Our world today is in trouble; gradually being eaten up by the worms of the sin it cohabits with. There does not seem to be respite for man. The latest scourge, coronavirus, has rubbished knowledge and exposed suspect anointing. The solution is not in the unfair jailing of Funke Akindele of Nollywood for flouting social distancing. Yes, she must be punished, but what of the equally crowded court that sentenced her and an attorney-general that addressed the press in a near market gathering? Were they not guilty of flouting the social distancing edict?
The problem is that God has long forsaken recalcitrant man and coronavirus, alias Covid-19, and its kindred may keep troubling the world, if man does not turn from his evil ways. Sadly, some of the men of God we look up to have also been swamped in confusion and ignorance. They teach falsity from afflicted brains, issuing verbose sermons from unclean lips, which have not been sanitised by the blood of the Lamb. They seek public acclaim, believing they are speaking for the Lord, yet He does not know them.
Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you, exhorting you to CONTEND EARNESTLY FOR THE FAITH, which was once for all delivered to the saints. FOR CERTAIN MEN HAVE CREPT IN UNNOTICED, (INTO THE CHURCH, AND PULPITS) who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, UNGODLY MEN, who turn the grace of God into lewdness and deny the only LORD JESUS CHRIST. (Jude: 3-4).
Dearly beloved, the Church is in a very critical and crucial state of her existence at a time like this. The church, even though full of people and very noisy, is dangerously losing her grounds of influence on the world, as the light of the world.
As a result of spiritual coma, the Church has lost ground to Satan and New Age Religion mistakenly accepted as a Christianity.
Carefully consider these areas where the Church has lost ground, and is yet unperturbed and unrepentant:
…The Church has lost her Holy MEN and WOMEN OF GOD to NOLLY MEN AND WOMEN OF GOD.
…The Church has lost her Biblical Discipleship Teaching to Motivational and Financial Empowerment Preaching
…The Church has lost her Church Music to Music in the Church.
… The Church has lost her worshipping and praying with head scarf and hats to Brazilian and Indian artificial hairs.
…The Church has lost her decent skirts and gowns to bum shorts, and trousers, and very terrible seductive wears.
…The Church has lost her humble, simple, and unassuming pastors and preachers to very ostentatious, flamboyant, and fashion-crazy pastors and preachers.
…The Church has lost her Godly and heaven-conscious pastors’ wives to hazardous contagious sin-laden and fashion-minded women as pastor’s wife.
…The Church has lost her Holy Bible to a “more convenient” IPad, smartphones and electronic gadgets.
…The Church has lost her memorising the scriptures to projecting the scriptures in the Church.
…The Church has lost her weeping and meditation after sermons to clapping, shouting, and standing ovation after sermons.
…The Church has lost her pasting Godly and challenging Bible quotations on the walls of the Church to mounting televisions in the Church.
…The Church has lost her giving and caring for her poor and indigent members secretly to publishing pictures of poor indigent members and widows assisted in the Church on social media.
…The Church has lost her war against IDOLATRY to Christianising IDOLATRY.
…The Church has lost her wall of partition between IDOLATRY and CULTURE to UNBRIDLED CONTEXTUALIZATION AND SATANIC ACCULTURATION.
…The Church has lost her Christian dance steps and styles to hip-hop, pop star, shaku shaku, juju music, etc, dance skills.
…The Church has lost her disciplining of obstinate and unrepentant members to giving awards to notorious, unbelieving but rich members.
…The Church has lost her decent Christian praying pattern to praying like WORSHIPPERS OF BAAL.
…The Church has lost her teaching on the sacredness and sanctity of marriage to wedding pregnant ladies, and half-naked women in the Church.
…The Church has lost her teaching on forgiveness to prayer of revenge and vengeance.
…The Church has lost her focus on Heaven to addictively focusing on the things of this life.
…The Church has lost her OBEDIENCE to Christ to OBEDIENCE to men of God, even where their teachings contradict the holy scriptures.
…The Church has lost her emphasis on righteous living to emphasis on sowing of seeds.
Who will save the Church of my generation? Who is on the Lord’s side? Who will damn the consequences of ridicule and abuse to rescue the Church? Who will stand out from the multitude and contend for the Faith? Brethren, it is either NOW or NEVER. God’s heartbeat and clarion call is: “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land (the Church), but I found no one “ (Ezekiel 22:30). May God count on you for this last minute rescue mission for the church in coma in Jesus Christ name.
The credit for most of the foregoing goes to Bishop Ikeakor. He actually described it as Church in coma but I believe it is more in the limbo of bewilderment induced by interlopers on both the pulpit and the pews.
Many claim to be what they are not because they are befuddled or mere pranksters. They mistake going to church for Christianity.
However, one Pastor James, who belongs to one of the social media platforms with me, disagrees. For him, too many calamities have befallen (humanity) the body of Christ, even in the midst of so many churches because we’ve acted wickedly and rejected God for God has turned His back.
He says: What we practise now is Churchianity, a term coined by Bible teacher Richard Pope during a sermon characterising the condition of the modern-day Christian Church and how different its teachings are from the original ideas and message of the historical Jesus.
Churchianity is the devolution of Christianity into a mutual admiration society, a social club, which stresses adapting to the modern world instead of purging the evils out of this world. Instead of being driven by the ideas of exposing and opposing sin and eradicating evil, Churchianity strives to make the pew occupants feel good about themselves while society self-destructs.
Churchianity has abandoned the Ten Commandments in favour of promoting self-help, amplified with Bible verses. The Book of Revelation actually predicted this development, calling it the “Church of Laodecia,” the church of lukewarm people.
Churchianity combines elements of prosperity theology, ecumenism, universal salvation, modernism, “higher criticism,” syncretism, etc.
I advise that we read Amos 4:9-11 and take God’s decree as a sign that we must turn back to God and seek His face, His mercy.
I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.
We must turn away from evil and idol worship and retrace our footsteps to God. Let’s go back to God so that the afflictions shall leave mankind alone. Let us sanitise our heart and wash our hands with the blood of the Lamb that was shed on the cross of Calvary for this purpose and then quarantine ourselves with the Holy Ghost for our restoration and renewal. God might not have brought it upon man Himself but it is a small thing to heal the land if only we return to Him in humility, seek His face and forsake our sins. (2 Chronicles 7:14). His Word NEVER fails not.
HAPPY EASTER!!!