L.O.V.E

Love is an emotion. The display of love could be the strongest emotion there is and in some cases, could be the weakest. Most often, love is shown as an action and experienced as a feeling. Love can’t be put in a single way; it defines so much more; compassion, kindness, tolerance, determination, faith and many more. Again, love may refer to the need for intimacy, emotional closeness, the ‘platonicity’ of friendship or even religiously. All these things make love complex. More complex than you might think you know. So I can’t define love entirely; I’m a mere mortal. I might not even be able to do justice to the concept in this article. What I know, I’ll write.

Most of this is going to be about love between two people, the love that most people crave for. Even gay people.

My bible, specifically, 1^st Corinthians chapter 13:4-8 states that “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it’s not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love doesn’t delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails.” This definition to me encompasses everything love is. It requires so much more. People always utter the words “I love you” but do we really know what love is? Can we love patiently despite everything? Can we love selflessly? Most people can’t. Love is a choice. This brings me to the concept of loving someone and being in love with someone. To be in love, you feel devoted to another. All your focus is on your partner. You want that person in your life. You don’t consider what they can offer you but rather look towards what both of you can achieve together. There’s unity. However, when you love someone, there’s more affection and appreciation. Even when separated, you care about them and always hope for the best for them. When you love someone, there’s no intense need for closeness or intimacy. Their happiness is your comfort.

Most often, we try to portray our love as unconditional. Unconditional love is the rarest form of love. This is the kind of love where we accept whoever we love for whoever they are. Imagine you claim to love someone and yet, after the person gets paralyzed or contracts a lifelong disease, the love ‘fades’. That’s not love. And definitely not unconditional love. For those of us who experienced that kind of love close to unconditional from our mothers know what it feels like. We should try and emulate it as closely as possible. Loving someone else unconditionally may or may not be achievable. But we can try to love close to that. All we have to do is eliminate as much conditions as we can.

The love stories we see and hear about most often seem unrealistic which is true to some extent. We perceive most of it as a fairy tale. Girls thrive on these fairy tales and day-dream about what they hope their love lives would be like. At least it’s good in the sense that they want something perfect. With guys, it’s either love is written on their foreheads or the word doesn’t exist to them. For the guys in between, they’re just in a temporary phase. I’m yet to find anyone who lived “happily ever after”. We should rather hope for “happily EVEN after….”

Before we can love anybody, we should first be able to love ourselves. You can’t love someone if you don’t even know how to love. The basis of loving someone is in loving ourselves. Even in difficult times in relationships, we should look to ourselves first. Nevertheless, there’s nothing wrong with loving someone more than yourself (I think). Again, love shouldn’t be about how beautiful or sexy or tall someone is. There shouldn’t be a reason for love. Just love. We should also keep in mind that love is more about giving rather than receiving. We should have the desire to give more and not expect anything in return. Even so, if we don’t get love back, we tend to feel unwanted but the focus should be on our contribution we make to making him or her happy.

If you love someone, make them know and let it show. Don’t make them feel left out. At least once in your life, let love take over. It’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. Love conquers all.

