The following are the views expressed by Olufemi Oguntokun in the June 23, 2026 episode of the On the Lord’s Side Podcast — Christian perspectives on news and current events.
ON RAGE, THERAPY, AND TAKING IT TO GOD
Good morning to you once again. It is Tuesday, the 23rd of June 2026.
You cannot see this on a radio platform, but let me describe a video to you. The soundtrack accompanies a 42-second clip from day three of Ashley Velvet Frost’s “anger alchemy” retreat, showing participants releasing rage through primal screams and ground-pounding. If you could see it, you would see the women in this retreat releasing — or said to be releasing — the rage inside them through primal screams and pounding the floor. The convener, Frost, is described as a UK-based anger expert who structures multi-day events for women, beginning with safety, moving through grief and anger, then to joy and gratitude, in order to transform suppressed emotions. The video was posted on June 22, and its purpose is to invite women who have, according to the convener, rage trapped inside them — or, to be more exact, women who think they have rage trapped inside them — to come to this retreat. The video has drawn over 4,000 likes on X by the time I am looking at it, and thousands of replies. Among the replies, some people joke about it, some joke about wildlife fleeing the screams, some doubt the very existence of mental health, while others praise it as a therapeutic intervention.
So what is going on here? The women engage in intense physical and vocal release — pounding the floor, thrashing pillows, making aggressive sounds and movements — all in a bid to release the trapped rage and anger inside. And I want to ask you, whether you are a lady or a man: do you sometimes feel like that? Like there is so much going on, like you are so angry with some people, or with yourself, or with the world, or frustrated about a particular situation? Frustrations come; anger comes. Do you ever feel like you need to scream like those women in that video? Notice that to scream is one thing, and to call it a “primal” scream is another. “Primal” describes something primitive, something original. So if you went to a retreat like that and simply screamed, the facilitator would probably tell you that you have not yet released the trapped rage — that you have to scream out from the deepest part of yourself for it to qualify as a primal scream.
In the video, there are overlays of some of the things the women are saying, because the soundtrack is too loud to hear them. The person who posted it said some of them are crying out, “The good girl is gone, the good girl is gone.” That would be a lady who thinks her current situation is the result of her having been good while the world did not reciprocate. You must have come across people who feel like that — the idea that “your problem is that you are too good, too kind, too loving, too forgiving,” and the world is a brutal place. A friend was telling me recently, jokingly, that the world is not fair — but you do come across that idea in the culture: that if you are too good, too kind, too forgiving, too accommodating, you will probably be hurt. And one of the ladies in this video, as she pounded the floor and hit the pillow and screamed, was saying, “The good girl is gone.” Just let it all out.
Those who have studied these therapies say this is an approach that uses somatic — that is, body-focused — methods to help women access and release suppressed anger, grief and other emotions. And as you know, even for people managing grief, the therapeutic advice is sometimes to allow them to cry. Somebody who has experienced grief but has not wept — sometimes they say, “Let this person weep.” Expressing the emotion allows a kind of release, and that is the belief behind therapies like this. But you cannot watch a video like this without taking a second look and wondering: could this really be effective? I have asked around. If you are angry — with yourself, your spouse, your children, your family, society, the world, or just your present circumstances — would you go to a therapy like this? Would you soundproof a room and begin to scream? The real question, the ultimate question, is this: is it possible to scream off anger like that? Is it possible to weep off grief, so that the grief then goes away? For this therapy to be effective, or even potentially effective, it must depend on whether anger can actually be screamed off.
Some therapists who favour the approach say it has potential short-term upsides — some people report immediate catharsis, reduced tension, some relief — and that somatic approaches can help process stored stress or trauma in certain contexts. But there are limitations and risks. Psychological reviews note little robust evidence that primal scream therapy or similar cathartic venting provides lasting mental-health improvement; it can sometimes increase aggression. So you may suppose that letting off your rage by screaming and pounding would release the stored stress, but it could actually do something else — increase aggression, or leave you frustrated when, after screaming and pounding for minutes or even an hour, you discover the rage is still there. The best I have read is that this therapy has only short-term upsides, and psychologists themselves will say you cannot rely on this one therapy; you have to combine it with many others.
And I pray you do not find yourself becoming dependent on therapeutic interventions. I say this with all respect to qualified, professional therapists and psychologists. But sometimes you find that many therapists are in it as a commercial venture, and once you begin to embrace these interventions, you are moved from one therapy to another, from one therapist to another. The first says you must go through rage-release sessions; then you are moved to another who says the next step is to isolate you and let you speak for another three months; then yet another form of therapy is prescribed, and so on. You find people who have therapists permanently on their payroll — multiple therapists. I do not know how prevalent that is in Nigeria and Africa now, but if you read many articles from the United States and parts of Europe, you find people with one therapist for their career, another for their love life, another for their marriage. I once read, to my astonishment, of a couple passing through a tough phase who had a joint therapist counselling them both, and in addition each of them had his and her own. So the wife had a therapist, the husband had a therapist, and the two of them also had a joint therapist.
