called the halt to the reopening of the north a violation of the truce.

The truce calls for Hamas to release 33 women, children, elderly, sick and wounded hostages over a six-week first phase, with Israel freeing 30 prisoners for each civilian and 50 for each soldier.

The four Israeli soldiers freed on Saturday - Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag - had all been stationed at an observation post on the edge of Gaza when Hamas fighters overran their base and abducted them during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that precipitated the war.

Their parents clapped and cried out in joy when they saw them on screen, watching the handover live from a nearby military base across the border. In Tel Aviv, hundreds of Israelis gathered at a rallying point now widely referred to as Hostages Square, crying, embracing and cheering as the release was aired on a giant screen.

The women were reunited with their families and then flown aboard helicopters to a hospital in central Israel. Video released by the Israeli military showed them embracing tightly with their parents, in smiles and tears.

The 200 Palestinians freed on Saturday include militants, some serving life sentences for involvement in attacks that killed dozens of people, according to a list published by Hamas.

Israel says those convicted of killing Israelis will not be permitted to return home. Around 70 will be deported to Egypt, Palestinian officials said, and from there to another country, possibly Turkey, Qatar or Algeria.

Another 16 were sent to Gaza and the rest were released to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where cheering crowds waving Palestinian flags gathered in Ramallah to greet them.

DISPUTE

Joy in Israel over Saturday's release was clouded by disappointment after it emerged that Arbel Yehud, 29, who had been abducted with her boyfriend from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, was not among those released on Saturday.

An Israeli military spokesman called it a breach of the truce, while Hamas said it was a technical issue. A Hamas official said the group had informed mediators that she was alive and would be freed next Saturday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Palestinians in Gaza would not be allowed to cross back to the northern part of the territory until the issue was resolved.

Palestinian officials said as many as 650,000 displaced people were waiting to return to the north beginning on Sunday under the ceasefire.

Israeli troops opened fire near crowds who gathered on a road hoping to go north, causing a stampede, witnesses said.

Medics said one person in the crowd was killed and two others injured by suspected Israeli fire. The Israeli military said troops had fired warning shots near gatherings of people that posed a threat, and it and was unaware anyone was hurt.

Thousands of people were massed with their belongings along the coastal road, where they said an Israeli tank continued to block the road to the north.

"I will not go back to the tent," Zaki Kashef, 26, waiting on the coastal road to return north from Deir Al-Balah where he has been sheltering with his family for more than a year, told Reuters via a chat app. "Where are the mediators? Why can't they force Israel to respect the deal?"

The ceasefire agreement, worked out after months of on-off negotiations brokered by Qatar and Egypt and backed by the United States, has halted the fighting for the first time in more than a year.

Following Saturday's release, 90 hostages remain in Gaza, according to Israeli authorities, who have declared around a third of them dead in absentia.

Twenty-six are still slated for release in the first phase, after which the sides are expected to negotiate the exchange of the rest, including men of military age, and withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Families of hostages due to be released in later phases worry that the ceasefire could break down first. Some Israelis critical of the truce say Israel must resume fighting to prevent Hamas from returning to power in Gaza. Hamas says it will not free all hostages until the war ends for good.

Israel launched its campaign in Gaza following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, when militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel's campaign has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to health authorities there. More than 400 Israeli soldiers have also died in Gaza combat.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Inside the Ukrainian drone unit conducting deep strikes on Russia

As snow fell in a wooded area of Ukraine, the long-range attack drones accelerated one by one down an unlit, abandoned road and their whirring engines propelled them into the night sky.

The unmanned aircraft carrying explosive warheads are part of a Ukrainian campaign of long-range drone attacks that aim to inflict blows on Russia far behind the front line as Moscow's troops advance in the east.

"Our main goal is to conduct strikes to hit logistics hubs in the rear, ammunition warehouses and decrease our enemy's pressure on the front," said the battalion commander of the Ukrainian drone unit, who gave only the call sign Casper.

Kyiv's military granted Reuters exclusive access during the launch of the drones, but said the location and date of the strike could not be disclosed for security reasons.