La Liga vs EPL

I'm getting tired of the comparisons between the English Premier League and the Spanish La Liga. People see the Premiership as the most competitive because teams like Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City are all fighting for the league. Have you paused to think if these teams are bigger than Real Madrid and Barcelona? Certainly not. In the end, there'll be one winner.
Undoubtedly, the premiership has more publicity and the money involved is way more than La Liga. Most premiership matches are on Saturday afternoons. Very convenient for everyone. La Liga's matches are later at night. Some 10 years ago, those of us who were privileged to have TV sets in our homes saw EPL more often than any other league. We only saw La Liga teams in the Champs' League. I'm just saying all these factors over the years have brought the EPL to where it is. But when we're talking of the quality of football in the league, La Liga wins hands down. I want to talk about the strength of both leagues. The Champions League and the Europa league are the best platforms to discuss this. Before I go there, I'll compare both leagues.
Everyone keeps on spitting about that La Liga is a two-horse race. First of all, if you ask me, I don't see 2 horses, I see 2 Bugatti's. Secondly, the Premiership has been a 2-team league for a while now. From the 95-96 season to the 03-04 season, it's been either Arsenal or Manchester United. From the 04-05 season to the 10-11 season, it's been Manchester United and Chelsea. The current season that ended saw the title go to Manchester City. Between these times in La Liga, Valencia, Athletico Madrid, Barcelona, Deportivo La Corona and Real Madrid have won the league. Do the math. Recently, it's just been Manchester United vs the richest team.
When you look at both league tables last season, you'll notice than the last team in La Liga got more points than the last in EPL. In Spain, the point difference between the 4th and 20th team was 31 whereas it was 44 in the EPL. Really, majority of the teams in La Liga are more competitive than the Premiership.
Last season, the top 3 assistors in the Premiership were Silva, Valencia and Mata. Mata and Silva are exceptional talents from La Liga. Most people wouldn't have heard of them if they stayed in Spain. They were hardly amongst the best when they were in La Liga and both of them struggle to hold a starting berth for their national team. They moved to EPL and dominated. Take a look at the former Balon D'or award. For the past 20 years, only Michael Owen and Cristiano Ronaldo have won the title for their merits in the Premiership. The Fifa World Best Player award went to an EPL player only once since 1991. Many players from La Liga have won it during these periods. Only means one thing, there isn't much quality in the English League.
People claim that teams like Stoke City will beat Barcelona and that these Spanish players won't survive in the Premiership. Europe provides the platform for all of us to see and compare. Unfortunately, we might never see the Stoke-Barca match because they aren't even good enough to qualify for the Champs League.
At the beginning of last season, there were 8 EPL teams and 6 La Liga teams in the group stages of the Champs League and Europa League. By the quarter-final stage, EPL had only 1 team (eventual winners) as compared to 5 from La Liga. The Spanish were more competitive. Chelsea won the Champs League but many people criticize their style and the way in which they won it. Winning the most coveted trophy in club football and finishing 6th behind teams like Tottenham and Newcastle puts your quality in question. We all saw Atletico Bilbao beat Manchester United home and away. They dominated in both matches too.
The main oversight of those in favor of the Premiership is the fact that Real Madrid and Barca are the best in the world. Currently, no team is their equal. Scratch the Champs League; these two teams are favourites when they meet any other team.
I've seen Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle beat teams by more than 5 goals. City beat Man Utd by 6 goals to 1. Blame it on the inconsistency.
On a normal Saturday afternoon, when I sit down to watch a Premiership game, all i see is running, running, running, crossing and heading. It gets old. None of them are good enough to hold the ball for long periods. Arsenal are the only exception. Big ups to them. Ronaldo left the premiership to La Liga and now doesn't only score but provides. He's become more complete.
Another argument is that all the quality players are only in two teams in La Liga. Well, I can't force your eyes to see quality. I can only point it out to you. We have the likes of Falcao, Arda Turan, Iker Muniain, Soldado, Rami, Navas, Negredo, Demichelis, Cazorla and others who will have starting places in most of the so-called top 6 teams in England.
Mourinho and Ronaldo who spent at least 2 seasons in the EPL have come out to say that winning La Liga is more difficult than any other league they've played in.
The hype from the English media sucks. Teams buy average players for extravagant prices. All these factors are adding to the gradual demise of the English league. In due time, when the publicity is enough, we'll all see why La Liga is better. For now, those of you who haven't seen the light can stay in darkness. Maybe you're blind, maybe ECG has caused it. Eventually, you'll get there and appreciate the Spanish La Liga.

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Ghanaian or Nigerian music?

