26012020 - How bad an example was set in Zamfara

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JANUARY 26, 2020, PAGE 39
As a new believer, the
Lord asked me one of
his intriguing questions. He
said: “Femi, would you like
to be a prophet?”
I did not answer. The last
thing I wanted to be was a
prophet. I saw no glory in it
but problems and difficulties.
Later, I addressed the question
indirectly. I told the Lord
I did not want the ministry of
Isaiah. To me, Isaiah’s ministry
is frustrating. He is called
to preach to people who will
not receive his word.
God says: “Go and speak
this message to the people:
‘You will listen and listen, but
never understand. You will
look and look, but never see.
Make these people stubborn!
Make them stop up their ears,
cover their eyes, and fail to
understand. Don't let them
turn to me and be healed.’”
(Isaiah 6:9-10).
Little did I know that Isaiah’s
is the only ministry for
preachers.
Except you repent
LUKE 13:1-5 says:
“There were present
at that season some
that told him of the Galilaeans,
whose blood Pilate had
mingled with their sacrifices.
2 And Jesus answering
said unto them, Suppose ye
that these Galilaeans were
sinners above all the Galilaeans,
because they suffered
such things? 3 I tell
you, Nay: but, except ye repent,
ye shall all likewise
perish. 4 Or those eighteen
upon whom the tower in Siloam
fell, and slew them,
think ye that they were sinners
above all men that
dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell
you, Nay: but, except ye repent,
ye shall all likewise
perish”.
The above Scriptural
verses are divine instruction
expected to be obeyed by
every being. God repeatedly
instructed that people
should make haste to repent
or be destroyed.
Every good preacher of
the gospel knows that people
don't like hearing about
repentance, thus some are
afraid to preach it because
they don’t want to bring disturbing
news to their audience.
The truth is that the gospel
is good news, but an
awful news to the sinner.
Therefore every preacher
Lack of Credentials
The calling of a prophet
does not arise from a careers’
advisory council. The wise
men asked: “Where is he that
is born king of the Jews?”
(Matthew 2:2). Jesus was not
born: Jesus is born. He is born
every day in the hearts and
minds of his followers.
Similarly, a prophet is born
and not man-made. God says
to Jeremiah: “Before I
formed you in the womb, I
knew you; before you were
born, I sanctified you; I ordained
you a prophet to the
nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5).
False prophets graduate
from the schools of the prophets.
They have scholarly degrees
in Divinity. They are
widely-accepted and welcome
in Aso Rock. They tell
the people and the powersthat-be
what they want to
hear.
But the true prophets are a
completely different kettle of
fish. They have no earthly
credentials. They learn at the
feet of the Lord himself in the
School of the Holy Spirit.
This puts them inevitably at
loggerheads with the establishment
who question and
challenge their authority.
(Matthew 21:23).
Amos says: “I was no prophet,
nor was I a prophet's son.
But I was a herdsman and a
gatherer from sycamore
trees. And Jehovah took me
from behind the flock, and Jehovah
said to me, Go, prophesy
to my people Israel.”
(Amos 7:14-15).
that loves souls must preach
about repentance, of salvation,
because the word of
God teaches that until one
realizes that he is born in sin,
thus bound for hell, that he
has no hope, that God's
wrath abides upon his head
if he refuses to repent and
except he repents he will not
escape the wrath of God.
Of a truth many do not like
to be told they are sinners.
They do not want to hear
about repentance. They
want to listen to sermon
where they will be told that
God is good and merciful. A
good sermon as far as they
are concerned is one where
the preacher talks mostly on
God’s goodness and mercy.
They would like to be
blessed as Abraham but are
not ready to go by the righteousness
of Abraham.
Many people who claim
they are Christians because
they pay heavy tithes and
give offering of big envelope
but are into evil will not
want pastor to preach
against the source of their
wealth. Some of them are
smugglers, some have beer
parlour and shares in breweries,
some enriched themselves
through bribery and
corruption, some deal on
contraband, alcohol, cigarettes,
some are into robbery,
fraud, kidnapping, extortion,
The stripes of a prophet
The earthquakes and
tsunami floods are
breeding grounds for
many a prophet
Training ground
They are not all prophets
that are prophets. Most of
the so-called prophets of today
are self-made. Jesus
warns: “Watch out for false
prophets! They dress up like
sheep, but inside they are
wolves who have come to attack
you. You can tell what
they are by what they do.”