Ukraine has kept much of its wartime drone programme secret, seeing it as an invaluable way to chip away at Russia's vast military industrial base despite it lacking the huge arsenal of long-range missiles that Russia has.

Moscow conducts long-range drone attacks on a nightly basis, while Kyiv has stepped up its own drone strikes in recent weeks, with U.S. President Donald Trump pushing to halt the nearly three-year full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine.

The prospect of possible peace talks pushes both warring sides to try to improve their battlefield positions so they are in a stronger position to negotiate.

Russia's defence ministry said on Friday that an overnight Ukrainian attack involving more than 121 drones had targeted 13 of its regions, but that they had repelled it.

Ukraine's military said the attack hit a Russian oil refinery and a microchip factory in the Bryansk region with video posted online showing a giant plume of smoke and flames engulfing an oil refinery in Russia's Ryazan region.

Casper's unit, Ukraine's 14th Unmanned Aerial Systems Regiment, numbers a few hundred people and has its own analysts and engineers, and is focused specifically on long-range strikes.

One of the unit's founders, who uses the call sign Fidel, told Reuters that they had drones that had reached ranges of 2,000 km (1,240 miles) during combat missions.

He said their unit had carried out many strikes, including on the Russian airbase at Engels, which is located about 730 km (450 miles) southeast of Moscow and hosts strategic bombers.

Despite their impact in the war, Fidel said he believed that "unmanned systems alone cannot change the course of the war".

"You still need infantry ... you need artillery ... you need aviation, and many, many other things," he said.

Casper said they were using the domestically produced "Lyuty" drone for the strikes.

"The efficiency of our weapon is 40%-50% in total," he added.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine loses over 360 troops in Kursk area in past day — Russian Defense Ministry

Ukraine lost over 360 troops in the Kursk area in the past day, while five soldiers surrendered, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

"The Ukrainian armed forces lost over 360 troops in the past day. A tank, nine armored combat vehicles, 27 motor vehicles, a self-propelled artillery system, two mortars, and an electronic warfare system were destroyed. Six drone control points and an ammunition depot were wiped out. Five Ukrainian service members surrendered," the statement reads.

According to the ministry, units of Battlegroup Center carried out offensive operations, defeating the forces of a tank brigade, a heavy mechanized brigade, four mechanized brigades, two air assault brigades and a marine brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces and three territorial defense brigades near Viktorovka, Zaolyoshenka, Kositsa, Kurilovka, Lebedevka, Malaya Loknya, Makhnovka, Mirny, Nikolayevka, Nikolayevo-Daryino, Nikolsky, Novaya Sorochina, Sverdlikovo, Sudzha and Cherkasskoye Porechnoye in the Kursk Region.

Besides, tactical and army aircraft and artillery forces hit enemy troops and equipment near Guyevo, Dmitryukov, Zazulevka, Kazachnya Loknya, Kruglenkoye, Loknya, Melovoy, Nikolayevo-Daryino, Oleshnya, Sverdlikovo, Staraya Sorochina and Yuzhny in the Kursk Region, as well as near Basovka, Belovody, Zhuravka, Miropolye and Yunakovka in the Sumy Region.

Reuters/Tass

Ever since I started consciously monitoring the business of the government, I have always wondered why Nigeria’s yearly budgets unfailingly allocate astronomical amounts of money to buy the same items—cars, cutlery, furniture, etc.— that should last for years before needing replacement.

What happens to the items that are replaced every year? Who keeps them? And what necessitates the ritual of replacing items in perfect condition every year, especially for a country that says allocating money for subsidies to make life a little easier for people is too much of a burden?

I never wrote about this because I had assumed that there must be some arcane justification that I failed to grasp for this profligate annual budgetary ritual.

Not wanting to be an ultracrepidarian (as people who comment authoritatively on subjects they have little or no knowledge of are called), I had chosen to simply wonder in silence— or perhaps ask people in government why they expend scarce resources to change items in excellent conditions, something everyday folks never do.

However, House of Representatives member Bello El-Rufai, who represents Kaduna North Federal Constituency and whose privileged position as the son of a former minister and governor should give him an insider perspective on why this practice happens, piqued my curiosity when he questioned it during a parliamentary debate in December last year.

