THE subject of this article was first used in a radio message
earlier in the year and the response was amazing. I visited a church
member and heard his neighbours quarrelling as it were. One said that
his neighbour’s wife would have a miscarriage in Jesus’ name. The other
said he sent Holy Ghost fire to destroy his neighbour’s business. My
inquiry revealed that these two were well known very serious church
members in the neighborhood. I began to wonder what they thought
Christianity was all about. These people simply carried over their pagan
beliefs and practices to the church. They have not experienced
salvation. Unfortunately, this is the case with many church folks in
today. God’s word is brazenly used to manipulate fellow humans and in
many cases used to take advantage of them.
Compare and contrast the work of the native witch doctor and that of the pastor next door and the results will be a wake-up call. One of the 10 commandments state ‘thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain,” yet this is the daily practice. Jesus warned that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven of men, yet the Holy Ghost is ‘invoked’ as a matter of joke, anger, politics and or jealousy. The teaching of scripture is that ‘the Lord prepares a table before me in the presence of our enemies,’ yet we command them to die. What are they waiting for? We query! Jesus told us to ‘love our enemies and pray for those who treat us badly.’ Or has the Bible been amended? Maybe I am the one reading a different copy.
I know that God is a consuming fire, but where in the bible did he say that we should send him to consume people or things? In the gospels we find an interesting account, where some of the disciples wanted to call down fire to destroy a certain group of people because they did not receive the Lord Jesus in their Community. The sons of Zebedee James and John even referred to the Elijah event in the Old Testament and asked the Lord Jesus for permission to do the same. Jesus strongly and clearly rebuked them, forbidding them never to do so. Luke 9: 51-56.
But why do we pray these prayers in the Nigerian Church? The following could be some of the reasons. Firstly, Christianity in Nigeria is seriously mixed with our pagan beliefs. Many church folks here are not born again, they are mere church members. Indeed, not to belong to a church, today, makes one a social mis-fit. Another reason is the state of our economy and lawlessness.
Rev. Waive, General Overseer Fresh Anointing Missionary Ministries Inc, Senior Pastor, Church of the Anointing
Compare and contrast the work of the native witch doctor and that of the pastor next door and the results will be a wake-up call. One of the 10 commandments state ‘thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain,” yet this is the daily practice. Jesus warned that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven of men, yet the Holy Ghost is ‘invoked’ as a matter of joke, anger, politics and or jealousy. The teaching of scripture is that ‘the Lord prepares a table before me in the presence of our enemies,’ yet we command them to die. What are they waiting for? We query! Jesus told us to ‘love our enemies and pray for those who treat us badly.’ Or has the Bible been amended? Maybe I am the one reading a different copy.
I know that God is a consuming fire, but where in the bible did he say that we should send him to consume people or things? In the gospels we find an interesting account, where some of the disciples wanted to call down fire to destroy a certain group of people because they did not receive the Lord Jesus in their Community. The sons of Zebedee James and John even referred to the Elijah event in the Old Testament and asked the Lord Jesus for permission to do the same. Jesus strongly and clearly rebuked them, forbidding them never to do so. Luke 9: 51-56.
But why do we pray these prayers in the Nigerian Church? The following could be some of the reasons. Firstly, Christianity in Nigeria is seriously mixed with our pagan beliefs. Many church folks here are not born again, they are mere church members. Indeed, not to belong to a church, today, makes one a social mis-fit. Another reason is the state of our economy and lawlessness.
Rev. Waive, General Overseer Fresh Anointing Missionary Ministries Inc, Senior Pastor, Church of the Anointing
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