A Synoptic Version of
“SANCTION ALL PROSPERITY
GOSPEL PREACHERS
By:
Dr Jideofo Kenechukwu Danmbaezue
a.k.a.
Rev. Prof. J. J. Kenez,
D.Sc.
The Vessel of the Holy Spirit of the Almighty Creator of the Entire Universe
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Quotations in this Discourse are from
“Good News Bible”, or NIV, just like this one:
Isa 1:18
18 "Come now,
let us reason together," says the LORD."Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
A CALL FOR RE-DIRECTION
AN EXISTENTIAL PREFACE
My dear people of God, great grandsons of Adam by
obedience to natural laws, and grandsons of Abraham by faith and my ardent
followers of Jesus Christ, the time is ripe for everyone to rethink and
repudiate the aberrations in the theory and practice of Christianity of the
21st century! It is self evident that we have all derailed and are in dire need
of an urgent internal auditing of our moral standards and social ethics in the
light of reason and social justice respectively.
Can we honestly claim that all the preachers that today,
parade as pastors and priests are actually servants of Almighty God and of the
Lord Jesus? If one truly remembers the fervent warnings of the apostles Peter
and Paul in their letters, one can easily, identify “the wolves in sheep’s
clothing” masquerading as ‘born-again’ Christians among us today! Refresh your
mind by reading 2nd Peter
2: vv. 1 – 3:
· “False prophets appeared in the
past among the people, and in the same way false teachers will appear among
you. They will bring in destructive, untrue doctrines, and will deny the Master
who redeemed them, and so they will bring upon themselves sudden destruction.
Even so, many will follow their immoral way; and because of what they do,
others will speak evil of the Way of Truth. In their greed, these false teachers
will make a profit out of telling you made-up stories. For a long time now
their Judge has been ready, and their Destroyer has been wide awake!”
Or read 1st Timothy
1: vv. 3 – 7:
· “I want you to stay in Ephesus Macedonia
Mundane materialism is on the increase as these false
healers continue to pauperise those who seek signs and wonders to alleviate
their health problems. Priests, pastors and bishops drive limousines today,
whereas their Master Jesus walked the unpaved roads and pathways of Palestine
It is only this timely interdenominational forum formed
by Rev. Prof. J. J. Kenez! I do not intend to pre-empt what the Rev. Professor
has in stock for you in this masterpiece of evangelical satire, but it is
relevant to remind you not to fall into the error of thinking that all
glittering objects are gold! Far from it! One needs to have faith in the power
of the Almighty Father to come to his rescue before any genuine healing is
bestowed on such a faithful one! No
human has the power to heal the sick or exorcise demons! It is only through his
Holy Spirit that the Almighty God chooses the medium, which he uses. It could
be a man or a woman using a simple prayer, a cup of drinking water, the rubbing
of olive oil or simply the laying of hands! But the vessel to be used must be
pure and holy. Moreover, no true healer ever charges fees or extorts money for
his services! The good ones always tell the recipient to praise God! I wish you God’s blessings as you
read, digest and act on the contents of this book. It is an invitation to
genuine repentance. It is a call for re-direction!
Dr. Jideofo Kenechukwu Danmbaezue,
D. Psych., O. S. S
1.1 AN OVERVIEW OF THE SCENARIO
Every Wednesday night of the past decade has been a
nightmare for the residents of GRA within a kilometre of the Park Lane Hospital Ekulu River
As early as 5.00 p.m.
every Wednesday evening, the pilgrims start trooping from the Four Corners of the wind. By 7.00 p.m.
a riotous motley of fanatics, mystics, neurotics, schizophrenics, the barren,
the widowed, the blind, the deaf, the crippled and the chronic spinsters or
bachelors assemble for a “Holy Ghost Fire Night!” The craze for abundance in
wealth and/or material things of life mistakenly identified as miracles, easily
called “signs and wonders” is the latest fad among worshippers of all
religions, as well as, Christians of all denominations. If there is any
ecumenism that is non-sectarian today, it is to be found among the less
privileged seeking for divine healing, the pauperised Christians seeking easy
access to prosperity and increment of their meagre salaries through rapid
promotions in the civil service or the private sector of the depressed economy.
Birds of different plumage sink their dissimilarities and opposing doctrines if
only it would guarantee them spiritual relief and the emotional ecstasy the
weekly night vigil provides. All over the country, such religious spectacles
have become a recurrent decimal in the theory and practice of Christianity
since the advent of the American version of Pentecostalism. It soon found loyal
associates and solidarity in the company of Catholic Charismatic Renewal
Movement (CCRM), the Evangelic Fellowship of the Anglican Communion (EFAC), the
Christian or Scripture Union (CU or SU) and a host of such other syncretic
organisations within the Christian Community nation-wide! Over three thousand
exotic names of mushroom churches exist today!
The undue craze for signs and wonders: a.k.a.
deliverance, healing, exorcism, miracles or divine cures and the proliferation
of healers of all descriptions and their healing centres is the eight wonder of
the world or even the universe! Miracle seekers troop from one crusade ground
to another not minding the travel expenses to and from these centres that often
are separated by more than five hundred kilometres! These journeys into the
unknown, the unbudgeted-for pilgrimages and their feeding bills further dwindle
the lean resources of these paupers! “Don’t worry!” they exclaim, “God will
always provide!” Some are ready to do “dry” fasting for fourteen days or even
longer not minding their poor health status, all in the name of getting divine
favours! Most of these fanatical miracle-seekers are not only ignorant and
confused but are misguided by their greedy pastors who fleece them all in the
name of signs and wonders. These brothers / sisters of ours desperately need
counselling, re-education and redemption from their hypnotised mental status
and the indoctrination of their fake prosperity preaching pastors.
Jesus, our Lord and Master, was not born into a wealthy
family or an upper social class nor did he envy those who were! Do you remember
the rich young man he asked to “Go sell all you have and come follow me”? The
righteous youth left dejected! Moreover, Jesus went further by commenting on
how more difficult it would be for the rich to enter the kingdom, stating that
it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle! Read the
gospels of Matthew 19: vv. 16 – 30, Mark 10: vv. 17 – 30 and Luke 18: 18 - 30.
Do not read this booklet any further without doing so! You will be glad you
did!
There must be some demonic mass hysteria or occult
hypnotism or juju powers involved in today’s craze for prosperity among
Christians who will do anything abominable to be rich and comfortable! This is
the diabolical reason why most greedy pastors and healers would go to native
doctors, worship any idol and perform any rituals in search of demonic powers
to demonstrate signs and wonders! Some use magical handkerchiefs, others a wave
of the hand and yet some blow some air in the direction of their victims who
fall down mimicking prostration under the power of the Holy Spirit! This is
what this book sets out to unravel. Then, an attempt will be made to straighten
out the false indoctrination that has for long kept the congregation hypnotised
by this new brand of healers who drive limousines whereas their flock trek the
crusade grounds and the very streets of the cities they have converted into
their financial empires!
All manners of publicity gimmick, subliminal advertising
tricks, blatant trade and cut-throat commerce are now employed by our
psychedelic nouveau-riche crusade preachers to ‘fleece the flock and pay the
ladies’! Many now make wild claims to signs and wonders performed ‘in the name
of Jesus’ often tagged deliverance, healing, exorcism and miracles. Money
change hands after such magical demonstrations!
Jesus forewarned us of such fake miracle workers! “Freely
have you received, so give freely” he cautioned his disciples! We must be wary
or else get deceived by these sons and daughters of Satan who parade as miracle
workers. We need to remind ourselves of what Our Lord Jesus said about most of
these fake workers of signs and wonders! “I do not know you” he said he would
tell them at the judgement day when they would try to prove their loyalty by
asserting that they cured, healed and cast out demons in his name!
This time around, we want to expose the tricks and
falsehood in so many pretences at or spurious claims to exorcism, deliverance
or healing! Read THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH, Chapters 23 & 24, and you will see
that false claims to speaking on behalf of God had always been there. God hates
any fake prophet, priest or pastor who deceives his people! Verse 11 of Chapter
23 sums up God’s verdict:
v.11: The Lord says, “The prophets and the priests
are godless;
I have caught them doing evil in the Temple
v.12: The paths they follow will be slippery and
dark;
I will make them stumble and fall. I am going to bring
disaster on them; the time of their punishment is coming.
I, the Lord have spoken
Read all the way down, and take note of very interesting
verses e.g.
v. 31: Listen to what I, the Lord, say! I am against
the prophets who tell their dreams that are full of lies. They tell these
dreams and lead my people astray and their boasting I did not send them or
order them to go, and they are of no help at all to the people. I, the Lord
have spoken.”
I have nothing to add to those Old Testament prophecies,
except that I will unmask these false preachers within the confines of this
short conference paper. This resume is actually only an appetiser to the main
course meal, “SANCTION ALL PROSPERITY GOSPEL PREACHERS” a 250-page book, that
you can purchase outside this hall now! ‘Bon apetit!’
1.2 DIVINE HEALERS CHARGE NO FEES
It will be most rewarding for miracle seekers and their
equally false and avaricious healers who see it as a money - spinning exercise
to refresh their minds with the life and times of two Old Testament prophets;
Elijah and Elisha. You should read in detail all the miracles they performed
and list out for yourselves how many were paid for! Most prosperity preachers
flaunt their ability to hypnotise their listeners with charms they got from
juju-doctors and seek material rewards for their abracadabra. However, they
need be reminded that genuine healers never ask for any rewards at all!
I will reproduce here only “THE HEALING OF A GENERAL OF
THE SYRIAN ARMY” from my favourite Good News Bible edition (GNB) for its
clarity of thought, for those who are not conversant with the Christian Bible
and for our discussion to be not only meaningful but objective and persuasive!
Read the whole contents of 2nd Kings
5:
“Naaman Is Cured
v.1: Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army, was
highly respected and esteemed by the king of Syria
v.2: In one of their raids against Israel
v.3: One day she said to her mistress, Ï wish that
my master could go to the prophet who lives in Samaria
v.4: When Naaman heard of this, he went to the King
and told him what the girl had said.
v.5: The king said, “Go to the king of Israel
v.6: The letter that he took read: “This letter will
introduce my officer Naaman. I want you to cure him of his disease.”
v.7: When the king of Israel Syria
v.8: When the prophet Elisha heard what had
happened, he sent word to the king: “Why are you so upset? Send the man to me,
and I’ll show him that there is a prophet in Israel
v.9: So Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and
stopped at the entrance to Elisha’s house.
v. 10: Elisha sent a servant out to tell him to go
and wash himself seven times in the River Jordan, and he would be completely
cured of his disease.
v.11: But Naaman left in a rage, saying, “I thought
that he would at least come out to me, pray to the LORD his God, wave his hand
over the diseased spot, and cure me!
v.12: Besides, aren’t the rivers Abana and Pharpar,
back in Damascus Israel
v.13: His servants went up to him and said, “Sir, if
the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it, Now
why can’t you just wash yourself, as he said, and be cured”
v.14: So Naaman went down to the Jordan
v.15: He returned to Elisha with all his men and
said, “Now I know that there is no god but the God of Israel; so please, sir,
accept a gift from me.”
v.16: Elisha answered, “By the living Lord, whom I
serve, I swear that I will not accept a gift.” Naaman insisted that he accepts
it, but he would not.
v.17: So Naaman said, “If you won’t accept my
gift, then let me have two mule-loads of earth to take home with me, because
from now on I will not offer sacrifices or burnt-offerings to any god except
the LORD.
v.18: So I hope that the Lord will forgive me when I
accompany my king to the temple of Rimmon Syria
v.19: “Go in peace,” Elisha said. And Naaman left.
v.20: He had gone only a short distance when
Elisha’s servant Gehazi said to himself, “My master has let Naaman get away
without paying a thing! He should have accepted what that Syrian offered him.
By the living LORD, I will run after him and get something from him.”
v.21: So he set off after Naaman. When Naaman saw a
man running after him, he got down from his chariot to meet him, and asked, “Is
something wrong?”
v.22: “No,” Gehazi answered. “But my master sent me
to tell you that just now two members of the group of prophets in the
hill-country of Ephraim arrived, and he would like you to give them three
thousand pieces of silver and two changes of fine clothes.”
v.23: “Please take six thousand pieces of silver,”
Naaman replied. He insisted on it, tied up the silver in two bags, gave them
and two changes of fine clothes to two of his servants, and sent them on ahead
of Gehazi.
v.24: When they reached the hill where Elisha lived,
Gehazi took the two bags and carried them into the house. Then he sent Naaman’s
servants back.
v.25: He went back into the house, and Elisha asked
him, “Where have you been?” “Oh, nowhere, sir, “ he answered.
v.26: But Elisha said, “Wasn’t I there in the spirit
when the man got out of his chariot to meet you? This is no time to accept
money and clothes, olive-groves and vineyards, sheep and cattle, or servants!
v.27: And now Naaman’s disease will come upon you
and your descendants will have it for ever!” When Gehazi left, he had the
disease—his skin was as white as snow.”
All quotations in this Discourse are
from “Good News Bible”, or NIV, just like this one:
Isa 1:18
18 "Come now, let us reason
together," says the LORD.
"Though your sins are like
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they
shall be like wool.
(That is the end of the story)
COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSES OF WHAT TRANSPIRED:
1. Like all earthly kings, the Syrian
king thought it was the
king of Israel
2. The king of Israel
3. Read verses 12 & 13 now and the
truth is clear! These temporal rulers expect royal receptions by religious
ones, while the reverse is always the case when it is their turn to receive you
at their army headquarters or government houses. Well, the ball is in our court
to sweep our house clean by dismissing bootlickers among the vainglory-seeking
pastors of our generation.
4. Now re-read verse 10 and appreciate
the simple manner great prophets deal with people of all classes. They do not
discriminate nor do they give preferential treatments; v. 10: Elisha sent a servant out to
tell him to go and wash himself seven times in the River Jordan, and he would
be completely cured of his disease. You have to earn respect by
recognising that you are serving the King of Kings, and therefore pay little or
no attention to earthly ranks and social statuses!
5. Note again, how pride and social
status consciousness often make us lose our reasoning capabilities! Read verses
11 – 14. Can you see that ordinary servants and may be, in this case soldiers
of lower ranks were more intelligent than a G.O.C. Remember that Field Marshall
Naaman was commanding the entire armed forces of Syria. Our archbishops,
bishops, superintendents or overseers of the various denominations in today’s
Christendom can gain some wisdom therefrom. You must, occasionally, humble
yourself and accept good counsel from your juniors. Your rank or position does
not equate to intelligence! Wisdom is a divine gift!
6. How many religious leaders of this
avaricious generation could refuse the material gifts as Prophet Elisha did?
The genuine answer is NO ONE! No, not even the author of this very book! “WHY?”
you may ask. We are products of a society that places undue premium on material
possessions; flashy cars, colourful robes and public adulation! Re-read verses
15 & 16 and appreciate the very words of “the man of God”, but today we
have those who like to be addressed as men of God without the attributes
associated with the appellation!
7. Note the complete conversion of the
heathen Naaman, and his pleading in advance that the Lord forgives him whenever
he had to accompany his king to the temple and bow along to his nation’s idol!