He quipped that since his boyhood every year's budget has featured new computers, cars, utensils, and furniture even when these items don't expire in a year.

“We need to cut down on costs.,” he said. “The recurrent expenditure issue exists in every budget. Even as a young person like myself, I see that we budget for vehicles every year, utensils every year. To open more revenue streams or block loopholes, we need to scrutinise these ministries’ budgets. If they bought vehicles last year, they should hold off because vehicles do not expire.”

The speech went viral because it resonated with vast swaths of Nigerians who had been caught up in what we call a “spiral of silence” in communication theory, which occurs when people suppress their opinions about an issue because they (often incorrectly) assume that their opinions are in the minority and therefore unwelcome.

That someone who is deeply inserted into the inner sanctum of power by reason of both birth and positional privilege has articulated a thought that had been hibernating in the minds of millions of Nigerians was liberating. It reassured many people that their gnawing doubts about the moral propriety of Nigeria’s ritualized budgetary prodigality are not ill-informed or out of line.

I thought the speech would ignite a soul-searching national conversation about Nigeria’s wasteful budgeting practices. However, it seems it didn’t. If it did, I must have missed it.

But let’s face it. There are not many regular people on the face of this earth who change their cars, computers, utensils, etc. every year. Even wealthy people use these items for a few years before changing them.

Why does a country whose governments routinely proclaim that they are too poor to be able to afford subsidizing the energy consumption of its struggling population spend stratospheric amounts of money to replenish one-year-old items for people in government every single year?

Each time I write about the immorality of visiting avoidable anguish on the Nigerian population through the withdrawal subsidies, the standard retort I get from neoliberal apologists who care more about the happiness of the “markets” than they do about the health and vitality of the people is, “where do you want the government to get the money to pay for subsidies?”

Well, how about from the same place where it gets the funds to change year-old items every year for government officials at the cost of billions of naira?

Just because Bello El-Rufai raised this issue and his fellow politicians didn’t shoot him down, at least to my knowledge, I got curious and researched what happens in other countries.

It turns out most wealthy nations of the world (who, by the way, extend various kinds of subsidies to their vulnerable populations) don’t replace cars, computers, and utensils every year as a matter of course.

In the United States, the official vehicles of the president and the vice president are not replaced every year. In fact, “The Beast,” as the presidential limousines of U.S. presidents have been called since 2001, “have largely been on eight-year cycles for the past 30 years,” according to Autoweek.com.

The most recent model of the presidential limousine was introduced in 2018. It replaced the previous version, which debuted in 2009 during President Barack Obama's administration. So, President Donald Trump doesn’t have a brand new car.

Although the official vehicles for the president and the vice president have an eight-year replacement cycle, they undergo periodic upgrades to incorporate the latest security features, including communications, armor, and defensive capabilities. That’s more economical than buying brand new cars every year just for the sake of it.

Members of the U.S. Congress (that is, members of the House of Representatives and the Senate) don’t have funds specifically allocated to them for the purchase of official or personal cars. They only receive allowances and benefits that may cover travel-related expenses.

Most members of Congress don’t buy cars. They instead opt to lease cars using their congressional office budget called “Representational Allowance” for House members and “Senate office funds” for Senators), and lease terms typically range from 2 to 4 years. That means they may switch vehicles periodically based on lease expiration.

Only high-ranking Congressional officials (such as the Speaker and the Senate Majority Leader) or those facing security threats use government-provided vehicles for official duties.

I also found that the replacement cycle for vehicles used by U.S. government agencies ranges from 3 to 5 years.

The guidelines established by the General Services Administration (GSA), which manages the federal fleet, say sedans and light-duty vehicles should be changed every 3 to 5 years or after or after they rack up 60,000 to 75,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Vans and trucks are changed every 5 to 7 years or 100,000 to 150,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Law enforcement and emergency vehicles are replaced every 3 to 6 years or after recording between 50,000 to 80,000 miles, with replacements based on performance, reliability, and safety concerns.

What happens to government vehicles that get replaced? According to the General Services Administration (GSA), most government vehicles, once they reach the end of their service life, are sold to the public through GSA Auctions, which is the federal government's online auction platform.