It is a therapeutic age, and the culture now celebrates these therapies: you have a problem, go and talk to someone. And you are going to eventually find — I was joking with a very dear friend recently, who had been advised to see a therapist after something very traumatic years ago — we ended on a lighter note, saying, “Just be careful, because the therapists themselves are dealing with their own issues as well.” Now, this is not me minimising the place of counsel. There are instances where one needs to seek counsel; the Bible encourages it — “in the multitude of counsellors there is wisdom.” Seeking counsel is not a bad thing in itself; it can be helpful. But from a Christian point of view, we always qualify that admonition: seek godly counsel, Christian counsel, biblically faithful counsel. That is what is helpful in the final analysis.
So let us compare these therapies with what the Bible prescribes. Do you have rage stored inside you? Are you really angry? Anger is a valid emotion — the Bible itself says, “Be angry, and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,” which by direct deduction validates anger as a human response. It is not always justified, not always right, but it is a human emotion. Sometimes you are angry because you feel you are not responsible for a situation, or you think you have done your best yet are confronted with negative circumstances. You could be angry with yourself, the world, an institution, your spouse, your children, even fellow believers. But the Bible teaches that anger must be moderated. There is such a thing as righteous anger — the anger of Jesus, when He saw that the leaders of the temple had converted a place of prayer into a place of commerce; He was angry, righteously and rightly so. Ephesians 4:26 says, “Be angry, and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.” And it goes on: put away bitterness, wrath and malice; cultivate self-control as a fruit of the Spirit; and, more than that, forgive.
The point I am making is that the prescription from the Bible goes deeper — much deeper than the outward intervention. Yesterday we discussed cosmetic interventions in people’s lives: you do not feel good about yourself, so you think the answer is to augment how your face, your bust, your backside look. The same logic underlies these therapeutic interventions: do you have rage? Are you angry at your spouse, your child, your boss, your country, your president? Come and scream it out. But the Bible reminds us that in such instances we need to look deeper, at what is causing the anger. This person has offended you — do you want to tell them, and they will not listen? Do you want to take it to God in prayer and ask Him for the grace to put away bitterness, wrath and malice? Do you want to ask Him to help you cultivate the gift of self-control? The Bible teaches that true healing and change come from the Holy Spirit renewing the mind and the heart — Romans 12:2, the renewal of the heart and mind. And in that glorious passage from Ezekiel 36, the Lord promised that when we receive Jesus Christ and He gives us the Holy Spirit, the heart of stone will be removed and a heart of flesh given. Ultimately, to deal with emotions like anger and rage, what is needed as the first intervention is to go to God in prayer.
And thank God, this aligns perfectly with what Pastor Agunloye taught this morning, in the seven o’clock hour, about the indulgence of emotions and thoughts: that the primary thing a Christian must do is take it to God in prayer, and talk to Him as you would to the best therapist or counsellor in the world. I am not equating the Holy Spirit to a therapist. But if you would open up to a human therapist — whose own struggles you are not even aware of, whose good faith you do not even know — why would you not open up your innermost thoughts to your Father, God, who is high and mighty yet has adopted you as His son or daughter? With God, you can take it all. As that hymn says, take it to the Lord in prayer — “Oh, what peace we often forfeit; oh, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.” That is a beautiful rendition by Mahalia Jackson, which regular listeners to GospelBells Radio know I love, because in that arrangement she keeps repeating “everything, everything, everything” to God in prayer. The reason we suffer so much, forfeit our peace, and endure needless pain is often that we will not take everything to God. Oh, what peace we forfeit; oh, what needless pain we bear — and I will add, oh, what needless therapies we endure, oh, what needless therapies we pay for — all because we will not carry everything to God in prayer.
Some will say, “Please stop that — you are doing more harm than good by telling people to just take it to God in prayer.” But I say this from experience, and saints have testified to it: when you go to God in truth, and cast all your burdens on Him, and say it all to Him, and if at that place of prayer you feel like weeping, you weep before a Father in heaven who will not only listen but who understands — and who can also help. That is what distinguishes Him from human therapists and counsellors. The best a human therapist can do is listen, and some swear by that; at least somebody is listening, and that is helpful. But to help you overcome your rage and anger, no human can do that. And to truly understand the root causes of the rage you feel, no human can either; the therapist can only understand the part you tell him, and sometimes you yourself do not even understand the root cause. But you are going to the One who made you.