That is the mark of a good soldier; a demonstration of strict discipline and
unflinching loyalty to civil authority despite religious differences with
others! Were it in our generation, there would have been a “coup de état” and a
spurious litany of reasons to justify the change of guards! This would normally
be followed by lengthy congratulatory messages in the electronic media and paid
advertorials in all the national dailies! All these fanfares were strictly
prohibited by genuine prophets and Jesus Christ himself!
8. Verses 20 & 21 depict the
thinking of our generation of current prosperity preachers! Then take note of
the premeditated lies that our nouveau-riche religious assistants can equally
forge! Verses 22 & 25 represent what goes on in many churches today. There
seems to be a rat race for money and whatever money can buy! Accountants and
financials secretaries on many religious committees collude to siphon mission
funds atimes with pastors or priests as accomplices! These disciples of Satan
have invaded our congregations and traditional honesty in Igboland, as well as,
family integrity has become old-fashioned! Ha-ba, Christianity!
9. Then comes the grand finale of this
theosophical homily as is embedded in this auspicious story: “TRANSFERENCE OF THE LEPROSY” which I think is the lesson of the
whole eventful narrative. Our priest and pastors should learn from what
happened to the greedy and lie-spinning servant of the man of God - Gehazi. I,
however, do not share the punishment extended to his innocent children and
subsequently their entire posterity! The lesson should however not be lost by
us, namely, that our actions as parents may inflict generational curses on our
offspring even today! Permit me to sign off on this note!
· If you have access to the “Gift
& Award Edition of NEW LIVING TRANSLATION” you will notice that it gives
verses 20 – 27 a separate sub-heading that says it all: “THE GREED OF
GEHAZI”. This truly brings out the lesson of the story. Some greedy healers
should realise that often they take on the infirmities they pretend to have
chased away from those who paid them for the healing.
· BEWARE;GOD’S GIFTS ARE NOT
SALE
·
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IF YOU WANT THE FULL BOOK AT $100 CONTACT
THE AUTHOR:
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1.3 PROSPERITY PREACHERS-SATAN’S DISCIPLES
Again reading about the narrative of the rich young man
from the gospel of Mark 10, vv. 17 – 30 nails the coffin on the current craze
for riches, easy life and luxury embarked on by greedy evangelists who are out
to build their financial empires by deceiving so many! They will refer to the
material possessions of Abraham to substantiate their spurious claims that
prosperity is a birthright of God’s children.
Clever magicians that they are, they only quote portions
of the Bible that suit their purposes as their lord and master, Satan, the
deceiver did when he tempted Jesus Christ in the desert after the latter’s
forty days and forty nights dry fasting! Why
do they hide those parts of the Bible that demonstrate that even the birds of
the air had nests but the Lord Jesus had no place to lay his head? In addition,
a burial place had to be hired also for he had no grave at death?
For his Passover meals he always hired the homes of
others, for his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, he loaned a donkey and for his
burial Joseph of Arimethea had no option than to donate to the relatives of his
Master his own precious sepulchre carved out of stone. Though Jesus, the Christ, was not
born into a rich family, was not a rich carpenter before he started his
ministry, was not wealthy despite healing so many, he died the most humiliating
of death but was buried as a
rich man! The message is lost to these prosperity gospel-preachers who
are truly the disciples of Satan, who tempts us with gluttony, wealth and
power.
Jesus lived his whole life doing good for both the rich
and the poor, he never received gifts from those he healed nor from the
relatives of those he raised from death and finally he died for our salvation
by suffering the most painful scourges that any human can endure. Yet these
newly demented, psychopathic and psychedelic preachers proclaim that
Christianity should be all pleasure and no suffering, all sweet and no bitter,
all enjoyment and no pain! This is utter nonsense and a theology right from the
darkest pit of hell! Surely, they are Satan’s disciples!
Again, for the ease of analysis and gainful discourse I
reproduce here verbatim what is recorded in the portion of the New Testament
quoted above. You may have a different version, but this is from GNB edition:
“The Rich Man
v.17: As Jesus was starting on his way again, a man
ran up, knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to
receive eternal life?”
v.18: “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him.
“No one is good except God alone.
v.19: You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit
murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not accuse anyone falsely; do
not cheat; respect your father and your mother.’”
v.20: “Teacher,” the man said, “ever since I was
young, I have obeyed all these commandments.”
v.21: Jesus looked straight at him with love and
said, “You need only one thing, Go and sell all you have and give the money to
the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me.”
v.22: When the man heard this, gloom spread over his
face, and he went away sad, because he was very rich.
v.23: Jesus looked round at his disciples and said
to them, “How hard it will be for rich people to enter the Kingdom of God
v.24: The disciples were shocked at these words, but
Jesus went on to say, “My children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God
v.25: It is much harder for a rich person to enter
the Kingdom of God
v.26: At this the disciples were completely amazed
and asked one another, “Who, then, can be saved?”
v.27: Jesus looked straight at them and answered,
“This is impossible for man, but not for God; everything is possible for God.”
v.28: Then Peter spoke up, “Look, we have left
everything and followed you.”
v.29: “Yes,” Jesus said to them, “and I tell you
that anyone who leaves home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or
children or fields for me and for the gospel will receive much more in this
present age.
v.30: He will receive a hundred times more houses,
brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—*and persecutions as well;
and in the age to come he will receive eternal life.
v.31: But many who now are first will be last, and
many who now are last will be first.”
(*The asterisk above, is mine and is there for emphasis,
since most of our priests/pastors/ preachers often omit this phrase
deliberately. This outright misrepresentation is actually what leads to
prosperity gospel preaching!)
Since many evangelists miss the spiritual lessons of the
Lord Jesus in this narrative, it would be necessary to handle the analyses in
their order of priority rather than sequentially. I hope you will understand
me!
1. Have you ever noted the full import of
the statement in verse 24:
· “The disciples were shocked at
these words, but Jesus went on to say, My children, how hard it is to enter the
Kingdom of God”!We all know that most of the apostles were married men who
were older than Jesus Christ was in chronological age. At least Peter, was
definitely older than him, yet he included him in the reference;”My Children!”
To get the transcendental inference of that statement, you must go back to
verse 14 of that chapter. That is your homework! No spoon-feeding this time
around! Only wise children of God will be able to decipher the truth in it!
2. Oh! How I wish that today’s preachers
could reflect more seriously on what Jesus Christ said in verse 18. There is no
need giving his statement of a fact any hyper-theological interpretation! Take
it literally; “Why do you call
me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good except God alone.” Did you notice the exceptional
humility of Jesus there? ‘I am
not good! Talk less of being a good teacher! I am only human for now and
therefore can never be that good! Only God the Father, the Almighty Creator, is
good at all times!’ This is
exactly the import of his declaration here!
3. It is time we appreciated the fact
that Jesus never claimed divinity while he was on earth! Read the entire
contents of John 17, notingverse 3, where he states clearly that he was only an
ambassador; “And
eternal life means knowing you, the only true God, and knowing Jesus Christ,
whom you sent.” A
representative or a deputy is never the same as the substantive personality. He
was never, was not and will never be equal to God the Father!
4. See his confirmation of this analysis
in Matthew 24, vv. 32 –44, specifically verse 36. It is translated in the same
manner in Mark 13, vv. 32 – 37. The verse clearly states that Christ as a Son
did not know the day or hour of the last judgement. Only God, the Father, knew!
· “v. 36: No one knows, however, when
that day and hour will come—neither the angels in heaven nor the Son; the
Father alone knows.”
As an emphasis, only Mark adds what Jesus said as a
recapitulation, “v. 33:
Be on the watch, be alert, for you do not know when the time will come….” Read on and on to verse 37, which
concludes thus; “What I
say to you, then, I say to all: WATCH!”
· This additional information on what
Jesus said is corroborated again in Matthew 24, vv. 36 – 44. Read and meditate
on the whole of Chapter 24. This was the basis on which Paul stated in one of
his epistles that Jesus,
the Christ, did not cling to his divine nature but rather he emptied himself
and took on the nature of man. He humbled himself further even to the most
cruel and ignominious death of hanging on a cross!
· Again, compare these with what is
stated in Luke 17, vv. 26 – 30 and 34 – 36. In none of the narratives did Jesus refer to himself as the
Son of God. Rather he repeatedly called himself the “Son of Man” more than ten
times in all these passages!
· Therefore, the lesson I am driving
at is that Jesus, the earthly carpenter attained divinity by conscientious
spiritual exercises and extreme sacrifices on his part to earn the title “Son
of God”. His personal name
that the angel announced was “Emmanuel” i.e. “God with us” translated to
“Jesus” its Greek equivalent.
· “Christ” is a title he earned! It was not bestowed on him. You too
can earn it. You are fully equipped to do so right from birth, but due to
misinterpretations by half-baked pastors and priests dishing out non-Jewish
manufactured and patented theologies, we have all derailed from the truth! Thus
being fed with the wrong indoctrination from our childhood, we have all lost
the zeal to emulate him and even the motivation to try!
5. Now let us come back to the
fundamentals. How many of the self-righteous followers of Christ today would
have done what this rich man did! Run?
Kneel down? A rich man of today running after an itinerant, scantily clothed,
poor and non-formally educated pastor requesting a homily? Impossible! Not in our own lifetime! Nevertheless,
there it was! The narrative records the behaviour of the man thus:
· As Jesus was starting on his way
again, a man ran up, knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must
I do to receive eternal life?” If
it were today, the question would have been “What must I do to become a
millionaire?” or “What will I do to win more government contracts?” or better
still “What must I do to be promoted in my office?”
· All the prosperity gospel-preachers
would daily kneel in secret and pray that such rich men ran to them instead of
Jesus by joining their churches. Should
their prayers go unanswered, they would then send the beautiful and sensuous
ladies who gyrate in their gospel bands as choristers after the wealthy members
of the community to seduce and drag them along to their churches! There is
no need bordering to find out to what use all those single ‘sisters’ in these
mushroom churches are put or what they actually do. I have told you! Quote me
without any fear of error or contradiction from any quarters!
6. Do you see the difference between
the statements of Jesus in verses 23 & 24? Do not say you do unless you
have looked at it again and seen the logical implications. Do so now! Write me when you are successful in
finding out the right answer! Consult or confront your money-spinning
evangelists and pastors with this wise query! My e-mail address is clearly on
this book, as well as my telephone numbers!
7. It would be most interesting to do
a research on these ‘noveau- riche’ pastors and staunch crusade organisers with
the contents of verses 25 & 26! Let us hear their defence! If you are a conscientious
Christian, help us at your end by collecting only ten responses from some of
these prosperity preachers around you!Avarice, your other name is ‘prosperity
gospel’!
8. How many of our current day priests,
pastors and bishops can truly imitate Peter in his altruistic statement of the
fact that they really abandoned their professions for the sake of the kingdom of God
· v. 28: Then Peter spoke up,
“Look, we have left everything and followed you”. None is the only truthful answer
for now! Rather, the opposite is the practice today.
· If you are not making millions from
the profession you trained in, abandon it and open a Pentecostal Church
· They are the true losers in the
hide and seek game while their pastors are the beneficiaries of the prosperity
theology! My people have a satire for the buffoonery. It goes this way: “Monkey
de work, but na baboon de chop am oh!”
9. Jesus Christ is the only founder or
proprietor of the most successful business concern on earth who refused to
register it as either a Copyrighted Industry or a Limited Liability Company.
Therefore, every fake preacher uses his name, logo and ‘manifesto’ to earn a
living. It is an all-comers haven for easy money, free food, free wine and free
women! This he inadvertently did by adding the promises in verses 29–31.
However, they conveniently miss out the conditionality of “—*and persecutions as well”;
and that explains why they are really Satan’s gospel preachers and not of
Jesus, the Saviour!
10. If I were a Jew
from Bethlehem Israel International Court
· At least for now, it remains a
free-for-all market for school drop-outs and never-do-wells. This should not
be. Some people have to pay royalties to the nation of Israel Nigeria
· Unless something drastic is done
and urgently for that matter, the story we will be hearing in the next decade
is female pastors and bishops who preach that polyandry, lesbianism and
paedophilia are welcome, not only as new converts but also as spirit-filled,
tongues-speaking ‘born-again Christians!’ Next, we shall have homosexual
couples and polygynous men declared – ‘ normal Christians’, while heterosexuals
and monogamous ones are labelled selfish, egocentric and uncharitable
Christians! That is where we are heading to now!
1.4 NO CROSS, NO CROWN
Let us consult Saul of Tarsus or “Paul, the Apostle of
the Gentiles,” on this obnoxious issue of prosperity gospel preaching that is
definitely an aberration in present-day Christendom! Are they blind to the
various pious letters of this great missionary whom they should be
imitating?This is the proof that these prosperity gospel-preachers are servants
of Satan!
Peruse his epistle to the Philippians before reading
further. Then as a summary, let us look briefly at chapter 3, vv. 12 – 21:
v. 12: I do not claim that I have already succeeded
or have already become perfect. I keep striving to win the prize for which
Christ Jesus has already won me to himself.
v. 13: Of course, my brothers, I really do not think
that I have already won it; the one thing I do, however, is to forget what is
behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead.
v. 14: So I run straight towards the goal in order
to win the prize, which is God’s call through Christ Jesus to the life above.
v.15: All of us who are spiritually mature should
have this same attitude. But if some of you have a different attitude, God will
make this clear to you.
v.16: However that may be, let us go forward
according to the rules we have followed until now.
v. 17: Keep on imitating me, my brothers. Pay
attention to those who follow the right example that we have set for you.
v. 18: I have told this many times before, and now I
repeat it with tears: there are many whose lives make them enemies of Christ’s
death on the cross.
v. 19: They are going to end up in hell, because
their god is their bodily desires. They are proud of what they should be
ashamed of, and they think only of things that belong to this world.
v.20: We, however, are citizens of heaven, and we
eagerly wait for our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come from heaven.
v.21: He will change our weak mortal bodies and make them
like his own glorious body, using that power by which he is able to bring all
things under his rule.”
There is no
need for any commentary on this passage for true followers of Jesus, the
Christ, who commissioned Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus
Peter was crucified upside down at his request to give
respect to his Master. All the apostles were persecuted, most being tortured
before being executed. Yet, some psychedelic pastors claim that their brand of
Christianity is PROSPERITY ALL THE WAY; no persecutions or suffering for the
sake of the gospel! Only a neophyte can be carried away with such puerile
logic! Even Paul was imprisoned many times, shipwrecked severally and flogged
on other occasions!