Auctions are open to individuals, businesses, and local governments. But the vehicles can also be transferred to other government agencies or donated through programs like the Federal Surplus Personal Property Donation Program, which provides assets to eligible non-profits, educational institutions, and local governments.

Similarly, the replacement frequency of official vehicles for the UK Prime Minister and cabinet members is not yearly, as it is in Nigeria.

Although change of cars for UK government officials is not governed by a fixed schedule as it is in the U.S., the Government Car Service (GCS), an executive agency of the Department for Transport, manages the fleet of vehicles assigned to cabinet ministers and other officials and determines when they need to be changed.

In sum, most wealthy nations of the world don’t allocate funds every year for the replacement of non-perishable items used by government officials. It’s a wasteful practice that should have no place in a struggling country like Nigeria.

The funds allocated for the yearly needless replacement of cars, computers, utensils, etc. should instead be invested in programs and policies that bring relief to the people.

I hope Bello El-Rufai will move beyond rhetoric and galvanize support for legislation that will enshrine a 5-year replacement cycle for items that are currently replaced every year in Nigerian budgets. He would write his name in gold if he did that.

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt ~ Amos 9:13.

Introduction:

God didn’t plan for us to live just a normal, ordinary, natural life, but a supernatural life of harvests, full of relevance, significance, signs and wonders (John 10:10). Supernatural living is meant to be the norm for the children of God.

At a time the people of Israel were in bondage in Egypt, and for about 400 years, it was like a normal, natural life for them. They became used to slavery, so to say, with no significant miracles whatsoever.

However, a day came when God brought them out with His Mighty Hand. Thenceforth, a supernatural life of miracles, signs and wonders began for them by the Finger of God (Exodus 8:19).

Recall the series of supernatural interventions at the onset of the Exodus, and then the parting of the Red Sea, the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud, the supernatural angelic meal, manna, the supernatural victory at Jericho, and so on.

The above is the archetype of our new life in Christ Jesus. When we were born-again, a new order of life began for us, and we were plunged into a new depth of supernatural harvest (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Believe it, this is our time for mega-harvest! Our fields of soul-winning, heavy blessings and superlative wonders are already white for harvest (John 4:35b). Really, God’s original blessing to man in Genesis 1:28 is very instructive in this context.

Understanding the Broad Dimensions of Supernatural Harvest

Supernatural harvest brings blessings in three broad dimensions, and the first of these is supernatural wealth. God greatly delights in the prosperity of His people and, through the grace of God, believers are bound to prosper in all ramifications of wealth (Ecclesiastes 10:19; Zechariah 1:17; Psalm 35:27).

The second dimension is the harvest of miracles and supernatural interventions. This includes healing, deliverance and victory in spiritual conflicts, giving us liberty to run with our assignments and bringing fulfillment to our godly dreams and aspirations (Romans 5:17).

The third dimension, and by all means the most important harvest, is the harvest of souls! It is voluntarily compulsory for every Christian devotee to be involved and meaningfully engaged in winning lost souls to the Kingdom of God (Psalm 107:2).

I pray that these three dimensions of supernatural harvest will burst forth in all our camps this season, in Jesus Name. Amen.

Please note that supernatural wealth and other dimensions of divine intervention among God’s people are intended to showcase God’s power unto salvation, to spur the believers onward in their fields of soul-winning and to draw the attention of the unsaved to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Thus, the first two dimensions of harvests mentioned above are meaningful only when they contribute to the mission works of soul-winning.

The subject of soul-winning, with particular emphasis on fruitful evangelism, cannot be overemphasized. It is of paramount importance to all believers in Christ Jesus, who are genuine in their love for God.

No ranks, status, attainment or any grandiose title can confer on us the ignoble privilege of shunning the call to soul-winning. It is non-negotiable and cannot be ignored without some dire eternal consequences.

The truth is, no matter the opulence or grandeur attained, anyone who has not come under the Lordship of Jesus Christ is a lost soul. Perhaps, this is why every sincere and gainful engagement in soul-winning ventures is exceedingly gratifying to the Lord (Mark 10:28-31).