Go and read Psalm 139. I love how the NKJV titles it: “God’s Perfect Knowledge of Man.” There is no one who knows you as perfectly as God does — no therapist in this world, not even you yourself. “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.” What does it mean that He understands your thought “afar off”? It means the thought has not even fully entered your mind, has not yet crystallised in you, and yet He understands it. “You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.” You have to tell a human therapist all the ways you have been, all you have been through, and even then the therapist may not fully understand — because there is something you told him, and something that happened ten years ago you did not tell, and something seven years ago you also kept back. At some point the therapist asks, “Have you told me everything?” and you say, “I believe so,” while you know you are still keeping something — out of shame, fear, or sadness, there are things you will never tell another human being. But with God, “there is not a word on my tongue but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.” Every word, every place, every thought that has crossed your mind, and the ones still afar off that will eventually cross it — He knows. And the psalmist, made to know this by the Holy Spirit, says, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it.”
This is an admonition to those of us on the Lord’s side passing through tough times. There will be tribulations, Jesus said. None of us should minimise the challenging seasons of life, the challenging emotions — even mental breakdowns, overwhelming sadness, anger and frustration. I lack the words to describe the full range of challenges we face as human beings. We are not immune merely because we are in the world; we still bear this body of flesh as fallen human beings, and so we are subject to many of these things. We do not minimise it. But each of us on the Lord’s side must recognise that the first port of call in any situation is not a human therapist. You may need to go for medical intervention or mental-health support, if need be — but please take it first to God in prayer. Open up to Him as you would to the most trusted counsellor out there. He will not only listen; He understands; and He is able to help. And it is free — your access to Him has been paid for by the blood of Christ shed at Calvary.
I pray for anyone on the Lord’s side passing through a tough time, that the Holy Spirit Himself will draw you to the throne of the Father. And if there is somebody out there who has done something so horrible, so egregious, that he says to himself, “God is not going to welcome me,” I pray you will receive grace to look at the cross of Christ, to see Him shed His blood for you, and to understand that He has paid the price. The writer to the Hebrews, by the power of the Holy Spirit, has told us we can now draw near — no matter how sinful you have been, no matter how horrible the sin, you can approach the throne of grace with confidence; not confidence in yourself, but confidence in the finished work of Christ — and there receive mercy and find grace in your time of need. I have not said that the discipline of therapists and counsellors is worthless. What I have said is that, for people on the Lord’s side, the first port of call is to take it all to God — because He is the only one who truly loves you, the only one who will both listen and understand, who understands even what you have not verbalised, and the only one who can truly help. And any mature Christian will testify that if you truly do then need to see a therapist, that is the way that will lead you there. But my people perish, the Bible says, for lack of knowledge. Interventions that are only skin-deep deal with the symptoms; but the One who can heal the heart is the Lord God Almighty Himself. I pray that He will heal all, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
ON DANCING IN THE RAIN
Next, and still on the theme of powerful emotions, I want to share a joyful video with you — or rather describe it, since this is radio. It is a video on X of a bride on her wedding day, doing what? Dancing. And you will say, what is extraordinary about a bride dancing? In this case, the bride was dancing under heavy rain. In a striking red dress, with her bridesmaids in pink asoebi, she danced and moved through puddles of water, and they persisted with the celebration despite being soaked. The person who posted it captioned it, “The devil tried, but in the end she was very strong” — framing the rain as spiritual opposition overcome by determination.
When I saw it, I said to myself, there are a number of lessons here. As a matter of course in Nigeria, among many Christians, after choosing a date for a milestone like a wedding or a funeral, people will pray, “Lord, please give us beautiful weather; grant that the event will not be marred by bad weather.” Essentially, many people pray against rain. And for those who are not on the Lord’s side, some go as far as consulting deities said to have the power to prevent rain from falling. That is how much people want clement weather on the day they celebrate great events. So I would suppose this lady too would have preferred that it not rain on her wedding day — especially as the reception was set up outside, under canopies, where she would still have to dance in an open space. And what would you have done? You have perhaps even seen brides who began to sulk when their best-laid plans did not go as planned.