Where do these present-day demonic prosperity
gospel-preachers get their theologies? “From the pit of hell!” is the only
accurate answer. There never was, in the entire World History, a single case of where
any kingdom did not face either external or internal crises before achieving a
nationhood of peace, tranquillity and progress. Yet, these deceptive preachers
are not ashamed to categorically state a contrary and unscientific view in
front of their demented and hypnotised congregations! It is amazing how lawyers
and politicians patronise these mushroom churches and complacently listen to
half-educated pastors blatantly tell these lies. Wonders, they say, will never
end! Remind yourself of what Christ promised those who are his true followers
as we saw in the previous chapter. Here it is verbatim:
v. 29: “Yes,” Jesus said to them, “and I tell you
that anyone who leaves home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or
children or fields for me and for the gospel will receive much more in this
present age.
v.30: He will receive a hundred times more houses,
brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—*and persecutions as well;
and in the age to come he will receive eternal life.
v.31: But many who now are first will be last, and
many who now are last will be first.” How then can anyone convince you that Christianity is a
crossless religion? Did Adam not suffer? Did Abraham not suffer? Did Jacob not
suffer? Did Joseph not suffer but he got the crown of second only to the
Pharaoh of Egypt? Ask these pseudo-evangelists to buttress their mundane
theology with facts and data from the Bible! They are not more intelligent than
you are rather they are craftier! They are dishonest! They are after your
money! That is all! I want
serious minded Christians to meditate on what Our Lord and Master foretold in
the Gospel of John 15, vv. 18 – 27 and John 16, vv. 1 – 24. Read from any
version you have access to. However, if you want to get my exact words, you
would have to find the GNB edition. See specifically verses 18, 19 & 20 of
Chapter 15:
“The World’s Hatred
v. 18: If the world hates you, just remember that it
has hated me first.
v. 19: If you belonged to the world, then the world
would love you as its own. But I chose you from this world, and you do not
belong to it; that is why the world hates you.
v. 20: Remember what I told you: ‘No slave is
greater than his master. ‘If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too;
if they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours too.”
Let me stop here! Read the rest of the chapter, and ask
yourself, WHY DO THESE PROSPERITY GOSPEL-PREACHERS AVOID QUOTING THESE PORTIONS
OF THE BIBLE? Put on your thinking cap and find the genuine answers! Write to
the Secretary General of I. S. M. You can also telephone me or better still e-mail
me with saintkenez@yahoo.co.ukor
visit:www.kenez@kihol.org.
Now, at a convenient time look up Matthew 16, vv. 21 –
28, Mark 8, vv. 31 – 9, v. 1 or again Luke 9, vv. 22 – 27 and drink in the
formula for Christian witnessing! I will only reprint verse 24 here:
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to
come with me, he must forget self, carry his cross, and follow me. For whoever
wants to save, his own life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my
sake will find it. Will a person gain anything if he wins the whole world but
loses his life! Of course not! There is nothing he can give to regain his life.
So, why has no one ever challenged these half-baked
preachers of a crossless Christianity? You are too timid not to have done so
all these years! Do so now! They are not ‘Men of God’. They are only ‘men of
Satan.’ The adulation and reverence you accord them is misplaced. Their
‘pulpits’ are the same as the ‘soap boxes’ of politicians or the ‘sorcery
tables’ of black magicians! Overthrow them before they delude your naïve sons
and daughters with their satanic doctrines!
One cannot write enough on the desecration going on all
in the name of Christianity. There are too many signboards in every corner of
the streets in townships and the roads in our rural areas announcing the
existence of or the birth of new churches on a monthly basis. There are many
conflicting names of mushroom churches that sound demonic, proclaiming various
services; such as counselling sessions, healing ministries and organising
deliverance crusades! We are
now motley groups of confused miracle seekers and the laughing stock of other
religions! May God redeem us all!
1.5 THE WARNINGS OF JESUS CHRIST
If you have done the comparative readings I recommended
above, you will then see that the following reprints conclusively demonstrate
that Matthew, the former tax collector, on joining the discipleship, became its
best journalist, news reporter or simply put: a
very good scribe! Only his
gospel brings together episodes, teachings, miracles and/or events that are
related under one chapter. The perfect example is THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT,
followed by what I term “The manifesto of Jesus Christ”. Other writers did not
see the need to
paraphrase similar events, talks or sermons into a pool
with the same theme or sub-themes for the ease of their readers. However, he
did! Study his compilations in Chapters 5, 6 & 7, then see Chapter 13 for
parables or study the current ones: 23 & 24!
v. 1: Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples.
v. 2: “The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees are
the authorised interpreters of Moses’ Law.
v. 3: So you must obey and follow everything they
tell you to do; do not,
however, imitate their actions, because they don’t practise what they preach.
The same can be said verbatim of today’s priests,
pastors, bishops, superintendents, overseers, evangelists and crusade
organisers! Just replace ‘Law and
the Pharisees’ with ‘Bible and the Pastors’ in the quotation and you will see that
Jesus was a prophet whose words come true even after three millennia! He
foresaw today’s false pastors and prosperity gospel preachers!
v. 4: They tie on to people’s backs loads that are
heavy and hard to carry, yet they aren’t willing even to lift a finger to help
them carry those loads.
v. 5: They do everything so that people will see
them.
The same applies to all the church leaders in our present
age. Do they not levy so many collections, annual dues, harvests and bazaars?
How many of them ever donate a dime, penny or kobo to any of these financial
burdens they place on every member of their congregations; parents,
adolescents, teenagers, and school children. Even orphans and widows are not
exempted from their levies! Ha- bah! Is
religion a new version of slavery? At the rate we are following them
sheepishly, it is unfortunate but the answer for now is ‘Yes!’ Whoever heard that a religious
leader donated a school bus, or gave scholarships to indigent pupils in his
very parsonage or parish? None! They milk them dry!
v. 6: They love the best places at feasts and the
reserved seats in the synagogues;
v. 7: they love to be greeted with respect in the
market-places and to be called ‘Teacher.’
If only Jesus was here, I would gladly allow him to walk
across my prostrated body for being so accurate! I guess he was really a great
psychologist, besides being the greatest doctor/healer the world has ever
known! Did you know that he was also a professor of psychiatry? If you do not
think so, go to any teaching hospital and ask today’s doctors. How many demons
in mad people did he cast out? Do your homework!
v. 8: You
must not be called ‘Teacher’, because you are all brothers of one another and
have only one Teacher,
v. 9: And
you must not call anyone here on earth ‘Father’, because you have only the one
Father in heaven.
v. 10: Nor should you be called ‘Leader”, because
your one and only leader is the Messiah.
v. 11: The greatest among you must be your servant.
v. 12: Whoever makes himself great will be humbled,
and whoever humbles himself will be made great.
One really wonders whether these pastors and priests get
blind when they come across these passages in the bible! Has Satan taken over
the intellect of these proud and self-effacing Reverends and Lordships? Do
these verses need any translations or amplifications? I am at a loss on why we, the
teeming followers of these disciples of Lucifer have been so myopic that we
never revolted all this while! May be we are equally disciples of the prince of
darkness! Why still call
them; ‘Teachers’, ‘Fathers’ and ‘Leaders’ despite the explicit warnings of
Jesus, the Christ! The only possible explanation for now is that Satan is being
worshipped and adored by all who disobey Christ’s injunctions in these
passages! Unfortunately, that includes you and me! Let us repent now!
Then talk of humility! Did you not see the prescription
of Our Lord and Master? The simple formula for becoming great is given free of
charge: The greatest among you
must be your servant. However,
not for our pseudo-theologians who pride themselves with every type of
unbecoming titles: Rev. Fr.
Dr. Prof. Prince ABC---- XYZ! The
rest of the chapter and the next are very interesting and I urge you to, not
only read them, but show them to your so-called
Rev. Frs. and Pastors! I will
jump certain verses for brevity so we can go on with our theosophical analyses
and for the clarity of thought needed to complete our subsequent
psycho-sociological discourse!
v. 13: “How terrible for you, teachers of the Law
and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You lock the door to the kingdom of heaven in
people’s faces, and you yourselves don’t go in, nor do you allow in those who
are trying to enter!
v. 15: “How terrible for you, teachers of the law
and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You sail the seas and cross whole countries to
win one convert; and when you succeed, you make him twice as deserving of going
to hell as you yourselves are!
The demonic sermons we get at the hands of some
prosperity gospel-preachers are funny. For example: “You are the sons of Abraham by
faith, he owned thousands of cattle….bla bla” they scream into their microphones
gesticulating as if they were under the effects of some psychoactive drugs, ‘and therefore you were born to be
rich like your father Abraham!” best
illustrates what Christ was prophesying here.
This is a faulty logic. There were other demands or
requirements made on Abraham that present-day Christians could never and cannot
obey! How many can leave their homes and relatives and set out on a journey
that had neither a destination nor a map to follow? How many would be faithful
in a childless marriage for as long as Patriarch Abraham did? How many are
ready to work without expecting huge rewards?
These untutored preachers without the benefit of either
rudimentary syllogism or the basic rules involved in the square of opposition;
only repeat verbatim what they had seen some foreign preachers deliver on
television; CBN, TSB, etc. Moreover, the gullible seekers of signs and wonders
swallow everything they vomit, hook line and sinker, with the expectation of a
luxurious life without the commensurate perspiration demanded from aspiring
millionaires! Who does not want an easy life?
It is time we woke up from our daydreaming! Go out into
the nascent and competitive world and pay your dues and you will get the
rewards of hard work! This prosperity gospel does not work for members of the
congregation. It is the preacher that harvests where he did not so, while you
and your family suffer debilitating diseases like beriberi, kwashiorkor and
marasmus! Ask medical personnel what those three diseases mean!
v. 25: “How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and
Pharisees! You hypocrites! You clean the outside of your cup and plate, while
the inside is full of what you have obtained by violence and selfishness.
v. 26: Blind Pharisee! Clean what is inside the cup first,
and then the outside will be clean too!
v. 27: “How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and
Pharisees! You hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look fine on
the outside but are full of bones and decaying corpses on the inside.
v. 28: In the same way, on the outside you appear
good to everybody, but on the inside, you are full of hypocrisy and sins.”
Does anyone need an interpretation for those simple
statements of facts? What does a tomb covered with tiles look like theses days?
White! Suppose you dig up the contents after three months, what will you find
inside? Dry bones, nails, hairs, the teeth, the skull and may be some decaying
flesh. Some of these prosperity gospel preachers are exactly that! To put the
final nail on the coffin of these false miracle workers and seekers of signs
and wonders, see what our Lord Jesus Christ forewarned us in Matthew, Chapter
24, vv. 15 –28, subtitled:
“The Awful Horror
v.15: You
will see ‘The Awful Horror’ of which the prophet Daniel spoke. It will be
standing in the holy place.” (Note to the reader; understand what this means!)
v.16: Then those who are in Judea must run away to the hills.
v.17: A man who is on the roof of his house must not
take the time to go down and get his belongings from the house.
v.18: A man who is in the field must not go back to
get his cloak.
v.19: How terrible it will be in those days for
women who are pregnant and for mothers with little babies!
v.10: Pray to God that you will not have to run away
during the winter or on a Sabbath!
v.21: For the trouble at that time will be far more
terrible than any there has ever been, from the beginning of the world to this
very day.
v.22: But God has already reduced the number of
days; had he not done so, nobody would survive. For the sake of his chosen
people, however, God will reduce the days.
The awful horrors standing in holy places are these
greedy/half-baked preachers commercialising Jesus Christ! He emphatically
condemned them by saying his greatest prophetic verses on the issue:
v.23: “Then, if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is
the Messiah!’ or ‘There he is!’ – do not believe him.
v.24: For false Messiahs and false prophets will
appear; they will perform great miracles and wonders in order to deceive even
God’s chosen people, if possible.
v.25: Listen! I have told you this before the time
comes.
v.26: “Or,
if people should tell you, ‘Look, he is out in the desert!’—don’t go there; or
if they say, ‘Look, he is hiding here!’—don’t believe it.
v.27: For the Son of Man will come like the
lightning which flashes across the whole sky from the east to the west.
We can all go home now, for Jesus Christ, Our Lord and
Master, has said all that needs be said about these dirty crooks and
semi-literate disciples of Satan masquerading as his own gospel preachers. They
are as stinking as the inside of a grave with a decaying corpse, but the sweet
perfume they wear is so enticing to their equally depraved seekers of easy
Christianity! Or else, tell me what is the secret fragrance of their pulpit
demonstrations that glues you to your seat for the three hours that they act
those well-scripted scenes they had rehearsed perfectly after many hours of
imitating foreign American Pentecostal preachers! Many have been deceived
before the arrival of Pentecostalism and many will still fall victims of
fraudsters in sheep’s clothing, as Our Lord and Master had predicted. Do not
hope to complain to any one if on dying you find yourself in hellfire. Surely,
you will all form a political party in Satan’s kingdom, probably with this
hilarious nomenclature:
“PROSPERITY SEEKERS UNLIMITED!”
MEDITATIONAL PAGE
On this page summarise what you have
learnt so far and articulate your agreement or disagreement:
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
International
Religio-Cultural Practices
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Photocopy this page and/or send your reactions and questions to:
The Secretary General,
I.S.M. Headquarters,
1.6 THE WARNINGS OF APOSTLES PETER & PAUL
At least, no one is in doubt about the contribution of
the two great founding members of the brand of Christianity that reached us. It
was Barnabas and Paul with John Mark and Silas as their assistants that made
the very first recorded missionary journey! That of Philip to the Ethiopian
eunuch is often ignored, but I can assure you that it had as much impact in Africa
as those in Eastern Europe and Rome
Therefore, if we want to get the original theology,
doctrines and views on prosperity or signs and wonders, Peter performed the
greatest miracles after Jesus, the Christ. Next is Paul, though, not one of the
twelve, he was arrested by Christ on the way to Damascus
“The Example of Christ’s Suffering
v. 18: You servants must submit to your masters and
show them complete respect, not only to those who are kind and considerate, but
also to those who are harsh.
v. 19: God will bless you for this, if you endure the
pain of undeserved suffering because you are conscious of his will.
v. 20: For what credit is there if you endure the
beatings you deserve for having done wrong? But if you endure suffering even
when you have right, God will bless you for it
v. 21: It was to this that God called you, for Christ
himself suffered for you and left you an example, so that you would follow in
his steps.
v. 22: He committed no sin, and no one ever heard a
lie come from his lips.”
“v. 23: When he was insulted, he did not answer back
with an insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but placed his hopes in
God, the righteous Judge.
v. 24: Christ himself carried our sins in his body
to the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. It is by
his wounds that you have been healed.
v. 25: You were like sheep that had lost their way,
but now you have been brought back to follow the Shepherd and Keeper of your
souls.”
What other indictment do we need to heap on the false
preachers who bamboozle us with a theology of no suffering at all for the sake
of the gospel! You can now decipher where prosperity preachers are coming from.
They are graduates of Satan’s university since they cannot bear witness to a
Suffering Christ who bought us for a price! Re-read verses 19 and 20, and the
true theology of suffering is clear! If after reading the whole of this book,
you are still found in churches that deny that one has to pay a price for a
crown, then you are either a fool or you are just one of the disciples of
Satan! Now go over to Chapter 4, and let us again see verses 12 – 19, although
one should not forget to digest the contents of the next chapter, entitled: THE
FLOCK OF GOD, and then Peter’s FINAL GREETINGS.
v. 12: My dear friends, do not be surprised at the
painful test you are suffering, as though something unusual were happening to
you.
v.13: Rather be glad that you are sharing Christ’s
sufferings, so that you may be full l joy when his glory is revealed.
v. 14: Happy are you if you are insulted because you
are Christ’s followers; this means that the glorious Spirit, the Spirit of God
is resting on you.
v. 15: If any of you suffers, it must not be because
he is a murderer or a thief or a criminal or a meddler in other people’s
affairs.
v. 16: However, if you suffer because you are a
Christian, don’t be ashamed of it, but thank God that you bear Christ’s name.
v. 17: The time has come for judgement to begin, and
God’s own people are the first to be judged. If it starts with us, how will it
end with those who do not believe the Good News from God?
v. 18: As the scripture says, “It is difficult for
good people to be saved; what, then, will become of godless sinners?”
v. 19: So then, those who suffer because it is God’s
will for them, should by their good actions trust themselves completely to
their Creator, who always keeps his promise.