There is a beautiful future for the soul-winner. Contrarily, it is tantamount to spiritual recklessness for a believer not to strive to win souls for Christ. In fact, the Bible posits that such a man is neither wise nor winsome enough (Daniel 12:3).

We must engage in soul-winning because our Lord Jesus Christ commanded it to be so in His valedictory speeches (Mark 16:15-18; Matthew 28:19-20). Besides, He commended serious involvement in supernatural harvest of souls as a quickest pathway to supernatural rewards (John 4:34-36).

The Laws of Supernatural Harvest

When God created the universe, He put many laws into motion, one of which is the law of seedtime and harvest or the law of sowing and reaping: “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest ..... and day and night shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22).

A law always works unless a higher law is introduced into the system, to override or temporarily stop the lesser law from working.

For example, in His extravagant love for man, God introduced a higher law, broadly categorized as the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus, into our situation (Romans 8:2). This law came with a higher authority and power to override the laws connecting us to the kingdom of darkness.

Today, through that law, anyone who accepts Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour can enjoy forgiveness, healing, deliverance, victory, prosperity and a mega-harvest of God’s provisions in every area of life.

Similarly, the law of sowing and reaping overrides the tyrannies of sin, death, poverty and barrenness, which hitherto enable the devil to rule over lost humanity. Yes, abundant life is all ours, and we should begin to walk in it, right away!

Succinctly, the articles of the law of seedtime and harvest are as follows: (i) God is our Total Source (Philippians 4:19); (ii) God gives seed to those who sow (2 Corinthians 9:10a); (iii) God multiplies and brings the harvest of the seeds we sow (2 Corinthians 9:10b); (iv) The harvest always comes in due season (Galatians 6:9); (v) The harvest comes in proportion to the seed sown (Luke 6:38); (vi) What you sow is what you reap (Genesis 1:12; Galatians 6:7); and (vii) Plant in good soil for good results (Matthew 13:3-8).

Your Seed is Your Key to Supernatural Harvest

Supernatural harvest is a multiplied form of the seed sown. And, where due observance is given to the seed, both in quantity and quality, nothing should have a legal hold against our harvest. You cannot be committed to sowing and not reap the harvest.

Sowing is not just a religious act, to fulfill all righteousness; it is major law of life. If you expect a harvest, you must sow a seed. You must sow, even in seasons of famine, for God can turn your barren situation into your greatest blessing. Your seed may not be big enough for your sustenance, but it is good enough for sowing in expectation of supernatural harvest (1 Kings 17:10-15).

For the avoidance of doubt or misleading opinions, the seed forms we are referring to here include: the Word of God in prayers and preaching, sincere services to God and His Kingdom, money, and showing love, help and kindness to others.

Friends, I see the Almighty God exterminating all evil worms and every satanic arsenal aimed at displacing your seed or corrupting your harvest. I see God’s evergreen blessings of supernatural fruitfulness and mega-harvest loading up speedily in your life, this season, in Jesus Name. Amen.

In conclusion, please prepare to be envied! And, if you ever felt that your time has expired for harvests of souls and pure blessings, just remember that Abraham was very old when God gave him Isaac. Brethren, believe God for it, your season of laughter has just begun in Jesus Name. Happy Sunday!

____________________

Archbishop Taiwo Akinola,

Rhema Christian Church,

Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Connect with Bishop Akinola via these channels:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bishopakinola

SMS/WhatsApp: +234 802 318 4987

I had always wanted to build my own house. I would buy “House and Garden” magazines and look at so many different house designs.

As a child, I wanted to be an architect. As an adult, it was clear the nearest I would get to fulfilling that dream would be by designing and building my own house. I disliked even the best houses I saw. There was always something missing; always something out of place. But I knew that one day; I would build a house that would put all other houses to shame.

Mission unaccomplished

Finally, one day, my dream came true. I built the house of my dreams. It was by far the greatest day of my life. My house was an architectural masterpiece. It was fabulous. It was glorious. It had everything I wanted exactly where I wanted it. Of course, it cost a fortune to build: 10 billion naira to be precise. 

People came from near and far to admire my house. The verdict was unanimous; there was none like it. Everybody who was anybody adored my house. A whole edition of “Ovation” was devoted to celebrating it.

