By Damilola Akinduro

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A Saxophonist, Taiwo Owaniyi with the stage name, Brass Oracle is a graduate of Music from the renowned Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife. In a chat with Friday Extravaganza, he shared his views on why some gospel singers infuse secular lyrics into their songs to make it more appealing. Excerpts:

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Some gospel singers infuse secular lyrics into their songs to make it more appealing, what’s your take on that?

I believe gospel singers should have been saved by the blood of the Lamb. A gospel singer is supposed to be someone who has given his/her life to Jesus. In the light of this, his/her lyrics are meant to be seasoned.

 “As Gospel singers, our songs should be able to bless souls and also talk about God. We should not sing to satisfy the flesh but edify our spirit.

“In the book of James chapter 4, do you not know that friendship with the world is an enmity with God? Whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. In essence, we are representing God through the lives we live, our lyrics and other things. So, it is extremely wrong to infuse worldly lyrics into gospel lyrics just to make it appealing to people.

“We are representing God and our lyrics are meant to be the light that illuminates this dark world.”

Brass Oracle while speaking on why food or sex doesn’t keep a marriage, said marriage is an institution institutionalised by God as it can be seen in the book of Genesis chapter 2 verses 24 and 25.

Hence, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. These verses have clearly indicated that marriage is strictly between a man and a woman.

 Howbeit, some factors are needed to be put in place before we can have a successful marriage. These factors are like breath that keeps marriage alive.

Some of these factors are; “The two are meant to be a children of God. When the two of them are children of God, this help them exhibit some attitudes that are fruits of the spirit as can be found in the book of Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. These fruits of the spirit will definitely manifest through their attitudes and this will in turn help the husband and wife to be on their best attitude and be helpers to each other.

Another factor that could help sustain a marriage is submission. The book of Ephesians 5:22 says, ” You wives must submit to your husbands’ leadership in the same way you submit to the Lord.” This is strictly a command from God that wives are expected to submit to their husbands’ leadership. It does not matter if you are wealthier or famous than your husband. When a wife learns to submit to the leadership of her husband, then, the marriage will definitely succeed.

“Another factor that can help sustain marriage is love. Love is extremely pivotal when it comes to marriage and this is why according to that same book of Ephesians 5:25, it says “And you husbands, show the same kind of love to your wives as Christ showed to the church when he died for her. Husbands are commanded to love and care for their wives. This love has to be mutual. This will help sustain the marriage.

“Another factor that can keep marriage is sex. Sex is extremely important in marriage. Primarily, sex is meant for procreation. This is one of the reasons why we are getting married. Sex helps create bond between a married man and woman. So, sex is one of the things that sustains marriage.

 “As we all know that we all need good food in order to grow healthy. Food is important and this is why one of the secondary tools one should consider before choosing a life partner is if she can cook. This why the Bible commanded men to search for “wives.” The book of Proverb chapter 31:10 says, “If you can find a truly good wife, she is worth more than precious gems! It is believed in the Bible that, you become a wife before you are married. Ring does not make you a wife. Knowing how to cook and other responsibilities turns a lady to a wife.

So, men are commanded to search for a wife. So, when you marry a wife, food will not be a problem. This is one of the reasons why I love and respect my wife, when it comes to cooking, I don’t have any problem. In essence, food is important to sustaining marriage.

“To mention but a few, the last one I’ll mention is communication. Communication is like a fuel that helps keep the marriage fire burning. They should learn to do things together often like cooking together, gisting , playing together, going out together, eating together, praying together, fasting together, studying the Bible together, seeing movies together. All these helps sustain marriage as well. It brings about good communication between husband and wife.