What else is there to add? My dear brothers and sisters
in Christ, ‘you can not eat your cake and still have it right there in your
hands’ and Christ said “no one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back
is worthy of the Kingdom of God
For your information, least you are carried away by the
popular fad of ill-equipped evangelists, the writer of HEBREWS as it appears in
the Christian Bible is not Apostle Paul! However,
go and study Chapters 4, 5 & 6 of that theosophical treatise if you desire
to know the qualities of good witnesses and true evangelists of Jesus Christ.
How many of your greedy pastors meet the requirements set down there. There you
have a blue litmus test to use in assessing those Revs. A – Z of all shades!
What did Saul of Tarsus suffer before he was admitted
into the fold? After reading of his blindness and apparent rejection by the
genuine apostles in chapter 9 of the Acts of the Apostles, jump over to his
litany of woes in Chapter 11 of his 2nd Letter to the Corinthians. There is no
space to recapitulate them here. Ask your prosperity evangelists what they have
suffered on behalf of Jesus Christ and his gospel! You should not be complacent
with just going through the motions of emotional dramas that is the Sunday
services they conduct for you to dance away your sorrows. At the resumption of
daily duties on Monday mornings, you are back to the very same problems you
seemed to have forgotten under the mass hypnotherapy you went through on
Sunday!
I can confidently inform you that wisdom and holiness are
learnt at the School of Suffering
Now, let us see the warnings Paul gave to his ‘true son
in the faith’ and faithful assistant: ‘Bishop Timothy!’ Read, study and
evaluate all you find in 1st and
2nd Timothy. There is
nothing left out in the two letters. Find out why your pastors are blind to
these wise counsels by the greatest apostle of the gentiles and avoid quoting
them. For the convenience of neophytes in reading the Bible and similarity of
translations, we shall reprint only those we deem indispensable for a clear
understanding of this triplet of holiness, suffering and wisdom!
· 1st Tim 1: vv. 3 –11………..Warnings against
False Teaching,
· 1st Tim 4: vv. 1 – 5, …False Teachers, 6 –
10, …Good Servants,
· 1st Tim 6: vv. 3 – 10………… False Teaching
and True Riches.
v. 3: I want you to stay in Ephesus Macedonia
v. 4: Tell them to give up those legends and those
long lists of their ancestors, which only produce arguments; they do not serve
God’s plan, which is known by faith.
v. 5: The purpose of this order is to arouse the
love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a genuine faith.
v. 6: Some people have turned away from these and
have lost their way in foolish discussions.
v. 7: They want to be teachers of God’s law, but
they do not understand their own words or the matters about which they speak
with so much confidence.
v. 8: We know that the Law is good if it is used as
it should be used.
v. 9: It must be remembered, of course, that laws
are made, not for good people, but for lawbreakers and criminals, for the
godless and sinful, for those who are not religious or spiritual, for those who
kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers,
v. 10: For the immoral, for sexual perverts, for
kidnappers, for those who lie and give false testimony or who do anything
contrary to sound doctrine.
v. 11: That teaching is found in the gospel that was
entrusted to me to announce, the Good News from the glorious and blessed
God.
1st Tim
4: vv.1–5, FALSE TEACHERS, 6–10 GOOD SERVANTS
v. 1: The Spirit says clearly that some people will
abandon the faith in later times; they will obey lying spirits and follow the
teachings of demons.
v. 2: Such teachings are spread by deceitful liars,
whose consciences are dead, as if burnt with a hot iron.
v. 3: Such people teach that it is wrong to marry
and to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten, after a
prayer of thanks, by those who are believers and have come to know the truth.
v. 4: Everything
that God has created is good; nothing is to be rejected, but everything is to
be received with a prayer of thanks,
v. 5: Because the word of God and the prayer make it
acceptable to God.
A Good Servant of Christ Jesus
v. 6: If you give these instructions to the
brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, as you feed yourself
spiritually on the words of faith and the true teaching which you have
followed.
v. 7: But keep away from those godless legends,
which are not worth telling. Keep yourself in training for a godly life.
v. 8: Physical exercise has some value, but
spiritual exercise is valuable in every way, because it promises life both for
the present and for the future.
v. 9: This is a true saying, to be completely
accepted and believed.
v.10: We struggle and work hard, because we have placed
our hope in the living God, who is the Saviour of all and especially those who
believe.
I do hope that you are consciously awake and sequentially
following the arguments being raised here by none other than the Great Apostle
of the Gentiles! Show these passages to your greedy and affluent pastors who
mesmerise you with their own favourite passages from the Old Testament,
especially those that serve their avaricious purposes!
v. 3: You must teach and preach these things.
Whoever teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the true words of
our Lord Jesus Christ and with the teaching of our religion,
v. 4: is swollen with pride and knows nothing. He
has an unhealthy desire to argue and quarrel about words, and this brings on
jealousy, disputes, insults, evil suspicions,
v. 5: and constant arguments from people whose minds
do not function and who no longer have the truth.
v. 6: Well, religion does make a person very rich,
if he is satisfied with what he has.
v. 7: What did we bring into the world? Nothing!
What can we take out of the world? Nothing!
v. 8: So then, if we have food and clothes that
should be enough for us.
v. 9: But those who want to get rich fall into
temptation and are caught in the trap of many foolish and harmful desires which
pull them down to ruin and destruction.
v.10: For the love of money is a source of all kinds
of evil. Some have been so eager to have it that they have wandered away from
the faith and have broken their hearts with many sorrows.”
“I do not intend to add or subtract from the wisdom so
succinctly expressed by the Great Apostle in those passages I have just
reprinted verbatim! It will, however, interest you to read the concluding part
of that chapter and listen to the final instructions he gave his Son in the
Lord, Bishop Timothy, especially verses 17 - 19! “All that glitters are not
gold” is an English proverb I learnt way back in my primary school days in the
1950s. Now in the 1990s, most churchgoers and naïve followers of Satan’s
disciples seeking for easy life, signs and wonders think that it should
reversed to suit their whims and caprices! Can that ever be? Unfortunately,
this can never be done! “A word, is enough for a wise man or woman, is another
that ends this chapter! Those that have useful ears let them understand! Have
you enjoyed reading through it? Tell me about it!”
1.7 PASTORS NOW OWN LIMOUSINES
I will like to open this chapter with the directive of
Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles, gave to the early converts he made in
Thessalonica. Some of our present day pastors are lazy but live in costly hotel
suites, eat the choicest meals, and build mansions as residences. They own
cathedrals as their personal properties, wear the best apparel money can buy
and ride the costliest jeeps or limousines. Annually, they send their wives,
girlfriends and children on summer holidays abroad on the illegal funds they
extort from their naïve and docile congregations! Apostle Paul has a veritable
admonition for them: See 2nd Thessalonians
3: vv. 6 – 16:
“The Obligation to Work
v. 6: Our brothers, we command you in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ to keep away from all brothers who are living a lazy life
and who do not follow the instructions that we gave them.
v. 7: You yourselves know very well that you
should do just what we did. We were not lazy when we were with you.
v. 8: We did not accept anyone’s support without
paying for it. Instead, we worked and toiled; we kept working day and night so
as not to be an expense to any of you.
v. 9: We did this, not because we have no right to
demand our support; we did it to be an example for you to follow.
v. 10: While we were with you, we used to say to
you, “Whoever refuses to work is not allowed to eat.”
v. 11: We say this because we hear that there are
some people among you who live lazy lives and who do nothing except meddle in
other people’s business.
v. 12: In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we
command these people and warn them to lead orderly lives and work to earn their
own living.
v. 13: But you, brothers, must not get tired of
doing good.
v. 14: It may be that someone there will not obey
the message we send you in this letter. If so, take note of him and have
nothing to do with him, so that he will be ashamed.
v. 15: But
do not treat him as an enemy; instead, warn him as a brother.
v. 16: May the Lord himself, who is our source of
peace, give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with you.”
Verse 10 has a better translation in both KJV and RSV.
While the former says: ‘that
if he would not work, neither should he eat.’ the
latter says ‘If anyone will
not work, let him not eat.’ Those
were not recommendations but orders. To expose the impudence and laxity of
present-day prosperity gospel preachers, let us read the whole of verses 10,11
and 12 as it is rendered in RSV:
v. 10: “For even when we were with you, we
gave you this command: If any one will not work, let him not eat.
v.11: For we hear that some of you are living in
idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work.
v. 12: Now such persons we command and exhort in the
Lord Jesus Christ to do their work in quietness and to earn a living.”
Our hypnotised congregations should note that they are
responsible for spoiling these lazy preachers who do not have any other means
of livelihood except recapitulating over-quoted passages and shouting their
voices coarse regurgitating what they have heard from other articulate
evangelist and rehearsed repeatedly till they can dramatise them. Imitation is
not learning and the Holy Spirit does not deceive nor does such deceive him.
Moreover, he does not reside with such preachers nor grant them any power to
perform signs and wonders. I will tell you how they fake their own miracles
that are really magic and witchcraft in the next chapter. For now, note the
message in verse 13 to 16. See the golden advice: “But you, brothers, must not get
tired of doing good, and the
closing prayer: May the
Lord himself, who is our source of peace, give you peace at all times and in
every way. The Lord be with you.”It should be that way with our generation!
However, NO! This can never be allowed to sink into the
heads of desperate and faithless Christians who chase signs and wonders around
from one crusade ground to another! These crazy and demonised prosperity
preachers can never see those verses in the Bible they quote copiously from,
everyday, everywhere and everytime! Be warned therefore and implement what our
great apostle instructs: If
so, take note of him and have nothing to do with him, so that he will be
ashamed. Apostle Paul did not
end his counsel there; rather he followed up with a practical demonstration of
how an evangelist or preacher ought to earn a living with his own hands. See
Acts 20: vv. 17 – 38:
Paul’s Farewell Speech to the Elders of
Ephesus
v. 17: From Miletus Ephesus
v. 18: When they arrived, he said to them, “You know
how I spent the whole time I was with you, from the first day I arrived in the
province of Asia .
v. 19: With all humility and many tears I did my
work as the Lord’s servant during the hard times that came to me because of the
plots of the Jews.
v. 20: You know that I did not hold back anything
that would be of help to you as I preached and taught in public and in your
homes.
v. 21: To the Jews and Gentiles alike I gave solemn
warning that they should turn from their sins to God and believe in our Lord
Jesus.
v. 22: And now, in obedience to the Holy Spirit I am
going to Jerusalem
v. 23: I only know that in every city the Holy
Spirit has warned me that prison and troubles wait for me.
v. 24: But I reckon my own life to be worth nothing
to me; I only want to complete my mission and finish the work that the Lord
Jesus gave me to do, which is to declare the Good News about the grace of God.”
So that we do not miss out the vital points for the
elucidation of our discourse, I want to break up his speech into three parts.
The foregone part emphasises the suffering that Paul had to undergo in the
special service the Lord arrested him for. Rather verses 22 - 24 summarise his
mental attitude and preparedness to obey the Holy Sprit of God in all the
assignments that Jesus had mapped out and given him on the road to Damascus
v. 25: “I have gone about among all of you,
preaching the Kingdom
of God
v. 26: So
I solemnly declare to you this very day: if any of you should be lost, I am not
responsible.
v. 27: For I have not held back from announcing to
you the whole purpose of God.
v. 28: So keep watch over yourselves and over all
the flock which the Holy Spirit has placed in your care. Be shepherds of the church of God
v. 29: I know that after I leave, fierce wolves will
come among you, and they will not spare the flock.
v. 30: The time will come when some men from your
own group will tell lies to lead the believers away after them.
v. 31: Watch, then, and remember that with
many tears, day and night, I taught every one of you for three years.
I would shed tears if I were there as Paul made those
statements. Look at the gravity of the last part of verse 25: And now I know that none of you
will ever see e again. If you
were certain that death awaits you where you were heading to, how would you
feel? Be sincere! Rather than being concerned with the depression associated
with such terminal prophecy, he was rather more concerned that none of his
converts would be lost. In imitation of Jesus Christ, although he neither was a
disciple then nor was he around at the farewell address of Christ, he almost
repeated the last message, prayer and admonition of the Lord! You may now go
and read over the longest prayer of Jesus, the Christ beautifully chronicled
only by John, the Beloved Apostle, in chapter 17 of his angelic gospel.
Again, see the concern over their eternal salvation! So, keep watch over yourselves and
over all the flock, which the Holy Spirit has placed in your care. Be shepherds
of the church of God, which he made his own through the sacrificial death of
his Son. In other words, he
explicitly informed them to remember that their personal salvation was tied
along with their roles and duties as shepherds. Today, our gospel preachers would
quickly inform you “that making heaven is an individual affair.” Furthermore, he predicted apostasy and
warned them of wolves and false preachers that would arise from within their
own ranks. Read John 15: vv. 18 – 27. Now, conclude with John 16: vv. 1 – 4.
This is the right way for a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus to end his
ministry, not in lechery, lasciviousness and debauchery that is the trademark
of today’s gospel preachers, evangelists and crusade organisers!
v. 32: “And now I commend you to the care of God and
to the message of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you the
blessings God has for all his people.
v. 33: I have not wanted anyone’s silver or gold or
clothing.
v. 34: You yourselves know that I have worked with
these hands of mine to provide everything that my companions and I have needed.
v. 35: I have shown you in all things that by
working hard in this way we must help the weak, remembering the words that the
Lord Jesus himself said, ‘There is more happiness in giving than in receiving.”
Can you beat the lesson of verses 33, 34 and 35! How many
of our present-day priests, pastors, bishops, overseers and crusade organisers
can say such things. Are they blind whenever they come across such passages in
the very Bible they quote every day? Are they suffering from myopic eyesight?
May be they are having self-motivated vision or idiosyncratic perception! They
only see and read the verses that they deliberately want to read, so that they
can clandestinely fleece the poor and so enrich themselves at the expense of
their flock. This is the game plan of these demonic preachers. Wait until
harvest and bazaar seasons in the Catholic communities or diligently observe
what happens at the end of each month when tithes are not only mandatory for
every worshipper, child, widow and orphan, but also compulsory at all new
generation churches and Pentecostal communes! I have exposed their tricks
and trademarks. You have yourself to blame if your family goes hungry while
your lazy pastors smile to banks! A word, they say, is enough for the wise. Be
foolish if you must, but do not jeopardise the health and future of your lovely
children who are the greatest gifts from the Almighty Creator and Father of us
all! Let us all reflect once more on Paul’s last words to all true Christian
witnesses! “I have not wanted
anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that I have worked
with these hands of mine to provide everything that my companions and I have
needed.”
I am done! Yours sincerely perturbed by these false
pretences, Prof. J. J. Kenez,
the twentieth century ‘John, the Baptist!” In my culture we say: “Seeing evil and
not warning is the fault of elders, whereas, hearing but not heeding the advice
of elders is the fault of the youth!”
The thanksgiving prayer of prosperity preachers runs like this:
I CAN NOW SEND MY WIFE AND CHILDREN FOR SUMMERHOLIDAYS! PRAISE THE LORD!”