Tourists came just to take photographs of my house. Nollywood film directors begged me to feature it in their movies. Everybody, from presidents to senators to business tycoons, readily came for my seasonal parties. My house was without doubt the talk of the town. 

But one day, I noticed something odd. The roof in the den upstairs started leaking when it rained. Worse still, mysterious cracks started appearing in the walls. I tried everything but just did not seem to be able to identify the cause. 

Finally, in desperation, I went to see my Father in Ibadan and told Him about my predicament. His reaction irritated me a great deal. First; He laughed at me. Then He rubbed salt into the wound by saying: “Femi, what do you really know about building a house?  You have little or no experience in these matters.”  

“How can you say that?” I retorted, “I have built a house that is by all accounts the best there is in Lagos.” 

“So how come the roof is leaking and the walls are cracking?” He asked mischievously.

Papa had a simple solution. “I will send you My Structural Engineer. He will stay with you for a couple of weeks. He will identify the faults in the building and suggest ways to rectify them.”

Disagreeable redeemer

A few days later, a mild-mannered man knocked on my door. He introduced himself as the Structural Engineer my Father had spoken about. He moved into one of the many bedrooms and set out to inspect the entire building.

I showed Him the problems I was having in the den. He smiled knowingly and immediately identified where the leak was coming from. I was very impressed and could not help but seek the approval of such a connoisseur about my mansion. 

“Apart from these minor details,” I said dismissively, “I am sure you will admit that this is such a magnificent house?  It cost no less than 10 billion naira to build it.” 

The Engineer seemed a little amused by my statement. “I take it,” He replied, “that you haven’t yet noticed the faults in the kitchen?”

The kitchen? What kitchen?  What fault could there be in the kitchen? The kitchen was nothing short of extraordinary. Everything there was well appointed and custom-made. I do not mind saying so myself. The kitchen was quite simply a work of art. 

Not one to argue, the Engineer took me to the kitchen. One-by-one, He showed me all kinds of structural defects I had not even noticed before. I was crestfallen but decided to put a bold face on it.

“Thank God You are here,” I said. We can fix it, right?” I was looking for some kind of reassurance, some words of comfort from this gentleman. But I was more than taken aback by His response. “And then what do you propose to do about the study?” He asked.

Killing me slowly

“The study,” I shouted, livid. “What study?” 

Suddenly, I took another look at this mild-mannered man. He did not seem so mild-mannered anymore. It was becoming clear to me that this man was up to no good. Why did I ever allow this so-called Structural Engineer to come into my house? It was time to show Him the door.

Yes, I knew there were some things wrong with the den. I noticed them myself and had brought them to his attention. I am even prepared to admit there were some things wrong with the kitchen. I never argued with Him when He showed them to me.

But there was no way He, or anyone else for that matter, was going to convince me that anything was wrong with the study. I spent more time designing that room than I did with any other room. I supervised its construction to the very last detail when it was being built. It was the room in the house where I spent most of my time. If anything were to be wrong with the study, I would have been the first to know. 

But in His characteristically no-nonsense manner, the Engineer walked me into the study. Again, He systematically showed me all the things wrong with the room. I could not believe it. There were more things wrong in my favourite study than there had been in both the den and the kitchen combined.

I was crestfallen. It seemed like my whole world suddenly came crashing down. In desperation, I turned to this mild-mannered Engineer. “What can we do?” I pleaded. “We can fix it, can’t we?  Please tell me the truth.” 

The denouement

The Engineer looked at me with great intensity.

“Do you really want to know?” He asked.

“Yes,” I said, resigned to my fate but now afraid to look Him in the eye.

“What we need to do,” said the Engineer, “is knock the entire house down and start all over again with a completely new building.” 

I could not believe my ears. “Knock the house down?” I protested. “This house cost 10 billion naira to build.” 

My nemesis was completely unimpressed. He smiled at me in that enigmatic manner of His that drives me up the wall. “Do you not see all these things?” He asked. Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (Matthew 24:2). 

This is how I embarked on my tumultuous relationship with that wonderful Structural Engineer whose surname is the Holy Spirit. I thought He came by agreement with my Father to stay with me for just a few weeks, make some vital repairs, and then leave. But since He arrived, He has never left and obviously has no plans of leaving. 