   I'm a big fan of good music. I listen to all kinds of msic from all over the world as long as its good. I love Ghanaian music too. Since i started listening to Nigerian music, I've come to the conclsion that they make the best music in Africa. I'm ghanaian and I'm supposed to be patriotic and all but lets face fact, Ghanaian music isn't there yet.
   A Nigerian song inspired me to write this post. I'll talk about that song soon. Before that, let me talk a little about Ghanaian music. When i was small Daddy Lumba was my favourite artiste; this was before hip-life became big. Aben wo ha, Auntie Atta, Odo Poison are still part of my all-time top 26 favourites. Highlife was good back then. Amakye Dede, Kojo Antwi and the like too are legends. They made good music. Then there was hip-life. Reggie Rockstone thought he was dope but he never did it for. Obrafuor was good. Everyone wanted to rap; even me. I used to record hiplife songs on my late mother's gospel cassettes and play them back while i write the lyrics. These rappers got me in trouble. Then our music was 'modernised', things changed. A few years back Richie(an Achimotan) was on top with his RnB-ish style. Actually, him and his crew were big; ASEM, Eazzy, OJ Blaq and the rest. I may not have mentiuoned other good musicians but there have been good ones. They left and are leaving their mark. Then came the azonto era. Azonto music is super. It's soo good, some churches have started making azonto gospel songs. I heard fetish priests now chant with azonto beats. Azonto is everywhere. Big ups to Sarkodie for his hits.

 Azonto music is good. I love it. Unfortunately, every musician is doing it. Makes me miss the good music we had before azonto. There isn't variety anymore.
   All this while, i hear nigerian music. Back then, they made good songs but as time went by, their quality became too much. There's something about nigerian beat mixed with their accent and local languages which makes my ears perk up like dogs especially when they're waking up from sleep. 8 and a half out of every 10 nigerian songs you listen to is good (the half could be a verse or becomes 17 out of 20 when doubled). D'banj, P. Square, Naeto C, Banky W, WizKid, M.I, Asa, 2 Face and Wande Coal have music that have a global appeal. To me, the only Ghanaian artiste that gets close to these guys is Sarkodie. Sometimes, when I'm bored and looking for good new music to listen to, i check out P.J Butta's Radio Express Africa Chart. Not once have i seen a Ghanaian song there. There's always atleast 3 Nigerian songs there. My favorite african artistes are M.I, P. Square and Banky W; Nigerians unfortunately. Banky W sings better than most female artistes, M.I raps better than most global hip-hop stars and P. Square make one of the best overall music I've heard. I'm not overrating them.
   Now these Nigerians are showing distinction. D'banj has Kanye West in his videos. He has a song with Snoop Dogg and Now P. Square has made another hit this time with Rick Ross a few months after the one with Akon. So its P Square's Beautiful Onyinye that inspired me to write this. Why? Cos I'm happy. I'm not a musician but i know it's not easy to get these Ameriacn artsistes to make songs with you how much more feature in videos. As i watched the video, i was thinking to myself, 'these boys started long ago and look at them now'. I've always liked P. Square. I can sing along to at least 10 of their songs. If you haven't heard Ifunanya(also in my top 26), check it out. They have so many other hits that i won't mention. When they started, they always talked about their past like most artistes. Then they got tired and started talking about girls and parties and fame and did everything that most musicians do but the difference is that they made good use of their talents. If you notice, their older videos had so much dancing involved. Now, they hardly move around. Reminds me of Usher. Wait, they even look like Usher. Anyway, they've alraedy established themselves. Why should they dance again? The Beautiful Onyinye video was done in Miami, on a yacht, with Rick Ross. Just think about it. When will Castro and co. get there?
   Maybe time will tell but since we haven't heard from time yet, Nigerian music will always be ahead of Ghanaian music.

This is the video. I like this Rick Ross. He doesn't talk about coke, Maybachs, his supposedly lazy eye or choppers in cars.
Finally, check out Ghetto Love by Stone Bwoy and Irene and No Away by Becca and M.I. Good music.

