SHOCKING- "POWER Without REPENTANCE"
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
"POWER Without REPENTANCE in NIGERIA"
-extracts by Terry Somerville.
Wow! Have I experienced some changes through the holiday
season since my trip to Nigeria in December. As you will read in
the report below, Nigeria has achieved what we are striving to
become. Churches and ministries are everywhere. Preaching and
praise on government transportation! Grounds for monthy prayer
meetings of one million, seven hundred thousand people! Up to
70% of the government is filled by Christians. It is a nation filled
with believers and "power" churches, what more could we want?
Yet there is deep rooted unrighteousness - particularly among
Christians! By far the biggest impact on me was looking in the
mirror. The realization that we in the "power filled, Spirit anointed,
apostolic, prophetic, miracle working church" have had spiritual
power without repentance!
For over twenty five years, as a "Spirit filled" pastor I believed that
when people encountered the glory, experienced miracles,
received prophetically, and were touched by the Father's love,
they would have changed lives... and we would see revival. But it
hasn't happened! People have regular, real, power encounters with
God, but never change their ways! In fact, some go deeper into
sin! (I won't tell the stories here, but they are astonishing!) In the
last few years I would go home from our "power church" utterly
unsatisfied (and I was the preacher). I know many of you experience
exactly the same thing! We've had it all! Miracles, prophetic
worship, anointing, glory and signs! What is this deep disatisfaction,
and even sorrow, in the midst of an awesome work of God?
Isaiah 1 gives us a clue: "Bring no more vain offerings; incense is
an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and the calling of
assemblies -- I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly....
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your
doings from before my eyes...."
Let's apply Isaiah 1 to us because "these things are written for us
that we may not sin as they did". The Lord is growing weary of
worship and iniquity mixed together.... It's time for a total change
in the church! In the New Testament, healing, miracles and
preaching the good news of the Kingdom always ended in a call
to repentance.
WHAT I SAW in NIGERIA
In early December I was off to Nigeria for my first ministry
experience in Africa. I had been given all kinds of warnings but of
course I had also received hundreds of emails from Nigeria telling
me that "Total Change Ministries" was being given millions of
dollars! I wanted to meet all these generous widows of Sultans and Kings!
Once I passed through immigration and collected my luggage my
first encounter with the reality of Nigeria occurred. I was informed
by an official looking fellow that I needed to pay him forty pounds
to exit customs. I soon realized this was a bribe and managed to
get him down to twenty dollars. As I waited outside the airport I
had a steady stream of demands for cash and questionable
services, all of which I resisted. Soon my host Ebenezer Oke
arrived and we headed off across Lagos to get the bus to Akure.
Across Lagos there were churches everywhere! Signs advertised
power ministries, churches and meetings. In fact, everywhere I
went there were more signs advertising Christian events than any
product. Ebenezer said 50% of the people in this part of Nigeria
are Christian, but they didn't live it. He said, it was likely the man
in the airport who demanded the bribe was a Christian. Soon we
began to discuss the purpose of my visit. To teach leaders in
ministry and business about living their faith outside the church.
As Ebenezer told me more about himself, I learned he had been
a pastor for about ten years but the Lord called Him to start the
Life Development Institute to train Christians to be salt and light
outside the church.
Soon we transfered to a van and the demands for more money
because of the Yu- bow (white man). Finally we paid for an extra
seat for my suitcase. As we pulled away a man jumped in the
space at the door and I soon realized He was a preacher - bible in
hand! He began a full blown church service as we bombed down
the highway! He called us to worship God, then announced a
hymn and began to sing (and a few others with him) then he
prayed and read from the bible. Soon there was a message, an
invitation, another hynn and a prayer for safety on the road and
protection from bandits. Finally, just as we were pulling
into a gas station...an offering and blessing! Then he jumped out!
A series of thoughts went through me. I wan't sure what to make
of all this but Ebenzer said it was so needed given the harrowing
trips on the highway! Down the highway I saw what he meant as
we went through armed checkpoints dozens of times, and passed
hundreds of broken down, burned or wrecked cars. We travelled
for three hours with worship filling the van! Quite an experience
(especially since it was a government service).