AN
ADDENDUM IN MAY 2005 BEFORE GOING TO PRESS
A fan who launched and read only the synoptic version,
entitled “BEWARE OF PROSPERITY GOSPEL PREACHERS”, which I pushed into the
market in March 2005 to source funds to print this major book gladly gave me
this unabridged reprint from the Nigerian daily ‘The Guardian’. Note the date!
His action confirms the growing concern of many rational Nigerians of today.
By Tope
Ayodele-Oni
Evangelist Benny Hinn and the widely
publicised six million-man crusade has come and gone. This was to be a
spiritual convocation that was meant to shake the nation and bring about the much-awaited
and greatly-desired revival. While we give God the glory for the lives that
were touched, souls that were saved, and the oppressed that were liberated, the
whole spiritual project left its grief and sore in the heart of the Nigerian
Pentecostal church.
It was a notable church leader that
first hinted at the fact that the Man of God from America
The man would have thought that the
money would be spent on publicity of an unprecedented scale, mass
transportation of people from Lagos and it’s environ, unparalled quality of
public address system, free and will publicised ministers conference, and
possibly a philanthropic book distribution project. Even with all this, one
would not suppose that over half a billion naira should have been exhausted.
But hardly did any of these things occur. There was nothing out-of-this-world
in the publicity, ministers paid for the ministers conference on Saturday
morning, in which Benny Hinn was conspicuously absent, there was no free
transportation, no free distribution of books, nothing classy about the final
touches to the programme that would justify the amount invested. Attendance
must have been barely up to 200,000 people.
One only heard of how over 100 ministers
locked themselves up in Eko Hotel for one week, busy with rigorous planning,
and unconfirmed story of how the tough scramble for Benny Hinn’s dollars almost
tore the leadership of the Pentecostal movement apart. Though Hinn made frantic
efforts to console himself on the last day of the crusade, as the Holy Ghost
had comforted him, the tone of his speech was sufficiently grave to make us
Pentecostal minister and our leaders bury our heads in shame.
As a Pentecostal minister myself, who by
the grace of God has been in the ministry for over 20 years, I write this piece
with great ache and unutterable agony of spirit, at the risk of being accused
of washing our dirty linen in the public. E are all aware of the great decay in
the Pentecostal church, leaving only a remnant for the Lord as His true
followers. When we look up to our leaders, bishops and General Overseers to be
stirred by jealousy for the name of the Lord to cry against the rot, they are
either at the top of that rot, or the more respected and mature ones among them
are strangely silent in the name of love, or so they would not appear
judgemental.
Thank God, that He deliberately allowed
the NUPENG strike to coincide with the crusade, this greatly limiting the
attendance. Otherwise, millions of miracle-seekers and hangers-on would nave
swarmed the camp on their own, many of whom might not nave been opportuned to
reach the ground at all. People would have found their way into the camp, the
whopping sum released for the crusade would still have fizzled out in
inexplicable ways, and the American Evangelist would have considered such huge
attendance as the product of the money released.
The last thing that should be done is
for Pentecostals to berate ourselves publicly. It is however, for this fear of
playing into the hands of the enemies of the church, of washing our dirty linen
in the public and of appearing judgemental that so many excesses have gone on
unchecked in the church in the last 10 to 15 years. For the same reasons, or
because the kettle dose not have the audacity to cal the pot black, there
appears to have been a conspiracy of silence among most of our key church
leaders concerning the evils and excesses prevalent in the church, a church
that is ordained to be the pillar and ground of truth.
God is using Obasanjo in some modest but
significant measures to drive home the fact that corruption is no more business
as usual in the Nigerian body-politic. Though the battle against corruption is
only just starting, though we have just started to tickle the tail of the
leviathan, given the cancerous dimension it has assumed in the has assumed in
the land, at least Nigerians are happy that we are starting somewhere, that
something cheering is emerging.
The big question is: who will deliver
the Nigerian Pentecostal church from the prevailing rot? When Phinehas thrust a
dirt through the bodies of a man and a woman that were defiling the sanctuary,
the Lord said to Moses, “Phinehas son of Eleazer and grandson of Aaron the
priest has turned me anger away from the Israelites by displaying zeal among
them on my behalf”. When shall we turn away from our vain and shallow
prosperity and motivational preaching, and start emphasising the issues of
righteousness, zeal for God and things that are of eternal values? When shall
we start changing the themes of our conferences and seminars, to emphasise the
things that matter to God? When shall we stop emphasising numerical size of our
congregations and start building disciples that have zeal for God and His
Kingdom? What can melt the hardened hearts of some of our bishops and supposed leaders,
who seem to have lost ay feeling or concern for God, for judgment, for the
weighty word of God, for holiness, for eternity?
We are waiting for a few of our
respected leaders who have not soiled their garments to seek the face of God
and lead us back to righteousness. This must happen now, and quickly too! Fir
if we would judge ourselves, we would hold back the wrath of God, which is
always dreadful.
· Dr.
Ayodele-Oni lives in Lagos
APPRECIATION AND
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I thank Mr F.N.Umeh, a sociologist in the employ of NITEL
as the deputy General Manager of Eastern Zone for being a concerned citizen of
God’s Kingdom here on earth! To have remembered what he read in my diminutive
pamphlet, linked it to the article he saw in a newspaper, then decided to
photocopy same and donate to me, demonstrates maturity and responsiveness to
the moral decadence in our society, particularly among the so-called religious
leaders, a.k.a. pastors, bishops, overseers or “mighty men of God!”
As for a commentary, I have only to encourage Pastor
Ayodele-Oni to go a step further and sue the erring Pentecostal Ministers to
court. If not the civil courts, he should, at least, take a bolder step by
suing for moral re-armament within the ranks of the Pentecostal hierarchy by
threatening to resign from their fold and subsequently terminating his
appointment!
He rightly pointed out to us what Phinehas; the grandson
of Eleazar did to avert the wrath of God! What is he waiting for? Newspaper
article in not enough! Something more practical to show others that it was a
heinous crime is what he must do now! The likes of Pastor Ayodele-Oni must lead
the crusade to sanitize all Christian Churches
Every true child of the Almighty Creator, who has not
succumbed to the lures of Satan; money, power, pride, wine and lust; is
expected to gird himself/herself with truth, wisdom, prudence, charity and
humility so that we can salvage what is left of the few who still “worship God
in truth and in spirit,” as the Lord Jesus, the Christ affirmed in the gospel
of John: 4; vv. 21 – 26. Only the contents of those verses qualify you for
this end-time war of liberation under the leadership of the Holy Spirit!
Contact us by 0804- 2719800 or e-mail: saintkenez@yahoo.co.uk.
EPILOGUE
HOW MANY OF THESE
SELF-APPOINTED PASRORS & PREACHERS CAN DO WHAT PETER, JAMES AND JOHN DID?
HOW MANY TRULY ABANDONED ANY LUCRATIVE PROFESSION TO SERVE GO?
Luke
5:1-11
5:1 One day as Jesus was standing
by the Lake of Gennesaret
2 he saw at the water's edge two
boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.
3 He got into one of the boats,
the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then
he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4 When he had finished speaking,
he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a
catch."
5 Simon answered, "Master,
we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say
so, I will let down the nets."
6 When they had done so, they
caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.
7 So they signalled to their
partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both
boats so full that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he
fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful
man!"
9 For he and all his companions
were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken,
10 and so were James and John,
the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be
afraid; from now on you will catch men."
11 So they pulled their boats up
on shore, left everything and followed him.
(from The Holy Bible: New
International Version. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984, by International
Bible Society)
AN EXAMPLE OF
SUFFERING FOR THE SAKE OF THE GOSPEL IN ACTS 17:1 - 20.
v.1 When
they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica,
where there was a Jewish synagogue.
v. 2 As
his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days, he
reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
v.3 explaining
and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This
Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said.
v.4 Some
of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of
God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.
v.5 But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from
the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to
Jason's house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the
crowd.
v.6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other
brothers before the city officials, shouting: "These men who have caused
trouble all over the world have now come here,
v.7 and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying
Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus."
v.8 When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into
turmoil.
v.9 Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.
v.10 As
soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea
v.11 Now
the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they
received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day
to see if what Paul said was true.
v.12 Many
of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many
Greek men.
v.13 When the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word
of God at Berea
v.14 The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy
stayed at Berea
v.15 The men who escorted Paul brought him to Athens
v.16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens
v.17 So
he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well
as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.
v.18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to
dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to
say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods”. They
said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the
resurrection.
v.19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where
they said to him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are
presenting?
v.20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know
what they mean."
How many of our prosperity
gospel-preachers are ready to go through such tribulations for the sake of the
good news that they use to earn their livelihood? The honest answer is, - NO
ONE! Yet, you see so many of them on television screens shouting their voices
coarse; marketing the Lord, quoting the Bible upside down, dramatising
‘speaking in tongues’ and fleecing the flock to pay the ladies! Let us repent!
It is
time to sign off.
I
remain,
Yours
sincerely………
Rev.
Prof. J. J. Kenez!
BONUS! BONUS!! BONUS!!!
I. S. M
IS A FELLOWSHIP BUILT ON SIMPLE TRUTHS
OF NATURE OBSERVABLE AROUND HUMANKIND!
The difference between this spiritual fellowship for all
mankind irrespective of one’s nationality, philosophy of life, social status,
educational achievement or political persuasion and other religious fellowships
is that there is nothing here that is built on mythologies, fables, legends,
dogmas, doctrines, belief systems or revealed truths!
Rather, what the founder of this interdisciplinary,
inter-ethnic and integrational spiritual fellowship has done is to provide
simple facts of nature that unites rather than divides the human race. Every
being is a product of nature! It argues that since there is only:
· One created universe, of which
we all share its amenities,
· One earth, on which we all
stand, walk about, build our physical structures, plant on, harvest from and
depend on for our food,
· One atmospheric air that living things breathe from to
live,
· One rainfall that provides the water for all
plants and animals,
· One sun and a moon that illuminate the world day and
night,
· One anatomy and physiology that ensures our survival or
death,
· Therefore, there must One Almighty
Creator, who is the ultimate
designer and engineer responsible all that we can think, say, hear, feel and
see! He/she is our Father/Mother and we are all sons and daughters of this
Infinite Truth that grants us life! Are we not brothers and sisters,
irrespective of our skin colour, facial structures, languages and peculiar
child rearing practices? We are surely, equal heirs to this commonwealth of
mutually beneficent, compensatory and life-sustaining gifts from the Almighty
God, the All-knowing, All-sustaining and All-powerful Creator of us all!
This truth is inter-religious, interdenominational,
intercultural, interdisciplinary and finally international! Simple statements
of facts like these are incontrovertible, aren’t they? We inter-marry and
reproduce healthy babies! So, why must we follow demonic leaders, spiritual or
temporal, who delude us with their myopic ideas and ethnocentric theories into
practising social prejudices that eventually result in fighting and killing of
our own brothers and sisters? It is not only puerile and futile but also
irrational and psychopathological! Let us seek for a solution! I. S. M. seeks
that!
In addition, to prove the supremacy of this truth, let me
equally introduce you to a hilarious debate by three naïve bodyguards of an
ancient emperor who was suffering from insomnia! He practised racial
segregation and social prejudice. You will marvel at the gift of oratory of
these simple but wise young men. Please get a complete copy of the Good News
Bible, 1979 edition by Collins
ISBN 0 564 00621 1, by British & Foreign Bible Society (Publishing
Division) as “English TEV DC053P BFBS/1984/50M” and then turn with me to 1st Esdras 3 & 4:
“Chapter 3:
The Debate of the
Bodyguards before the Emperor
v.1: Darius
the emperor gave a great banquet for all those under him, all the members of
his family and staff, all the leading officials of Persia
v.2: All his officers, administrators, and
the governors of the 127 provinces stretching from India Sudan
v.3: When
everyone had had enough to eat and drink, they left, and Darius went to bed. He
fell asleep but soon awoke.
A Contest Is Proposed
v.4: Then
the three young men who served Emperor Darius as his personal bodyguard said to
one another,
v.5: “Let
each of us name the one thing that he considers the strongest thing in the
world. The emperor will decide who has given the wisest answer to this question
and will give magnificent gifts and prizes to the winner.
v.6: He will wear royal robes, drink from a
gold cup, and sleep in a gold bed. He will have a chariot with gold-studded
bridles, wear a fine linen turban, and have a gold necklace.
v.7: Because
of his wisdom he will be an adviser to the emperor and will be given the title
‘Relative of the Emperor.’ ”
v.8: Then
each of them wrote down the best answer he could think of, sealed it,
and put it under the emperor’s pillow. They said to one another.
v.9: “When
the emperor wakes up, the statements will be given to him. He and the three
leading officials of Persia
v.10: The first wrote, “There is nothing stronger
than wine.”
v.11: The second wrote, “There is nothing stronger
than the emperor.”
v.12: And the third wrote, “There is nothing
stronger than a woman, but truth can conquer anything.”
v.13: When the emperor woke up, the written
statements were given to him, and he read them
v.14: Then he sent messengers and called together
all the leading officials of Persia
v.15: He took his seat in the council chamber and
had the three statements read aloud.
v.16: “Bring in the three young men,” he said, “and
let them explain their answers.” So when they were brought in,
v.17: They were asked to explain what they had
written.
The Speech about Wine
The bodyguard who had written about the strength of wine
spoke first:
v.18: “Gentlemen,’ he began, “wine is clearly the
strongest thing in the world. It confuses the mind of everyone who drinks it.
v.19: It has exactly the same effect on everyone: king
or orphan, slave or free, rich or poor.
v.20: It makes every thought happy and carefree, and
makes everyone forget sorrow and responsibility.
v.21: It makes everyone feel rich, ignore the power
of kings and officials, and talk as if he owned the whole world.
v.22: When men drink wine, they forget who their
friends and neighbours are, and then they are soon drawing their swords to
fight them.
v.23: then, when they sober up, they don’t remember
what they have done.
v.24: Gentlemen” he finished by saying, “if wine
makes men act in this way, it certainly must be the strongest thing in the
world.”
Chapter 4:
The Speech about the
Emperor
v.1: The bodyguard who had written about the
strength of the emperor spoke next.
v. 2: “Gentlemen,” he began, ‘nothing in the
world is stronger than men, since they rule over land and sea and in fact, over
everything in the world.
v. 3: But
the emperor is the strongest of them all; he is their lord and master, and men
obey him, no matter what he commands.
v.4: If he tells them to make war on one
another, they do it. If he sends them out against his enemies, they go, even if
they have to breakdown mountains, walls, or towers.
v.5: They
may kill or be killed, but they never disobey the emperor’s orders. If
they are victorious, they bring him all their loot and everything else they
have taken in battle.
v.6: Farmers
do not go out to war, but even they bring to the emperor a part of everything
they harvest.
v.7: Although the emperor is only one man, if he
orders people to kill, they kill, if he orders them to set prisoners free, they
do it;
v.8: if he orders them to attack, they do; if
he orders destruction, they destroy; if he orders them to build, they build;
v.9: if he orders crops to be destroyed or fields to
be planted, it is done.
v.10: Everybody, soldier or civilian, obeys the
emperor. And when he sits down to eat or drink and then falls asleep,
v.11: his servants stand guard round him, without
being able to go and take care of their own affairs, for they never disobey
him.
v.12: Gentlemen” he ended by saying, “since
people obey the emperor like this, certainly nothing in the world is stronger
than he is.”