Ronaldo's time is now

In Portugal's opening two games, everyone kept on complaining about his 'under-performance'. I wasn't fazed, neither was he. The first game was against Germany who are the outright favorites to win the competition. The second, was against Denmark who had just beaten the Netherlands. These aren't excuses for Ronaldo. Honestly, i think he did his part. He set up too many chances for his teammates but they were wasteful. In the game against the Netherlands, everything came back to him scoring a brace in the process. Ronaldo put them through to the next round. with his help again, scoring the only goal, Portugal dispatched Petr Cech's Republic.
On Wednesday, he plays his biggest match so far in the tournament; against Spain in the Iberian Derby. He's played against La Roja 3 times. The first was in Euro 2004 when Portugal won by a goal. The next meeting was in the 2010 World Cup when they lost by a David Villa rebound. Spain were the eventual winners of the competition. Later that year, in November, Portuguese fans were left in disbelief after their team's 4-0 victory in Lisbon. Ronaldo played only 45 minutes. He put on such a good display and should have been on the score-sheet. He made a characteristic burst down the left, put Pique on his back with a super sharp turn and left Alonso in his wake before chipping the ball perfectly over Casillas. Unfortunately, Nani headed the already goal-bound ball into the net from an offside position and it was disallowed.
On Wednesday, it will be a different ball game. Ronaldo is yet to emulate the form he showed for his club. His Real Madrid teammates know him very well and so do the Barcelona players. Casillas said, "I don't think Ronaldo is quite at his best level, because he put in an incredible season at Real Madrid". He hasn't scored against Spain before. Tactically, the only way he'd be able to deal the final blow is if he's given more freedom upfront by his coach. He could be La Roja's worst nightmare or their key to qalification if they stop him. Whichever hairstyle he appears with doesn't matter, his boots will do the talking.

Rants About Girls

I’ve been searching my mind for something of worth to write with no success. I don’t blame myself. I’ve never liked writing. From primary school short essays to university essays; they don’t excite me. I’m not a man of many words either. I just thought I should write something to keep my blog running just like a musician has to keep on producing hits to keep his career running. I’ll talk about girls this time and I can assure you that this won’t be the last time.

Most young women aren’t happy when you call them girls so like in economics; let’s assume girls here means females in general. About 90 percent of the music I listen to is about girls. There are more girls in the world than boys. They say it’s a man’s world and that men rule the world but we fail to see that women rule men. Women rule men. It’s bad. The things I see boys do for girls amazes me. They won’t even do it for themselves. Well, all this depends on the girl. She has to know the right way to keep him interested all the time. There’s the issue of love but i won’t delve into that because that phenomenon will take us into different realms. So there’s a way of keeping a guy without him loving you.

Some (or most, I’m not sure) girls care a lot about their appearance. That’s good. Most of their money and effort goes into ‘looking good’. Guys are visual creatures so makes sense. A girl can spend an hour getting ready just for a 30 minute outing and so on. Again, that’s good. Now let’s face fact. As much as we may lie to ourselves, everyone is not beautiful. That’s just how it is. And funny enough everyone thinks beauty is outward. There’s inner beauty too. While most girls spend half of their time in mirrors trying to look good, the ones who have had good advice or have thought well enough about life will think of developing a good character (inner beauty). Outer beauty will capture any guy but if you don’t have that inner beauty, he won’t be around for long.

It’s true that girls should be treated like princesses but when I was growing up, I hardly saw rude and moody princesses on TV. They were all happy, hopping around and so understanding. Princesses were sweet and thus, were treated accordingly. Unfortunately, girls were built to be moody (at least so they say) but not rude. There’s always a time (of the month) in a girl’s life when she can be moody. Those mood swings are so deadly. They come unannounced and can cause destruction. Whether you liken them to hurricanes, tsunamis or power outages, they are deadly. It’s like the girl’s system is hibernating. Or like a movie, “to be continued…..” Things will only go back to normal when the mood leaves. But no matter how bad something may be, there’s always a way of making it look good. How the girl handles herself is the key. Knowing what to say before, after or during can go a long way in reducing the devastating effect of mood swings. Most of the girls who’ll read this are big girls. Know how to handle yourself.

For the rude girls, we know; you’re tired of being approached by ‘useless’ boys. I won’t say don’t judge books by their covers because we’re not talking about books. Metaphorically too, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But sadly, I’ve seen so many girls throwing so many guys with good intentions away. It’s the most common thing after blinking. Be nice. You might never know anyone’s true intention but if you don’t give them chances, you’ll never know. Being rude is unattractive!

God created girls with two X chromosomes and it’s for a reason; don’t act like you have Y chromosomes. Every time I see a girl trying to act like a guy, it puts me off. Some girls prefer to be called ladies and that’s how girls should carry themselves. My dictionary says ladies are refined women. Left to me alone, that’s how every girl should be. Of course you are allowed to be all you want to be with those you are comfortable with but in public, be a lady.