We were lucky when we got married — it was a date in July. The weekend before, I recall very clearly going to the airport to pick up my brother coming in from Abuja, and it rained so heavily that the airport road in Lagos, if you know it, was almost impassable; we had to take many detours. Many people who knew our wedding plans were apprehensive, asking, “With this rain, wouldn’t you consider changing your plans?” But glory to God, despite the fact that it rained heavily through most of that July, on our day God gave us clement weather. What if God had chosen to let the rain fall heavily on that day? Would we have sulked? Some would have. And many people would have come saying, “Don’t worry, it’s all for the good, it’s the way God wants it — just dance.” Well, this bride in the video needed no such encouragement. I am not privy to what happened before she began to dance — maybe she sulked for a moment and then picked herself up, or somebody encouraged her — but in the end, she danced right in the rain, and many of her bridesmaids joined her.
I look at this and say to myself, there appears to be a theme this morning, beginning with people dealing with pent-up anger and rage. James 1:2–4: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness; and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” And Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” Why? Because we know that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord. That is a loving Father who rules and reigns over everything. So from a Christian perspective there is not merely an argument, not merely an admonition, but a duty — a Christian duty — to persevere and be resilient in the face of obstacles. I call it a duty because it flows from your core beliefs. You believe God is God — that He rules and reigns over all the affairs of men. You believe He loves you. You believe He is acquainted with all your ways. If you do not believe these things, you are not yet His child; you do not know Him. But if you do believe them, then you must count it all joy; you must know that everything works for good. That is how a Christian processes these things: you would have preferred things to work out one way, and they have begun to work out another, and you say, “God is in charge; therefore I will count it all joy.”
There is also a danger to watch when we are confronted with situations like this. On your big day, you prayed there would be no rain, yet the heavens opened and it is raining cats and dogs. There is a danger of misattributing natural events to the devil, and we should not fall into that error. The person who posted that video captioned it, “The devil tried, but she was stronger.” Now, it is folly for any Christian not to believe in the existence and work of Satan, who dogs us every step of the way. But it is equally dangerous and unwise to misattribute natural events to the devil. There must be a biblical balance. God sovereignly controls creation, including the weather — go and read the Psalms, perhaps Psalm 147:7–9, and Job 37, passages that speak gloriously of God’s power over everything. Psalm 147, from verse 7 in the NKJV: “Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praises on the harp to our God, who covers the heavens with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow on the mountains.” That is how the saints, led by the Holy Spirit, have worshipped God — as the One who prepares rain for the earth. If you do not believe that God is sovereign over the affairs of men, you have not known Him.
Satan can influence some events only with God’s permission — that is the overarching lesson of Job 1. Yes, Satan has tricks up his sleeve; but we know from Matthew 28:18 that all authority has been given to Jesus Christ, who is seated in the highest place, at whose name every knee must bow. If all authority has been given to Christ, what authority does the devil have? He has his tricks, but he cannot deploy them unless the Lord allows. So we must face up to the fact that not every inconvenience is demonic. If God wants it to rain on a day, it will rain on that day, because He knows you will be fine anyway. And if you have the right mindset, you will interpret it rightly — “This is where God wants me, so I embrace it” — and you become like that bride, dancing and celebrating the goodness of God.
So, first, the Christian’s perseverance and resilience in the face of obstacles is not only an admonition but a duty, because the One who rules and reigns is your loving Father. That is why Paul wrote, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” Paul wrote that epistle to the Philippians while in prison, and as many have observed, Philippians is one of the most profound calls to joy in the Bible — a call to joy and faith written by a man in prison, who even there was helped by the Holy Spirit to admonish others, and must have admonished himself: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.” Second, even as we fully recognise that the devil exists and works in the world, we must be careful not to misattribute natural events to him.
Then there is a third lesson from this video: the blessing of community and support in times of trial. When that lady went into the rain and started dancing, her bridesmaids went into the rain and danced with her. One cannot overemphasise the joy of having community and support in times of trial. “Two are better than one” (Ecclesiastes 4); “bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2). If somebody’s big day appears to be ruined by inclement weather, it is incumbent on those of us who are their brothers and sisters — biologically or in Christ — to encourage that person: “Pick yourself up; it is as God would have it; let us make the best of what we have.” Because we know that God does not willingly afflict the children of men — one of my beautiful portions of Scripture, from Lamentations. We have to know His nature; He is not someone who afflicts us for the sake of it, not like the Greek gods. And above all, focus on gratitude. Just find something to be grateful for, and you will find that even when things are not going your way, you can truly be happy.