I have watched in consternation as He has set about demolishing every single stone of my once magnificent house. The agony of it all has been excruciating. Every protest from me hit against the same brick wall:

“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labour in vain who build it.” (Psalm 127:1).   

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An Alabama woman passed a major milestone Saturday to become the longest living recipient of a pig organ transplant – healthy and full of energy with her new kidney for 61 days and counting.

“I’m superwoman,” Towana Looney told The Associated Press, laughing about outpacing family members on long walks around New York City as she continues her recovery. “It’s a new take on life.”

Looney’s vibrant recovery is a morale boost in the quest to make animal-to-human transplants a reality. Only four other Americans have received hugely experimental transplants of gene-edited pig organs – two heartsand two kidneys – and none lived more than two months.

“If you saw her on the street, you would have no idea that she’s the only person in the world walking around with a pig organ inside them that’s functioning,” said Robert Montgomery of NYU Langone Health, who led Looney’s transplant.

Montgomery called Looney’s kidney function “absolutely normal.” Doctors hope she can leave New York – where she’s temporarily living for post-transplant checkups – for her Gadsden, Alabama, home in about another month.

“We’re quite optimistic that this is going to continue to work and work well for, you know, a significant period of time,” he said.

Scientists are genetically altering pigs so their organs are more humanlike to address a severe shortage of transplantable human organs. More than 100,000 people are on the U.S. transplant list, most who need a kidney, and thousands die waiting.

Pig organ transplants so far have been “compassionate use” cases, experiments the Food and Drug Administration allows only in special circumstances for people out of other options.

And the handful of hospitals trying them are sharing information of what worked and what didn’t, in preparation for the world’s first formal studies of xenotransplantation, expected to begin sometime this year. United Therapeutics, which supplied Looney’s kidney, recently asked the Food and Drug Administration for permission to begin a trial.

How Looney fares is “very precious experience,” said Tatsuo Kawai of Massachusetts General Hospital, who led the world’s first pig kidney transplant last year and works with another pig developer, eGenesis.

Looney was far healthier than the prior patients, Kawai noted, so her progress will help inform next attempts. “We have to learn from each other,” he said.

Looney donated a kidney to her mother in 1999. Later pregnancy complications caused high blood pressure that damaged her remaining kidney, which eventually failed, something incredibly rare among living donors. She spent eight years on dialysis before doctors concluded she’d likely never get a donated organ – she’d developed super-high levels of antibodies abnormally primed to attack another human kidney.

So Looney, 53, sought out the pig experiment. No one knew how it would work in someone “highly sensitized” with those overactive antibodies.

Discharged just 11 days after the Nov. 25 surgery, Montgomery’s team has closely tracked her recovery through blood tests and other measurements. About three weeks after the transplant, they caught subtle signs that rejection was beginning – signs they’d learned to look for thanks to a 2023 experiment when a pig kidney worked for 61 days inside a deceased man whose body was donated for research.

Montgomery said they successfully treated Looney and there’s been no sign of rejection since – and a few weeks ago she met the family behind that deceased-body research.

“It feels really good to know that the decision I made for NYU to use my brother was the right decision and it’s helping people,” said Mary Miller-Duffy, of Newburgh, New York.

Looney in turn is trying to help others, serving as what Montgomery calls an ambassador for people who’ve been reaching out to her through social media, sharing their distress at the long wait for transplants and wondering about pig kidneys.

One, she said, was being considered for a xenotransplant at another hospital but was scared, wondering whether to proceed.

“I didn’t want to persuade him whether to do or not to do it,” Looney said. Instead she asked if he was religious and urged him to prayer, to “go off your faith, what your heart tells you.”

“I love talking to people, I love helping people,” she added. “I want to be, like, some educational piece” for scientists to help others.

There’s no way to predict how long Looney’s new kidney will work but if it were to fail she could receive dialysis again.

“The truth is we don’t really know what the next hurdles are because this is the first time we’ve gotten this far,” Montgomery said. “We’ll have to continue to really keep a close eye on her.”

AP