The Speech about Women
v.13: The bodyguard who had written about women and
the truth – it was Zerubbabel – spoke last.
v.14: “Gentlemen,” he began, “the emperor is
certainly powerful but, men are numerous, and wine is strong, but who rules and
controls them all? It is women!
v.15: Women gave birth to the emperor and all the
men who rule over land and sea.
v.16: Women brought them into the world. Women
brought up the men who planted the vineyards from which wine comes.
v.17: Women make the clothes that men wear; women
bring honour to men; in fact, without women, men couldn’t live.
v.18: “Men may accumulate silver or gold or other
beautiful things, but if they see a woman with a pretty face or a good figure,
v.19: they will leave it all to gape and stare, and
they will desire her more than their wealth.
v.20: A man will leave his own father, who brought
him up, and leave his own country to get married.
v.21; He will forget his father, his mother, and his
wife.
v.22: So you must recognise that women are your
masters. Don’t you work and sweat and then take all that you have earned and
give it to your wives?
v.23: A man will take his sword and go out to
attack, rob and steal, and sail the seas and rivers.
v.24: He may have to face lions or travel in the
dark, but when he has robbed, stolen, and plundered, he will bring the loot
home to the woman he loves.
v.25: Ä man loves his wife more than his parents.
v.26: Some men are driven out of their minds on
account of a woman, and others become slaves for the sake of a woman.
v.27: Others have been put to death, have ruined
their lives, or have committed crimes because of a woman.
v.28: So now do you believe me? “The emperor’s power
is certainly great- no nation has the courage to attack him.
v.29: But once I saw him with Apame, his concubine,
the daughter of the famous Bartacus. While she was sitting at the emperor’s
right,
v.30: she took his crown off his head, put it on her
own, and then slapped his face with her left hand.
v.31: All the emperor did was look at her with his
mouth open. Whenever she smiles at him, he smiles back; and when she gets angry
with him, he flatters her and teases her until she is in a good mood again.
v.32: Gentlemen, if a woman can do all that, surely
there can be nothing stronger in the world.”
v.33: The emperor and his officials just looked at
each other.
The Speech about Truth
Then Zerubbabel began to speak about truth.
v.34: “Yes, gentlemen,” he said, “women are very
strong. But think how big the earth is, how high the sky is; think how fast the
sun moves, as it rapidly circles the whole sky in a single day.
v.35: If the sun can do this, it is certainly great.
But truth is greater and stronger than all of these things.
v.36: Everyone on earth honours truth; heaven
praises itl all creation trembles in awe before it. “There is not the slightest
injustice in truth.
v.37: You will find injustice in wine, the emperor,
women, all human beings, in all they do, and in everything else. There is no
truth in them; they are unjust and they will perish.
v.38: But truth endures and is always strong; it
will continue to live and reign for ever.
v.39: Truth shows no partiality or favouritism; it
does what is right, rather than what is unjust or evil. Everyone approves what
truth does;
v.40: its decisions are always fair. Truth is
strong, royal, powerful, and majestic for ever. Let all things praise the God
of Truth!”
The Response
v.41: When Zerubbabel had finished speaking, all the
people shouted, “Truth is great- there is nothing stronger!”
v.42: Then the emperor said to him, “You may ask anything
you want, even more than what was agreed, and I will give it to you. You
will be my adviser, and you will be granted the title ‘Relative of the
emperor.”’
The philosophical drama and narrative
ends here!
COMMENTARY
Of course, Zerubbabel went ahead to request a greater
favour for the whole of his nation that was in bondage! Read the rest of the
story. What should interest you is that TRUTH IS SUPREME.
Give truth a special place of honour in your heart and
speech. This is our position at I. S. M. Truth is bitter, but so is any
medicine taken to recover from any debilitating disease. The world today needs
an overdose of truth to recover from religious fanaticism, social prejudice and
the various forms of idolatry existing today in human relationships! God is the
Infinite truth and is definitely stronger than the sun, wine, emperor and
women! So should all that worship him!
JOIN US IN THIS
ONEROUS DUTY!
We are seeking for original thinkers who can identify the
truth whenever they see one. The world is tired of mystics and fanatics. It is
time to put an end to so many ethnocentric theories, mythologies or legends
dressed up as dogmas and doctrines.
THEN OBEY THEM! THAT IS ALL!
SEND YOUR REACTIONS BY POST OFFICE BOX 1995 , ENUGU
Or contact us by phones: 0804-2719800, 042- 550344
E-mail: saintkenez@yahoo.co.ukI.S.M. MORNING PRAYERS FOR ALL KENEZIANS
(Here are the details of the moral ethics that lubricate the founder’s lifestyle)
PSALM 15
WHAT GOD REQUIRES
Lord, who may enter your Temple Zion
· A person who obeys God in
everything and always does what is right,
· Whose words are true and
sincere, and who does not slander others,
· He does no wrong to his friends
nor spreads rumours about his neighbours.
· He despises those whom God
rejects, but honours those who obey the Lord.
· He always does what he promises,
no matter how much it may cost him.
· He makes loans without charging
interest and cannot be bribed to testify
against
the innocent.
· WHOEVER DOES THESE THINGS WILL
ALWAYS BE SECURED.
Glory be to the
Father…to the Son…and to the Holy Spirit…Amen.
TRUE HAPPINESS
Happy
are those who reject the advice of evil people who do not follow the example of
sinners
Or join
those who have no use for God. Instead, they find their joy in obeying the Law
of the Lord, and they study it day and night.
They are like
healthy trees that grow beside a stream, that bear good fruits at the right
time, Whose green leaves will never fade nor dry up. They succeed in every
positive thing they do.
However, evil people
are not like this at all; they are like dry straws that the wind blows away.
Sinners will be condemned by God and kept apart from his own people.
The righteous are guided and
protected by the Lord, but the evil ones are on their way to their doom.
· Glory
be to the Father…to the Son…and to the Holy Spirit…Amen.
PSALM 3
MORNING PRAYER FOR HELP
I have
so many enemies Lord, so many who turn against me! They talk about me and say;
“God will not help him.”
Nevertheless,
you, O Lord, are always my shield from danger; and you give me victory and
restore my courage.
I call to the
Lord for help, and from his sacred hill, he answers me. I lie down and sleep
and all night long, the Lord protects me.
I am not afraid of
the thousands of enemies that surround me on every side. Come Lord!
Save me, my God! You punish all
my enemies and leave them powerless to harm me.
Victory comes from the Lord, may
He bless my home and his people forever and ever.
· Glory
be to the Father…to the Son…and to the Holy Spirit…Amen.
PSALM 39
THE CONFESSION OF A SUFFERING PERSON
I said, “I will be careful what I do and will not let my
tongue make me sin;
I will not say anything while evil people are near.”
I kept quiet, not saying a word, not even about anything
good!
However, my suffering only grew worse, and I was overcome
with anxiety.
The more I thought, the more troubled I became;
I could not keep from asking: “Lord, how long will I
live?
When will I die? Tell me how soon my life will end.”
How short you have made my life! In your sight, my
lifetime seems nothing.
Indeed every living person is no more than a puff of
wind, no more than a shadow.
All he does is for nothing; he gathers wealth, but does
not know who will get it.
What, then, can I hope for, Lord? I put my hope in you.
Save me from all my sins, and do not let fools laugh at
me.
I will keep quiet; I will not say a word, for you are the
one who made me suffer like this.
Do not punish me any more! I am about to die from your
blows.
You punish a person’s sins by your rebukes, and like a
moth, you destroy what he loves.
Indeed an individual is no more than a puff of wind!
Hear my prayer, Lord, and listen to my cry; come to my
aid when I weep.
Like all my ancestors, I am only your guest for a while.
Leave me alone so that I may have some happiness,
Before I go away and am no more.
· Glory be to the Father…to the
Son…. Etc….Amen.
(This is surely a prayer for
forgiveness that a repentant person should use whenever he /she falls short of
the principles established for a Kenezian lifestyle. We are mortals who
occasionally fall short of our principles.)
PSALM 101
A KING’S PROMISE
My song is about loyalty and justice, and I sing it to
you, O Lord.
My conduct will be faultless. When will you come to me?
I will live a pure life in my house, and will never
tolerate evil.
I hate the actions of those who turn away from God,
I will have nothing to do with them.
I will not be dishonest, and will have no dealings with
evil.
I will get rid of anyone who whispers evil things about
someone else;
I will not tolerate a person who is proud and arrogant.
I will approve of those who are faithful to God and will
let them live in my palace.
Those who are completely honest will be allowed to serve
me.
No liar will live in my palace; no hypocrite will remain
in my presence.
Day after day, I will destroy the wicked in our land;
I will expel all evil people from the city of the Lord!
· Glory be to the Father…etc…Amen.
PSALM 131
A PRAYER OF HUMBLE TRUST
Lord, I have given up my pride and turned away from my
arrogance.
I am not concerned with great matters or with subjects
too difficult for me.
Instead, I am content and at peace. As a child lies
quietly in its mother’s arms,
So, my heart is quiet within me. (Here state your name, e.g. Kenez) trust
in the Lord,
Now and forever!
· Glory be to the Father…to the
Son…and to the Holy Spirit…Amen.
THE KENEZIAN CREED
The full version of Saint Kenez nuggets
of wisdom for the unification of all belief systems.
1.… I am of age; for as at now, I know that I exist. I am
“ME”, you are “THOU” and we are “US”. I
affirm that I am a created being living in the present, hoping to come to an
end as other finite creatures I have observed, do come to a definitive end!
2.… I therefore accept that all finite creatures obey
some natural laws that govern existence. I concede that these laws are also
eternal and like every other law, must have a lawgiver. I deduce, therefore,
that there are adequate sanctions for any deliberate violation of these laws!
3.…When I observe the heavens and landscapes, hills and
valleys, deserts and oceans, sunrise and sunset, sunlight and moonlight,
rainfall and thunderstorm, I am certain that this Eternal Law-giver is Great
and Powerful in all respects. He/She/It can not be named nor classified but
really possesses a Superhuman Intelligence, Unlimited Power and Supreme Control
over all of us and these forces of nature!
4.… When I inspect living and non-living beings, their
beauty and variety, their numbers and sizes, the innate ability of the living
ones to move about unaided, their modes of adaptation in varying environments
and especially their ability to reproduce themselves. I confess that this
Eternal Lawgiver must be All-Creative, Most Beautiful and Abundantly Loving!
5.… I respect “IT” in all “ITS” creations while admiring
in particular those that feed, grow and mate. For I do realise that I share the
survival traits, they possess! We all have the same basic structures, we have
identical feelings, we survive by performing similar functions and we produce
comparable results. I cannot but bow in reverence and worship the Almighty
Being, The Eternal Lawgiver and All-Creative Power that sustains everything on
this planet!
6.… This Almighty Being set all things in motion and
directs their courses and life spans as well as keeps them in space and time,
now and always. Moreover, because there are no accidents in nature when all
“ITS” natural laws are strictly adhered to and diligently obeyed, I attest to
the fact that “IT” is the Greatest JUDGE, an All-knowing, All-Caring and
ever-present Being!
7..…My parents, brothers and sisters owe “IT” our very
lives and existence, so to “IT” be all my respect, obedience and loyalty, as I
extend my hands of love and brotherhood to all other living things especially
human beings. For I concede that we are all co-heirs of this Almighty Creator
and Father of us all. Concisely, therefore, my code is:
*THE UNIVERSE IS MY
INHERITANCE,
**ALL HUMAN BEINGS ARE MY
BLOOD RELATIVES,
***SPEAKING THE TRUTH, LIVING THE TRUTH
AND DOING GOOD AT ALL TIMES - MY CREED!PSALM 117
IN PRAISE OF THE LORD
Praise the Lord, all nations! Praise him all peoples!
His love for us is strong and his faithfulness is
eternal!
Praise the Lord! All Kenezians who obey all His natural
laws!
· Glory be to the Father…to the
Son…and to the Holy Spirit…Amen.
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(Now,
conclude with our mission statement in a prayer format!)
The
Lord of the universe, the Almighty Creator God, I am your
humble child,
(Here state your names), born into the family of (state
your parent’s names)
In your Infinite Wisdom and Love you have created me for
a purpose,
Permit me to understand and fulfil the mission you have
assigned me,
May your Holy Spirit guide me to accomplish it in my
short span of life.
My Eternal Creator and Lord of the universe, I know that
you exist,
I observe also that all beings are interdependent, we
need each other,
Therefore, increase my loyalty and dependence on your
benevolence.
I love you as the Father of all that exists, I want to
love other beings,
As much as I love myself, permit me to truly achieve this
daily!
I worship you as my first beginning, I wish to do this as
long as I live,
I acknowledge your constant care and sustenance for me
and all that is,
Guide me by your divine wisdom, correct me with your
eternal justice,
Comfort me with your mercy and protect me with your
limitless power,
So that I may obey all the laws, you put in creation for
our own good!
I have a princely heritage in that I function at three
levels of operation,
In that tripartite functionality of thought, word and
action I am like you.
Grant me a large heart and mind to appreciate the
universal knowledge
That all humankind are blood relatives and co-heirs of
this your ability,
Therefore, we all are brothers and sisters, children of
the same Father!
Permit me to fix all my thoughts on you; my words to
edify mankind,
My actions to reflect my love for all humanity because I
respect you,
And all my trials and sufferings to be endured for your
greater glory.
I want to do whatever you ask of me, in the very way that
pleases you,
Thereby obey your natural laws for as long as you permit
to live here.
Lord, enlighten my understanding, strengthen my will,
purify my heart
And make me holy so as to resist temptations and repent
of all my sins,
Help me to rise above human weakness and to grow stronger
in truth,
So that with simplicity of heart and humane love I may
care for others,
And in caring for others may my worship and adoration be
self-evident.
Help me to conquer every anger with gentleness, greed by
generosity,
Apathy by true charity, selfishness by works of mercy and
compassion,
Help me to forget myself and thereby freely reach out
towards others.
Let my conscience be clear most of the time, my conduct
without fault,
My speech blameless, my thoughts edifying and my life
well ordered.
Make me very prudent in planning ahead for all,
courageous in taking risks,
Patient in adversity, honest at work and unassuming in
times of prosperity.
Keep me attentive at my prayers, temperate at table and
sober in drinking,
Firm in my holy resolutions, diligent in my good
intentions and labours of love.
May my lifestyle be exemplary and reflect your infinite
goodness for all to see.
Put me on guard against mundane desires, protect me from
every vanity
And licentiousness, which can draw me away from obeying
your dictates.
Let me cherish your benevolence for all humanity and
imitate your ways.
Teach me to realise that the world is passing by and that
nothing here lasts,
That my true happiness is becoming a loyal citizen of
your peaceful kingdom!
At the dusk of my earthly life, help me to prepare for
death with a proper focus
On your impartial judgement, for even guilty I rely fully
on your Infinite Mercy.
Lead me safely through the pangs of physical death to
that endless state of peace,
Where all those who have done your will on earth will be
adequately rewarded,
With the bliss of singing your praises in communion with
all your saints forever!
Lord, search and find that I have kept the golden rules
of the psalmist:
LORD, WHO MAY ENTER YOUR
· A
person who obeys God in everything, especially the natural laws and as far as
possible, always done what is right at all times and places.
· Whose
words are true and sincere, and therefore he does not slander others.