(Matthew 7:15-16).
The prophet of God is emptied
of self. Moses spent forty years
cocooned in the wilderness. The
Lord takes us through the fire so
we would know we cannot be
burned. He takes us through the
waters so we would know we cannot
drown.
The earthquakes and tsunami
floods are breeding grounds for
many a prophet. A thousand may
fall at our side and ten thousand
at our right hand, but we are preserved
for a special purpose in
God.
The true prophet is bereft of personal
agenda. He is not allowed
to have a life of his own. God instructed
Hosea to marry a prostitute
in order to send through him
the message of Israel’s unfaithfulness
and harlotry. Jeremiah was
denied the comforts of marriage.
Ezekiel was bereaved of his beloved
wife as a sign to Israel. Isaiah
also had his message written
on the papyrus of his life. He says:
“Behold, I and the children whom
the LORD has given me are for
signs and for wonders in Israel.”
(Isaiah 8:18).
while some are into wrong
marriages, fornication,
adultery and prostitution.
And none of these sinners
want their sin to be mentioned,
otherwise the Pastor
must be ?removed or
they would leave the
church. They have the
habit of coming to
church late and leaving
before dismissal because
they have to attend
kindred meetings and
other business appointment.
Any attempt by the
Pastor to admonish
them will be met with
stiff resistance.
If you are among these
categories of sinners, the
Lord is bidding me to tell
you today that except
you repent from these
sins, except you let go
with your wickedness,
you will surely perish. It
does not matter your position
in the church or society,
if you refuse to give
heed to the Lord’s warning
on repentance today,
you will likewise perish.
God has set before us life
and death, good and
evil, and put us to our
choice. Repent therefore
from your sin otherwise
you perish. God is not a
respecter of person. He
says that the soul that
sins shall die.
Proverbial Jonah
One day, after reading
the prophets far into the
night, I finally told the
Lord I was going to bed.
But not before engaging
him on the mind-boggling
issue of Jonah. I
said: “Father, how did
you keep a man alive in
the belly of a fish? Your
ways are truly unsearchable.”
I went upstairs into my
bedroom. As soon as my
body touched the bed, the
heavens were opened. To
my astonishment, I found
myself under the sea-bed,
enclosed in an air bubble.
I watched as the procession
of an incredible array
of fishes of different
designs and architecture
floated past, all in supernaturally
deep colours;
brightly lit by incandescent
light.
There I was, a proverbial
Jonah in the belly of
a fish. The message was
simple even though I was
slow, as usual, on the uptake.
When God calls you
as a prophet to preach to
Nineveh, you don’t decline
and go to Tarshish
instead.
Healing stripes
The life of a prophet is
Pastor Oloruntimilehin
Joshua Daramola
N a fateful day a member
Oof my ministry walked up
to me, and wanted to know why I
gave a gift to another member. I
took time to explain the reason
behind my action. I told him that
I would always acknowledge,
recognise and encourage any
person that find space in his or
her heart to render help to the
needy or contribute to the development
and growth of the ministry
of Jesus Christ.
While we were discussing, another
member walked in and join
in the discourse. Incidentally he
mentioned the person in question
deserved the gift because he
had touched the lives of our needy
members. It is imperative to talk
and mention what people do and
their positive contributions, so
that others can learn and emulate
them.
There is reward for doing well.
I also implore people doing bad
things to desist; if they refrain
from doing evil, then they would
definitely reap its reward. It is just
like how every inventor is never
his ministry. God requires the
two to be identical. He said to
me: “Femi, nothing that will
ever happen to you will be coincidental.
Nothing will ever
happen to you by happenstance.
Everything that will
happen in your life will happen
for a reason.”
Therefore, if a lady is called
to a healing ministry, ask her
what major sickness has ever
befallen her. At any rate, there
must have been a miracle healing
in her life. If a man claims
to be in a deliverance ministry,
ask him how many demons
came out of him.
The prophet’s messages
come out of his life. They are
fashioned from his day-to-day
experiences. They are the
product of the strange, painful
and exacting ways whereby
God touches every facet of
our lives and brings us to nothing.
But more than anything
else, a true prophet is a burden-bearer.