Finally in Akure we joined forces with Ebenezer's friend Gideon at
his third floor Servant Leadership Institute.... After each session
questions and answers would take place. Walking righteously in
Nigeria is obviously a very difficult issue. One man told us he must
become King of his people, but this involved making a blood
covenant with the demons and the witch doctor. He said that he
would never dedicate himself to these gods (even though other
Christians had!) and asked how he could take his place in society
as a righteous Christian. Ebenezer answered refering to another
King who was a Christian. He had refused to take any oath or
dedicate himself to the gods. He told his people he would be their
King if they would renounce their gods and make Jesus Christ
God of their land. The elders conferred and agreed, and the whole
people came to the Lord! The man was greatly encouraged.
Ebenezer and Gideon impressed me again and again about the
situation in Nigeria. Christians are everywhere, and corruption is
everywhere. They said many times "the church of Nigeria is a
power church" and "the people are not living as salt and light".
Ebenezer also said that 70% of the government officials are
Christian but it is filled with bribery and scandal. All this made a
deep impact on me, because the need of the church is not more
power, but honest repentance.
We think if we can enlarge our churches, have Christian is key
marketplace positions, and experience more of the power of God
we will have revival. We are wrong. We are in the same position
as the church of Nigeria. ~[Source - http://www.totalchange.org ]
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"An APOLOGY in AMSTERDAM"
-by J. Lee Grady.
Some American evangelists have given us all a bad name in
Holland. Last weekend I begged Dutch pastors to forgive us.
"Statistics show that in Amsterdam we have the highest
concentration of churches in Europe," says Samuel Lee, an Iranian-
born church planter whose Jesus Christ Foundation Church in the
suburb of Deimen boasts 500 members from 12 nations.
But while this influx of Africans, Asians and Middle Easterners is
helping to revitalize Dutch churches, the influence of some Americans
has not had the same effect. I was shocked and embarrassed to
learn that charismatic evangelists from the United States have
earned a dubious reputation on the other side of the Atlantic.
During a one-day summit of pastors and church planters held in
Amsterdam last Saturday, I discovered that several high-profile
Christian speakers have worn out their welcome because of
questionable financial practices and inappropriate demands.
One of Holland's most respected charismatic pastors, Stanley
Hofwijks, says some American ministers are no longer welcome
in his country. Hofwijks' 2,500-member Maranatha Ministries
Church is predominantly Surinamese and is one of the largest
congregations in Holland.
"These pastors come here and insist that they must take their own
offerings," Hofwijks told me. "Then they get up in the pulpit and tell
the people that if they will give $1,000 each, all will be well and
they will be blessed."
Weary of what he considers financial manipulation, Hofwijks now
has a new policy: If a visiting minister insists on taking his own
offering, he is not welcome to preach.
Christian businessman and conference organizer Arie Templeman
has many horror stories to tell about his dealings with American
preachers. Their behavior outside the pulpit, he said, is as disturbing
as some of their questionable public demands for donations.
Some visiting preachers insisted on pricey hotel rooms-including,
on one occasion, a $10,000-a-night penthouse. Others made rude
demands of hotel staff.
"Many Dutch people look up to these men because they see them
on Christian television," Templeman said. "If they knew what went
on behind the scenes they would lose all respect for them."
On one occasion an American preacher who was speaking at a
Dutch conference was asked if he could come to another city and
address a group of pastors. Said Templeman: "[The evangelist]
asked how much he would be paid for the ministry session. When
he was told he would receive $1,000, he looked down at his shoes
and said: 'One of my shoes costs more than that. I will not go.'"
Hofwijks' biggest concern is that American arrogance is infecting
some younger Dutch leaders. "They want to be like the preachers
on American television," the pastor said. "They are focused on a
superstar mentality. It's very negative for our country because they
fall and many people fall with them."
...I had no choice but to extend an olive branch to my wounded
brothers and sisters. I shed a few tears as I asked them to forgive
us for taking financial advantage of their people. And I prayed
publicly that God would cleanse Dutch churches of the pride we
export to them.
Making an apology was a first step. Now I can only pray that those
of us who have misused our place of international influence will
find the grace to model genuine humility and integrity before it is too late.
God will not tolerate this sick, haughty spirit for too long. If we
don't repent, plenty of men and women from other parts of the
world are capable of stepping into our shoes to provide Christ-like
leadership. And they will not need to wear $2,500 Italian-leather
Oxfords to do the job.
~J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma and an award-winning
journalist. He writes a column for Charisma Online twice a week.
[Source: http://www.charismanow.com ].
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