I am delighted at how this story aligns with the first — the story of women dealing with anger and rage. We are not going to minimise that those women may have had real reasons to be angry or frustrated, just as we should not minimise a person’s disappointment when heavy rain falls on her big day. Don’t minimise those emotional reactions. But the question is: how should a Christian react? In the case of pent-up anger and rage, or other negative emotions, you take it first to God in prayer — the One who will not only listen but understands and is able to help. And when things appear not to be going your way on your big day, put on the attitude of joy and say, “Rejoice in the Lord always; I will count it all joy” — because all things work together for my good. And let us not give too much power to the devil; when you say, “He has done this,” you are inadvertently saying that God was not strong enough to prevent it. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
ON KILLING FOR POLITICAL POWER
And next, very simply, the story of a 14-year-old boy said to have been shot and killed in Osun State, Nigeria, in what is widely regarded as politically motivated violence. Many political watchers know that gubernatorial elections are scheduled to hold in Osun State, in the southwest, in August, and that the political atmosphere there has been tense for a while.
I do not want to be very political in this engagement. I have my preferences, of course, but let us talk about the overarching issues. It is profoundly sad and disappointing that somebody thinks taking another’s life is worth any potential political benefit. It is not only sad; it is foolish. When President Obasanjo was in office — and I have great respect for him — there was something he said, when running for a second term, that was rightly condemned at the time and should remain condemned: words to the effect of “by all means possible,” telling his supporters they had to do whatever it takes to win. President Bola Tinubu is on record as saying, at one political event — and I am paraphrasing — that political power is not served à la carte; you do not go to a restaurant for it, you have to grab it and run with it, suggesting you do whatever you have to do to win. Some say such statements should be understood as political rhetoric to supporters. But nothing calls for “whatever it takes.” When you use that expression, it will include whatever it takes — and there are thugs who take it literally, who say, “If somebody stands in the way of my preferred candidate, I will do whatever it takes.” And it appears, according to many reports, that a political thug has done something of that nature.
Many in that community believe the boy was shot by a political thug supporting a candidate in the election. In a video taken by a bystander, political thugs are seen arriving in a vehicle marked as belonging to one of the candidates in the upcoming gubernatorial election in Osun State. They exited the car; policemen were present. Someone in the crowd called out, in Yoruba, that the police should go and confront them — but the police did not. Then one of the thugs brought out a gun and fired, and that shot killed the 14-year-old boy. Later, another video showed that the governor of the state — himself a candidate, running for a second term — paid a condolence visit to the boy’s father.
When I heard the statement of the boy’s father on Arise News yesterday, I felt so horrible about it. I do pray that you will never have to experience this kind of sadness or grief. I pray the Lord will comfort this man and the mother of that boy, and that He will spare you and me from such grief.
We must pray for the foolish and the wicked — people who think it wise or necessary to kill, or commit any other atrocity, just for political advantage. It is wickedness; it is foolishness. May the Lord bring them to judgment, in the name of Jesus. “You shall not murder” is one of the commandments of God, from Exodus 20. In the Noahic covenant, Genesis 9, the Lord said, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed,” and an accounting will be required. In Exodus 23 the Lord said, “Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.” Many people have hardened hearts, hearts of stone; they block their ears, and so they think God is flippant with His words. But He has said, “I will not acquit the guilty.” I pray that all of us, even as we are frustrated with the injustice in the world and saddened by it — as many victims and martyrs cry daily before the throne of God, “How long before You avenge us?” — will rest in the assurance that He will avenge. Proverbs 6, listing the things the Lord detests, includes “hands that shed innocent blood.”
And when we think about why people kill for political power, consider this: anyone who would kill for political victory is not seeking that power for the right reason. He is not seeking it to serve. If you are offering yourself to serve, then even if you are cheated out of the process, you take it — because you were going there to serve, to spend and be spent. It is the people going there for ulterior motives, to enrich themselves and lord it over others, who become desperate enough to kill. So to these killers, and their principals who sent them, and even those overzealous in support of their principal — whatever they think they will gain from winning that power — hear 2 Peter 3:11: “Seeing then that all these things” — whether houses or lands or money or fame or power — “shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness?” Many politicians in Nigeria need to hear that. Seeing that all these things will be dissolved, and that you will take none of them away, what manner of person ought you to be in your pursuit of them?
I pray the Lord will console that family, and spare you and me from such grief. I pray that many more in Nigeria will become wise enough to turn to God, and to realise that it is not only wicked but also foolish to kill anyone, or to do any such evil, for material gain or political power or fame. And may those who are hardened by the devil to continue in this path face the wrath of God, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
I want to thank you for tuning in this morning to GospelBells Radio, On the Lord’s Side — Christian perspectives on news and current events. I hope to be with you again tomorrow by the grace of God. Whatever you do today, please remain firmly on the Lord’s side. God bless you. You are listening to GospelBellsRadio.com, the Christian internet radio with a mission to engage the culture with the mind of Christ. Keep listening, and invite others too.