I read everything above this paragraph and it seemed like I was giving out advice. That’s not my intention. I’m just saying. Again, everything here doesn’t sum up everything about women. There’s more to come.

Most of all I’ve written may not apply to gay boys. I believe I’m speaking for a fraction of boys if not all. But my opinion is just my opinion; nothing more. Man has decided to name some things as wonders of the world. I didn’t see any of the 8 wonders or so include a girl. I believe girls are wonders of this world. Girls rule this world. Girls are beautiful phenomena and every girl is beautiful in her own way.

Euro 2012 Synopsis

      This, synopsis is just what i think. We all know football is as unpredictable as the weather.
The tournament begins today. Everyone is thinking of who will win. Before I say who i think will win, let me breakdown how this so called winner will get there. I'm not going to consider history because, this tournament will add it's own figures and stats to make it's own history. Pre-tournament favorites are Germany, Spain and Netherlands. The others are France, England, Italy and Portugal. But don't underestimate anyone. From Group A, we have Poland, Greece, Russia and the Czech Republic. I pity the commentators because these teams have players with tongue-twisters of names. Poland will because of home advantage, top their group. I reckon the Czech's to come out 2nd. Then there's group B. My favorite. The group of death. Very difficult to predict. Germany have a strong team but lacks a bit in defence. Netherlands Have one of the best attacks but one of the worst back-lines. Portugal have a good team in every department but not one of the best. Denmark? They'll just make up the numbers. Among the top 3, i think the Netherlands will come home early just because i don't think they have players good enough to stop the likes of Gomez, Ozil, Muller, Ronaldo and Nani. Group C has Spain, Italy, Ireland and Croatia. This group will be the group of surprises. Honestly, I don't know who will qualify. Spain look like the favorites but a draw in two games could mean they're likely to qualify 2nd or even 3rd. Ireland have the experience of Trapattoni which could be a big difference them. For the purpose of this article, I'll pick Spain and Italy to progress. The last group, group D has England, France, Sweden and Ukraine. I'll go for England and France even though England will struggle to qualify. The Three Lions' experience will count.
      For the quarters, group A faces group B. Most likely, Poland Portugal. For those who know me, they'll say i'm being biased but the Ronaldo factor will be decisive in this match. Then the 1st of group B, Germany will face Czech, the 2nd of group A. This is a no brainer. Germany through to the semis. in the other two quarter final matches, the same format follows; 1st for C vs 2nd of D and 2nd for C vs 1st of D. This will give us Spain England and France Italy. I don't see England having a chance against Spain. Spain don't really impress me but England are like the worst big team. France Italy will be a fascinating match. Will France have revenge for the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008 losses? Will Italy take their rivalry further; we live to see. France are on a 20 game unbeaten run. Italy have had 2 betting scandals and won international tournaments in both years. I can't say who will win. It will be too tight. But at least we know that the winner of this match will face Germany.
      In the semis, it's going to be Portugal Spain. Like i always say, Spain don't impress me. In the 2010 World Cup, Spain beat Portugal by 1 goal after suffering to break through. After that, with the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, Pique, Ramos, Villa and Silva, Portugal beat them by 4 goals in a friendly. My pick, Portugal. Next, Germany go through by beating France or Italy.
Finally, we have a Portugal Germany final! The 2008 finalists versus the 2004 finalists. Will Ronaldo be a big game flop again? Will Ozil show what he has been doing all season? Will Pepe concede a penalty to Gomez again? Will Nani be inconsistent like always? Finals have stories of their own. I don't mind if either of these teams win. As at now, I'll go for Portugal. I might shift to Germany by then.
      We will all agree to the fact that short tournaments like this always have surprise packages. Some teams might look good on paper but things might not go their way. At this point in time, most of the big name players have had long tough seasons and fatigue could set in. Injuries provide uncertainties. All I've written might be wrong. Anything can happen. Let the games begin.

The Ultimate Answers?