We are weighed
down by the transgressions we
decry; frustrated in the knowledge
that few will believe our
report.
Isaiah writes: “Surely he has
borne our griefs and carried
our sorrows; yet we esteemed
him stricken, smitten by God,
and afflicted. But he was
wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our
iniquities; the chastisement
for our peace was upon him,
and by his stripes we are
healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5).
This scripture is messianic.
But it is also referring to
the prophetic ministry in
general. I used to read messianic
scriptures and relate
them exclusively to Christ.
Until one day, the Lord
spoke one directly to me. I
thought: “But this is talking
about Jesus.” But the Lord
said to me: “Femi, it is also
talking about you.”
I presumed it meant I
would travel the world as an
itinerant preacher, but that
was not the Lord’s intention.
Fifteen years after I received
the word, the World Wide
Web came of age and I started
writing articles of faith
on internet posts. Suddenly,
I discovered I could be an
itinerant preacher even
while sitting in my bedroom.
If you are reading this, then
this scripture the Lord spoke
into my life is fulfilled in your
hearing:
“Listen, O coastlands, to
me, and take heed, you peoples
from afar! The LORD
has called me from the
womb; from the matrix of
my mother he has made
mention of my name. And
he has made my mouth like
a sharp sword; in the shadow
of his hand he has hidden
me, and made me a polished
shaft; in his quiver he
has hidden me. And he said
to me, ‘You are my servant,
O Israel, in whom I will be
glorified’” (Isaiah 49:1-3).
Why a Christian should be generous
forgotten, whether a person
does good or bad, he or she will
be remembered in due time.
The Bible tells us about a
woman who was very generous
to the needy in her world.
(Acts 9:36-42). It says "In Joppa
there was a disciple named
Tabitha (which, when translated,
is Dorcas); she was always
doing good and helping the
poor. About that time she became
sick and died, and her
body was washed and placed
in an upstairs room. Lydda was
near Joppa; so when the disciples
heard that Peter was in
Lydda, they sent two men to
him and urged, "Please come
at once!". Peter went with them,
and when he arrived he was
taken upstairs to the room. All
the widows stood around him
crying and showing him the
robes and other clothing that
Dorcas had made while she
was still with them. Peter sent
them all out of the room; then
he got down on his knees and
prayed. Turning toward the
dead woman, he said, "Tabitha,
get up." She opened her eyes,
and seeing Peter she sat up. He
took her by the hand and helped
her to her feet. Then he called
for the believers, especially the
widows, and presented her to
them. This became known all
over Joppa, and many people
believed in the Lord. Dorcas
was filled with good deeds.
But many people did not
know she was doing good
things.
So, as a minister of God, I
will always recognise people
who lend a helping hand
to the less-priviledged ones
in the household of God.
More so because the help
rendered in house of God automatically
means that they
are helping me to make
people stay in the church for
God to glorify Himself in
the peoples' lives.
Brethren, we are created
to help the needy among us.
Whoever helps the needy
does well and it won't be out
of place to acknowledge or
recognise people who do
well. I am imploring every
parent to teach their children
to have generous heart
of giving to people they
know require assistance.
Do not teach the children
to be callous and reproach
the needy. The woman, Dorcas,
was remembered both
in life and death. She was so
compassionate and merciful
that she was taken care
of when she was ill, by the
widows in Joppa. Her death
was devastating to the widows
that they started wailing
and mourning uncontrollably.
Prophet Ogundipe empowers 12 with motorcycles
rophet Israel Oladele Ogun
Pdipe of the Celestial Church
of Christ, Genesis Global, Lagos,
recently empowered some Okada
riders
The prophet made the presentation
to Mr. Wasiu, who resides
around Alagbado, a suburb of
Lagos at the crossover night
along with eleven others,saying
that there is no better way to usher
in the New Year than to put
smiles on the faces of the needy.
“What a way to start the year
by giving and making someone
smile and relieved of his pains
forever, if we can,” he said.
At the crossover service, the atmosphere
of worship at the Celestial
Genesis Global was electrifying
with joy unlimited.
Thousands of people flooded
the gathering with enthusiasm
and hope for the new year.
According to him, God is
*Wasiu, one of the 12 beneficiaries
unpredictable and no one
can search or know His will
upon a situation except He
deems it fit to reveal himself!