· He
does no wrong to his friends nor spreads rumours about his neighbours,
· Rather
he has compassion for the needy and always forgives his offenders.
· He
despises those whom God rejects, denouncing their hypocritical lifestyles.
· Nevertheless,
he honours those who respect and obey the eternal laws of the Lord.
· He
always does what he promises, no matter how much it may cost him, in terms of
material or human resources, so long as it is beneficial to humanity.
· He
makes loans without charging interest, helps recently bereaved families, cares
for indigent orphans and cannot be bribed to testify against the innocent.
Whoever does these things will always be happy and feel
secure in your love.
This is
the Litmus Test for All Genuine Kenezians
* Signed at 0500 hours GMT on
& Approved by the Holy Spirit of the Almighty Creator of the universe. *
THE MISSION STATEMENT OF I.S.M.
Is aptly
summarised in1st John 3: vv 1-10:
Children
of God
v.1: “See how much the Father has loved us! His love is
so great that we are called God’s children—and so, in fact, we are. This is why
the word does not know us: it has not known God.
v.2: My dear friends, we are now God’s children, but
it is not yet clear what we shall become. Nevertheless, we know that when
Christ appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he really is.
v.3: Everyone who has this hope in Christ keeps
himself pure, just as Christ is pure.
v.4: Whoever sins is guilty of breaking God’s law,
because sin is a breaking of the law.
v.5: You know that Christ appeared in order to take
away our sins, and that there is no sin in him.
v.6: So everyone who lives in union with Christ
does not continue to sin; but whoever continues to sin has never seen him or
known him.
v.7: Let no one deceive you, my children! Whoever
does what is right is righteous
v.8: Whoever continues to sin belongs to the Devil,
because the Devil has sinned from the very beginning. The Son of God appeared
for this very reason, to destroy what the Devil had done.
v.9: Whoever is a child of God does not continue to
sin, for God’s very nature is in him; and because God is his Father, he cannot
continue to sin.
v.10: This is the clear difference between God’s
children and the Devil’s children: anyone who does not do what is right or does
not love his brother is not God’s child.
A THEOSOPHICAL INTERPRETATION BY THE ANIMATOR OF INTEGRATIONAL SPIRITAN MOVEMENT
The law referred to here in verse 4 is and could only be
THE NATURAL LAWS, the pristine commands of the Creator even before Adam and Eve
were created! The Lord reserved only one for divine beings when He gave Adam
dominion over all his created beings. The architect of Adam’s fall or
disobedience created both ‘the Serpent’ and ‘the Eve’ that ensnared him into
‘the original sin’ that earned him expulsion from paradise. However, it was
only the sixth grandson of Adam, Enoch, who was the first to obey all the
natural laws and earned ascension.
Verse 5 confirms my assertion, as Christ is generally
accepted as the second Adam promised in Genesis 3: 15. However, here again I
stand to correct that insinuation by asserting that Enoch, Elijah and Christ
were reincarnations of Abel, not Adam. Enoch was sinless and pleased God so
well that he was physically taken up into heaven. Let us put on our thinking
caps and defend our claim to the appellation ‘Homo Sapiens, Sapiens’! Only
Elijah and Christ physically ascended into heaven as Enoch! Unfortunately, we
are told of their love lives, which could have confirmed their saintliness
despite the hassles of married life as Enoch was.
Look critically at verse 8 and you will understand my
thesis! Three figures depicted the salvific work of Christ: Abel (unblemished
sacrifice), Enoch (who pleased God) and Elijah (prophet of miracles). In the
reverse order Jesus, the Christ, was the only ambassador sent by God who
replicated those three qualifications to merit his ascension. Therefore, a
rediscovery of what Patriarch Enoch did that merited him the first ever
reported ascension into heaven is all we need! Then, a return to that pristine
obedience to the Creator by observing all His natural laws in creation forms
the theory and practice of I. S. M.
That,
succinctly, is our mission! Are you ready to join in that search for the
original code of natural ethics? Contact Rev. Prof. J. J. Kenez now
via
0804-2719800, 042-550344, or E-mail: saintkenez@yahoo.co.uk.
1:1 In the land of Uz
4: His sons
used to take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their
three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5: When a period of feasting had run its
course, Job would send and have them purified. Early in the morning he would
sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, "Perhaps my
children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." This was Job's
regular custom.
6: One day
the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with
them. 7: The LORD said to Satan,
"Where have you come from?"
Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the
earth and going back and forth in it."
8 Then the
LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one
on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns
evil."
9: "Does
Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied.
10: "Have you not put a hedge around him and his
household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so
that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.
11: But stretch out your hand and strike everything he
has, and he will surely curse you to your face."
12 :The
LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands,
but on the man himself do not lay a finger."
Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
13: One day when Job's sons and daughters were feasting
and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house,
14: a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were
ploughing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, 15: and the Sabeans attacked and
carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who
has escaped to tell you!"
16: While he
was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The fire of God fell
from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one
who has escaped to tell you!"
17: While he was still speaking, another messenger came
and said, "The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on
your camels and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am
the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
18: While he was still speaking, yet another messenger
came and said, "Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at
the oldest brother's house, 19:
when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four
corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only
one who has escaped to tell you!"
20: At
this, Job got up, tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground
in worship 21: and said:
"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I
will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the
LORD be praised."
22: In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with
wrongdoing.
This is Chapter 1 of the Book of Job in the Old Testament
culled verbatim from NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION of the Christian Bible. This is
the right attitude to riches, wealth or material possessions. They deter you
from genuine spirituality!
Do not listen to those demonic crusade organisers who
preach prosperity rather than salvation. It is your purse they are after, not
your salvation. Can any of them surmount the temptations that Job passed
through? Prosperity Gospel Preachers are Satan’s Disciples, and what they teach
are not Biblical. They are straight from Hell!
I have read the contents of this booklet with much
enthusiasm and will like to contribute in making this world an egalitarian,
classless and one human family. The truth of most of the points you have raised
in this conference paper represents my feeling about the excesses that our
psychedelic prosperity preachers indulge in. I want to join in the crusade to
sanitise Christendom.
NAME:…………………………………………………………
ADDRESS:……………………………………………………...
………………………………………………………………….
RESIDENCE:…………………………………………………...
………………………………………………………………….
CONTACT…
I will like to be a founding member of this organisation
that will midwife a FELLOWSHIP OF RATIONAL BEINGS and NATURAL SCIENTISTS, who
subscribe to obeying all the natural laws our Almighty Creator put in the
universe for our own common good irrespective of place of birth, parentage,
educational or social status, skin colour, language, creed and political
persuasion!
I enclose ……………………………………………………….as my own moral and
financial support towards the realisation of this beneficial dream for all
humanity.
Signed………………………………………….Date…………
Photocopy this page and mail to us by
speed post with your love gift
Prosperity Gospel Preachers are fake, i.e. wolves in
sheep’s clothing!
Fake Pastors are Business Executives with Machiavellian
Principles!
“Fleece the Flock and Pay the Ladies” is their
Work Ethics! They smile to the banks while the members of their congregation
are poor!
“The time is ripe for everyone to rethink and repudiate
the aberrations in the theory and practice of Christianity of the 21st century!
It is self evident that we have all derailed and are in dire need of an urgent
auditing of our moral standards and social ethics in the light of reason and
social justice.”
CAN WE HONESTLY CLAIM THAT ALL THE PREACHERS THAT TODAY,
PARADE AS PASTORS AND PRIESTS ARE ACTUALLY SERVANTS OF GOD AND THE LORD JESUS?
If one truly remembers the fervent warnings of the
apostles Peter and Paul in their letters, one can easily, identify “the wolves
in sheep’s clothing” masquerading as ‘born-again’ Christians among us today!
……… Rev. Prof. J. J. KENEZ
This booklet will assist you in finding veritable
answers!
A KENEZIAN
EPILOGUE
THE BLUE LITMUS TEST FOR ALL
PREACHERS
The self- acclaimed ‘ signs & wonders’ crusade
evangelists, pastors and preachers should emulate what the Lord Jesus, the
Christ, did in several passages in the Bible and his directions on how to be a
true evangelist or at least show the courage of John, the Baptist, in
chastising those in power.
Mark
6
6:1 Jesus left there and went to his hometown,
accompanied by his disciples.
2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the
synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. "Where did this man get
these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given
him, that he even does miracles!
3 Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the
brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with
us?" And they took offence at him.
4 Jesus said to them, "Only in his home town, among
his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honour."
5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his
hands on a few sick people and heal them.
6 And he was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus
went round teaching from village to village.
7 Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two
and gave them authority over evil spirits.
8 These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the
journey except a staff-- no bread, no bag, no money in your belts.
9 Wear sandals but not an extra tunic.
10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave
that town.
11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to
you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against
them."
12 They went out and preached that people should repent.
13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick
people with oil and healed them.
14 King Herod heard about this, for Jesus' name had
become well known. Some were saying, "John the Baptist has been raised
from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him."
15 Others said, "He is Elijah." And still
others claimed, "He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long
ago."
16 But when Herod heard this, he said, "John, the
man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!"
17 For Herod himself had given orders to have John
arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of
Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had married.
18 For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not
lawful for you to have your brother's wife."
19 So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to
kill him. But she was not able to,
20 because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing
him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly
puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.
21 Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod
gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading
men of Galilee .
22 When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she
pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, "Ask me
for anything you want, and I'll give it to you."
23 And he promised her with an oath, "Whatever you
ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom."
24 She went out and said to her mother, "What shall
I ask for?" "The head of John the Baptist," she answered.
25 At once the girl hurried in to the king with the
request: "I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on
a platter."
26 The king was greatly distressed, but because of his
oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her.
27 So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to
bring John's head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison,
28 and brought back his head on a platter. He presented
it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother.
29 On hearing of this, John's disciples came and took his
body and laid it in a tomb.
30 The apostles gathered round Jesus and reported to him
all they had done and taught.
31 Then, because so many people were coming and going
that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with
me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."
32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a
solitary place.
33 But many who saw them leaving recognised them and ran
on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.
34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had
compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he
began teaching them many things.
35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples
came to him. "This is a remote place," they said, "and it's
already very late.
36 Send the people away so that they can go to the
surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."
37 But he answered, "You give them something to
eat." They said to him, "That would take eight months of a man's
wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to
eat?"
38 "How many loaves do you have?" he asked.
"Go and see." When they found out, they said, "Five-- and two
fish."
39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit
down in groups on the green grass.
40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.
41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up
to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his
disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them
all.
42 They all ate and were satisfied,
43 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of
broken pieces of bread and fish.
44 The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.
45 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat
and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida
46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to
pray.
47 When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the
lake, and he was alone on land.
48 He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because
the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to
them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them,
49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they
thought he was a ghost. They cried out,
50 because they all saw him and were terrified.
Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I.
Don't be afraid."
51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind
died down. They were completely amazed,
52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their
hearts were hardened.
53 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret
and anchored there.
54 As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognised
Jesus.
55 They ran throughout that whole region and carried the
sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.
56 And wherever he went-- into villages, towns or
countryside-- they placed the sick in the market-places. They begged him to let
them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.
(From the Holy Bible: New
International Version. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, and 1984, by International
Bible Society)
This must the criterion for evaluating these hungry
preachers who go about exploiting the ignorance of the masses. They are Satan’s
disciples and not followers of Jesus, the Christ! This is my litmus test for
all of them. Only those who pass this test should be listened to.
Rev.
Prof. J. J. Kenez, 0805-1764999.
EPILOGUE
FROM APOSTLE JUDE
ONE OF THE
FORGOTTEN BROTHERS OF JESUS WROTE ONLY ONE LETTER, WHICH IS FULLY LOADED WITH
COUNSELS FOR PROSPERITY GOSPEL PREACHERS TO RUMINATE ON
AND
CHANGE THEIR AVARICIOUS ATTITUDE:
1:1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of
James, To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept
by Jesus Christ:
2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you
about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for
the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
4 For certain men whose condemnation was written about
long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change
the grace of our God into a licence for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our
only Sovereign and Lord.
5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you
that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt
6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of
authority but abandoned their own home-- these he has kept in darkness, bound
with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.
9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing
with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous
accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
10 Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do
not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like
unreasoning animals-- these are the very things that destroy them.
11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they
have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's
rebellion.
12 These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating
with you without the slightest qualm-- shepherds who feed only themselves. They
are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit
and uprooted-- twice dead.
13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their
shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved for ever.
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these
men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy
ones
15 to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of
all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh
words ungodly sinners have spoken against him."
16 These men are grumblers and fault-finders; they follow
their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for
their own advantage.
17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our
Lord Jesus Christ foretold.
18 They said to you, "In the last times there will
be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires."
19 These are the men who divide you, who follow mere
natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
20 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your
most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.
21 Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the
mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
22 Be merciful to those who doubt;
23 snatch others from the fire and save them; to others
show mercy, mixed with fear-- hating even the clothing stained by corrupted
flesh.
24 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to
present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy--
25 to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power
and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and for
evermore! Amen.
(From the Holy Bible: New International Version Copyright
(c) 1973, 1978, and 1984, by International Bible Society)
ANOTHER
EVIDENCE THAT CAIN WAS NOT A BIOLOGICAL SON OF ADAM AS I HAD EARLIER DISCUSSED
EXTENSIVELY IN BOTH THE ‘ANGELIC VERSES’(a- three- volume thesis)
AND
IN ‘THE
GREATEST REVELATION OF JESUS’( a –12- slide presentation) IS CONFIRMED BY JUDE
WHO WAS AN ADEPT IN BOTH THE TORAH & JUDAISM BEFORE HIS BROTHER,
JESUS, BEGAN HIS MINISTRY. See Verse 14:
“14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these
men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy
ones”.
Now go and do your homework. Read the Genesis account of
the genealogy of Adam in chapter five and see that Cain is equally omitted by
Jude, the apostle, just as the book of Chronicles did.
WHEN WILL ALL THESE DEMONIC PROSPERITY
GOSPEL PREACHERS READ AND IMPLEMENT THE LIFESTYLE AND ETHICS OF THE FIRST
CONVERTS TO CHRISTIANITY AS IS FOUND IN THE ACTS?
Acts 2:37 -3:1
37 When the people heard this, they
were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers,
what shall we do?"
38 Peter replied, "Repent and be
baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit.
39 The promise is for you and your children and for all
who are far off-- for all whom the Lord our God will call."
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded
with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation."
41 Those who accepted his message were baptised, and
about three thousand were added to their number that day.
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and
to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and
miraculous signs were done by the apostles.
44 All the believers were
together and had everything in common.
45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to
anyone as he had need.
46 Every day they continued to meet together in the
temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and
sincere hearts,
47 praising God and enjoying the favour of all the
people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
(From the Holy Bible: New International Version.
Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, and 1984, by International Bible Society)
ARE THEY MYOPIC WHEN THEY COME ACROSS PAUL’S LETTERS TO
TIMOTHY? IF THEY ARE, THEY HAVE CHOSEN TO BE LIKE THAT SO THEY WILL NOT LISTEN
TO SOUND DOCTRINE! THEY ARE SONS OF CAIN AND THEIR GREATGRANDFATHER, THE
DEVIL!; A LIAR AND MURDERER RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING OF GENESIS TO DATE.