• Selasie Nenyo Nani Agbavor A story is told of Hezekiah in the Bible...He was supposed to die but He prayed and it never happened...I believe things can be changed...we can reason out things with God so to speak.

  Monday at 13:42 · 
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  Selasie Nenyo Nani Agbavor if you watch the adjustment bureau by Matt Daemon you wud appreciate what I am talking about

  Monday at 13:44 · 
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  Wofa Slayzie prayer changes. agreed. so was that part of the plan? or there was no plan?

  Monday at 13:44 · 
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  Wofa Slayzie yeah. seen it

  Monday at 13:45 · 
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  Selasie Nenyo Nani Agbavor No It wasnt

  Monday at 13:45 · 
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  Wofa Slayzie but God knew he'd pray

  Monday at 13:45 · 
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  Selasie Nenyo Nani Agbavor There was a plan but it got altered

  Monday at 13:46 · 
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  Selasie Nenyo Nani Agbavor yeah! I no wht u getting at

  Monday at 13:47 · 
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  Selasie Nenyo Nani Agbavor Yeah! He knew

  Monday at 13:48 · 
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  Selasie Nenyo Nani Agbavor There is a default plan bt u can alter it to suite yourself...for example the default plan is for all to go to heaven but the choices you make can alter that

  Monday at 13:54 · 
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  Wofa Slayzie lol

  Monday at 13:58 · 
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  Selasie Nenyo Nani Agbavor 

  everyone's name is written in the book of life because that was the original purpose i.e for all to go to heaven(that was the master plan) but things changed and now we have to work towards keeping our names in the book of life...because an...See more

  Monday at 14:12 · 
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  Daniel Hanson Dzah Not an easy question asked in the post man,but I've seen a couple of reasonable answers.I'll get the links for you once I get behind a pc.
  Meantime you can just google...it usually helps.Foreknowledge of those going to Hell/Heaven is no way incongruent with our free will and His mercy...Anyway I'll send you the links soon.

  Monday at 14:23 via Mobile · 
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  Wofa Slayzie Ayt man

  Monday at 14:28 · 
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  Richard Azumah hahahaaa

  Monday at 22:27 via Mobile · 
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  Wofa Slayzie Cykuuuuuuuuuuuz!!!

  Monday at 22:29 · 
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  Richard Azumah will give my analysis morro at work.cant really express myself on my fone

  Monday at 22:35 via Mobile · 
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  Daniel Hanson Dzah You won't believe it but I haven't access to internet on my pc for days.So I'll just briefly try to summarize what my readings on this question have produced.
  
  First of all,God is indeed all-knowing and knows who is headed towards Hell or Heaven.Then again,God gives us all freewill to choose whether we want to be with Him in Heaven or otherwise.
  The tough question then is "If God knows those who will go to Hell,why create them in the first place?"

  11 hours ago via Mobile ·  · 1
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  Daniel Hanson Dzah 

  I think a plausible answer lies in the giving of equal chance to everyone to either follow Him or not.A world full of humans headed for Heaven would not be bad at all.However,that plan was altered by man himself when He let sin into the world by giving The Devil a chance in Eden.Without eating the fruit,man would have had an eternel,inevitable freewill that predisposed him to do good all the time...Satan changed that with man's help....

  11 hours ago via Mobile · 
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  Daniel Hanson Dzah 

  Now God,totally consistent with His holy nature allows man to freely come to Him by choice.He knows those who will,yes but does that mean He's already damned people into Hell.Not so,people will damn themselves into Hell by their consistent choices in opposition to God's will.
  
  He knows those who are hell-bound.So should He interfere? No,He'll leave them to their freewill as they hear the word preached to them.Some will NEVER accept it and that will be their choice not His doing. 

  11 hours ago via Mobile · 
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  Daniel Hanson Dzah There is a time for divine intervention.But ultimately YOU choose whether you want it by asking God/will respond in reverence to God when it comes without you asking.
  
  It's good to have questions and it's good to have them answered.But all this is just intellectual springboards that should lift you into a truly spiritual encounter with God.HE has all the answers,not man.He can give some men the ability to reason out anwers but still,He knows the perfect answers. WE should ask HIM more.