Sample this
simple istruction given to preachers
2
Tim 1:8-14
8 So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or
ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by
the power of God,
9 who has saved us and called us to a holy life-- not
because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This
grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of
our Saviour, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel.
11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an
apostle and a teacher.
12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not
ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able
to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound
teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you--
guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
(From the Holy Bible: New International
Version. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, and 1984, by International Bible
Society)
HERE I REST MY CASE THAT HAS BEEN PROVEN BEYOND ALL
REASONALBLE DOUBT: THAT ALL PROSPERITY GOSPEL PREACHERS ARE DISCIPLES OF SATAN!
Rev.
Prof. J. J. Kenez
The
Vessel of the Holy Spirit of the Creator
Accompanying music is “A NEW DAY HAS COME” by Celine
Dion.
HERE LET US
LISTEN TO MATTHEW HENRY, ONE OF THE GREATEST BIBLE SCHOLARS EXPLAIN WHAT IS IN
Acts 18:1-6
Paul
at Corinth
We do not find that Paul was much persecuted at Athens,
nor that he was driven thence by any ill usage, as he was from those places
where the Jews had or could make any interest; but this reception at Athens
being cold, and little prospect of doing good there, he departed from Athens,
leaving the care of those there who believed with Dionysius; and thence he came
to Corinth, where he was now instrumental in planting a church that became on
many accounts considerable. Corinth was the chief city of Achaia, now a
province of the empire, a rich and splendid city. Non cuivis homini contingit
adire Corinthum-It is not permitted every man to see Corinth
I. Paul working for his living, v. 2, 3.
1. Though he was bred a scholar, yet he was master of a
handicraft trade. He was a tent-maker, an upholsterer; he made tents for the
use of soldiers and shepherds, of cloth or stuff, or (as some say tents were
then generally made) of leather or skins, as the outer covering of the
tabernacle. Hence to live in tents was to live sub pellibus-under skins. Dr.
Lightfoot shows that it was the custom of the Jews to bring up their children
to some trade, yea, though they gave them learning or estates. Rabbi Judah
2. Though he was entitled to a maintenance from the
churches he had planted, and from the people to whom he preached, yet he worked
at his calling to get bread, which is more to his praise who did not ask for
supplies than to theirs who did not supply him unasked, knowing what straits he
was reduced to. See how humble Paul was, and wonder that so great a man could
stoop so low; but he had learned condescension of his Master, who came not to
be ministered to, but to minister. See how industrious he was, and how willing
to take pains. He that had so much excellent work to do with his mind, yet,
when there was occasion, did not think it below him to work with his hands.
Even those that are redeemed from the curse of the law are not exempt from that
sentence, In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread. See how careful Paul
was to recommend his ministry, and to prevent prejudices against it, even the
most unjust and unreasonable; he therefore maintained himself with his own
labour that he might not make the gospel of Christ burdensome, 2 Cor 11:7,
etc.; 2 Thess 3:8-9.
3. Though we may suppose he was master of his trade, yet
he did not disdain to work at journey-work: He wrought with Aquila and
Priscilla, who were of that calling, so that he got no more than day-wages, a
bare subsistence. Poor tradesmen must be thankful if their callings bring them
in a maintenance for themselves and their families, though they cannot do as
the rich merchants that raise estates by their callings.
4. Though he was himself a great apostle, yet he chose to
work with Aquila and Priscilla, because he found them to be very intelligent in
the things of God, as appears afterwards (v. 26), and he owns that they had
been his helpers in Christ Jesus, Rom 16:3. This is an example to those who are
going to service to seek for those services in which they may have the best
help for their souls. Choose to work with those that are likely to be helpers
in Christ Jesus. It is good to be in company and to have conversation with
those that will further us in the knowledge of Christ, and to put ourselves
under the influence of such as are resolved that they will serve the Lord.
Concerning this Aquila we are here told,
(1.) That he was a Jew, but born in Pontus
(2.) That he was lately come from Italy Corinth
(3.) That the reason of his leaving Italy was because by
a late edict of the emperor Claudius Caesar all Jews were banished from Rome;
for the Jews were generally hated, and every occasion was taken to put hardship
and disgrace upon them. God's heritage was as a speckled bird, the birds round
about were against her, Jer 12:9. Aquila , though a Christian, was banished because he had been a Jew; and the
Gentiles had such confused notions of the thing that they could not distinguish
between a Jew and a Christian. Suetonius, in the life of Claudius, speaks of
this decree in the ninth year of his reign, and says, The reason was because
the Jews were a turbulent people-assiduo tumultuantes; and that it was
impulsore Christo-upon the account of Christ; some zealous for him, others
bitter against him, which occasioned great heats, such as gave umbrage to the
government, and provoked the emperor, who was a timorous jealous man, to order
them all to be gone. If Jews persecute Christians, it is not strange if
heathens persecute them both.
II. We have here Paul preaching to the Jews, and dealing
with them to bring them to the faith of Christ, both the native Jews and the
Greeks, that is, those that were more or less proselyted to the Jewish
religion, and frequented their meetings.
1. He reasoned with them in the synagogue publicly every
sabbath. See in what way the apostles propagated the gospel, not by force and
violence, by fire and sword, not by demanding an implicit consent, but by fair
arguing; they drew with the cords of a man, gave a reason for what they said,
and gave a liberty to object against it, having satisfactory answers ready. God
invites us to come and reason with him (Isa 1:18 ), and challenges sinners to produce their cause, and
bring forth their strong reasons, Isa 41:21. Paul was a rational as well as a
scriptural preacher.
2. He persuaded them-epeithe. It denotes,
(1.) The urgency of his preaching. He did not only
dispute argumentatively with them, but he followed his arguments with
affectionate persuasions, begging of them for God's sake, for their own soul's
sake, for their children's sake, not to refuse the offer of salvation made to
them. Or,
(2.) The good effect of his preaching. He persuaded them,
that is, he prevailed with them; so some understand it. In sententiam suam
adducebat-He brought them over to his own opinion. Some of them were convinced
by his reasonings, and yielded to Christ.
3. He was yet more earnest in this matter when his
fellow-labourers, his seconds, came up with him (v. 5): When Silas and Timothy
had come from Macedonia, and had brought him good tidings from the churches
there, and were ready to assist him here, and strengthened his hands, then Paul
was more than before pressed in spirit, which made him more than ever pressing
in his preaching. He was grieved for the obstinacy and infidelity of his
countrymen the Jews, was more intent than ever upon their conversion, and the
love of Christ constrained him to it (2 Cor 5:14): it is the word that is used
here, it pressed him in spirit to it. And, being thus pressed, he testified to
the Jews with all possible solemnity and seriousness, as that which he was
perfectly well assured of himself, and attested to them as a faithful saying,
and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah promised
to the fathers and expected by them.
III. We have him here abandoning the unbelieving Jews,
and turning from them to the Gentiles, as he had done in other places, v. 6.
1. Many of the Jews, and indeed the most of them,
persisted in their contradiction to the gospel of Christ, and would not yield
to the strongest reasonings nor the most winning persuasions; they opposed
themselves and blasphemed; they set themselves in battle array (so the word
signifies) against the gospel; they joined hand in hand to stop the progress of
it. They resolved they would not believe it themselves, and would do all they
could to keep others from believing it. They could not argue against it, but
what was wanting in reason they made up in ill language: they blasphemed, spoke
reproachfully of Christ, and in him of God himself, as Rev 13:5-6. To justify
their infidelity, they broke out into downright blasphemy.
2. Paul hereupon declared himself discharged from them,
and left them to perish in their unbelief. He that was pressed in spirit to
testify to them (v. 5), when they opposed that testimony, and persisted in
their opposition, was pressed in spirit to testify against them (v. 6), and his
zeal herein also he showed by a sign: he shook his raiment, shaking off the dust
from it (as before they shook off the dust from their feet, Acts 13:51), for a
testimony against them. thus he cleared himself from them, but threatened the
judgments of God against them. As Pilate by washing his hands signified the
devolving of the guilt of Christ's blood from himself upon the Jews, so Paul by
shaking his raiment signified what he said, if possible to affect them with it.
(1.) He had done his part, and was clean from the blood
of their souls; he had, like a faithful watchman, given them warning, and
thereby had delivered his soul, though he could not prevail to deliver theirs.
He had tried all methods to work upon them, but all in vain, so that if they
perish in their unbelief their blood is not to be required at his hands; here,
and 20:26 , he plainly refers to Ezek 33:8-9. It is very
comfortable to a minister to have the testimony of his conscience for him, that
he has faithfully discharged his trust by warning sinners.
(2.) They would certainly perish if they persisted in
their unbelief, and the blame would lie wholly upon themselves: "Your
blood be upon your own heads, you will be your own destroyers, your nation will
be ruined in this world, and particular persons will be ruined in the other
world, and you alone shall bear it." If any thing would frighten them at
last into a compliance with the gospel, surely this would.
3. Having given them over, yet he does not give over his
work. Though Israel 23:37 ), would have healed them (Jer 51:9), and they would not; but Christ
must not be a head without a body, nor a foundation without a building, and
therefore, if they will not, we must try whether others will." Thus the
fall and diminishing of the Jews became the riches of the Gentiles; and Paul
said this to their faces, not only because it was what he could justify, but to
provoke them to jealousy, Rom 11:12,14.
(From Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New
Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson
Publishers, Inc.)
SO, ONE REALLY WONDERS WHETHER THESE PROPERITY GOSPEL
PREACHERS EVER REMEMBER THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. WHY CAN’T THEY PREACH WHAT
JESUS CHRIST DICTATED AS HIS MANIFESTO? THE MISSION STATEMENT OF CHRISTIANITY CLEARLY SPELT OUT FOR EVERY DEDICATED
PREACHER OR TRUE EVANGELIST
LET
THEM RE-READ MATTHEW 5, 6 & 7!
Matthew
7
7:1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
2 For in the same way as you judge others, you will be
judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your
brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
4 How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck
out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own
eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
6 "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw
your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and
then turn and tear you to pieces.
7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you
will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and
to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will
give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?
11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give
good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good
gifts to those who ask him!
12 So in everything, do to others what you would have
them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the
gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through
it.
14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads
to life, and only a few find it.
15 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you
in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
16 By their fruit you will recognise them. Do people pick
grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad
tree bears bad fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down
and thrown into the fire.
20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognise them.
21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will
enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is
in heaven.
22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we
not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many
miracles?'
23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away
from me, you evildoers!'
24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine
and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds
blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its
foundation on the rock.
26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does
not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds
blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the
crowds were amazed at his teaching,
29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as
their teachers of the law.
(from The Holy Bible: New International
Version. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984, by International Bible Society)
The relevant verses for these hungry
and greedy pastors are very clear. If they were not the sons and disciples of
the evil one, they could have understood those words long ago while they were
still in their so-called Bible Schools. The tools and trademarks of all good
pastors or the real requirements for discipleship were spelt out by the founder
of Christianity! If these prosperity gospel preachers were not Satan’s
disciples they would have listened to Jesus, the Christ.
Matt
10:7-42
7 As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven
is near.'
8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have
leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
9 Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your
belts;
10 take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or
sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.
11 "Whatever town or village you enter, search for
some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave.
12 As you enter the home, give it your greeting.
13 If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it;
if it is not, let your peace return to you.
14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your
words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.
15 I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom Gomorrah
16 I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.
Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
17 "Be on your guard against men; they will hand you
over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues.
18 On my account you will be brought before governors and
kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.
19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to
say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say,
20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of
your Father speaking through you.
21 "Brother will betray brother to death, and a
father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put
to death.
22 All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands
firm to the end will be saved.
23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another.
I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel
24 "A student is not above his teacher, nor a
servant above his master.
25 It is enough for the student to be like his teacher,
and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called
Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household!
26 "So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing
concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.
27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight;
what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.
28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot
kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body
in hell.
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of
them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.
30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many
sparrows.
32 "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also
acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.
33 But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him
before my Father in heaven.
34 "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace
to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
35 For I have come to turn "'a man against his
father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her
mother-in-law--
37 "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than
me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is
not worthy of me;
38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me
is not worthy of me.
39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses
his life for my sake will find it.
40 "He who receives you receives me, and he who
receives me receives the one who sent me.
41 Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet
will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man
because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward.
42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of
these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will
certainly not lose his reward."
(From the Holy Bible: New International
Version. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, and 1984, by International Bible
Society)
WERE THEY NEVER TAUGHT THE FULL
IMPLICATIONS OF WHAT PAUL WROTE IN HIS SECOND LETTER TO BISHOP TIMOTHY; ‘HIS
DEAR SON IN FAITH’? CAN’T THEY READ THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL OR COMPREHEND
WHAT ‘KEEPING THEIR HEAD HIGH IN ALL SITUATIONS’ MEANS;
2
Tim 4:2-5
2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of
season; correct, rebuke and encourage-- with great patience and careful
instruction.
3 For the time will come when men will not put up with
sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around
them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn
aside to myths.
5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure
hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your
ministry.
(From the Holy Bible: New International
Version. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, and 1984, by International Bible
Society)
· THE TRUTH IS THAT MOST OF THEM ARE
SCHOOL DROPOUTS WHO ARE UNEMPLOYABLE AND THE ONLY MEANS OF ESCAPING HUNGER,
POVERTY, PUBLIC SHAME & RIDICULE IS CAMOUFLAGING AS ITINERANT PASTORS.
· THEY BEGIN BY ESTABLISHING CHURCHES
IN WAREHOUSES AND LATER GRAVITATE TO HOTELS, FLEECING THEIR CONGREGATION INTO
BUILDING PERSONAL MANSIONS FOR THEM UNDER THE GUISE OF WORKING FOR GOD! ON THE
FINAL DAY THEY WILL HEAR WHAT JESUS, OUR LORD SAID IN MATTHEW 7.
21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will
enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is
in heaven.
22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we
not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many
miracles?'
23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away
from me, you evildoers!'
THE RELEVANT VERSES FOR THESE HUNGRY AND GREEDY PASTORS
ARE VERY CLEAR. IF THEY WERE NOT THE SONS AND DISCIPLES OF THE EVIL ONE, THEY
COULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD THOSE WORDS LONG AGO WHILE THEY WERE STILL IN THEIR
SO-CALLED BIBLE SCHOOLS. THEIR END IS JUST LIKE THE OT PROPHET REVEALED AS
GOD’S DESIGN:
Jeremiah
14:10-16
10 This is what the LORD says about this people:
"They greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. So the LORD
does not accept them; he will now remember their wickedness and punish them for
their sins."
11 Then the LORD said to me, "Do not pray for the
well-being of this people.
12 Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry;
though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them.
Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague."
13 But I said, "Ah, Sovereign LORD, the prophets
keep telling them, 'You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will
give you lasting peace in this place.'"
14 Then the LORD said to me, "The prophets are
prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken
to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and
the delusions of their own minds.
15 Therefore, this is what the LORD says about the
prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are
saying, 'No sword or famine will touch this land.' Those same prophets will
perish by sword and famine.
16 And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown
out into the streets of Jerusalem
(From the Holy Bible: New International
Version. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, and 1984, by International Bible
Society)
IF YOU WANT THE FULL BOOK AT $100 CONTACT THE
AUTHOR:
REV.
PROF. J. J. KENEZ, D.Sc. a.k.a. DR JIDEOFO KENECHUWU DANMBAEZUE
