Author: TeenageLifeMission

Excerpts from the book – Abstinence: Freedom From Sexual Bondage

I saw an interesting interview some time ago… A Nigerian pastor was on Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) simply highlighting and praising himself. Then came the big question from his American interviewer (Sorry, host). “When we drive on the streets of Lagos, we see so much poverty – There is a wide gap between the haves and have nots, what is the Church in Nigeria doing to address this?”

This “big time” Nigerian Pastor of a “big Church” was obviously not expecting this sort of punchy question. He had no simple direct answer except some high fluting expressions about Joseph and Benjamin…and also about Ikechukwu an Igbo name. By the time you finished listening to him, you would wonder what Benjamin, Joseph and an Igbo name called Ikechukwu have to do with the ostentatious and lavish lifestyle of Nigerian pastors in the midst of glaring, stifling, poverty. What justification do these pastors have for living in stupendous wealth in the face of hungry- looking junior pastors, and wretched church members?

There is no church- funded ministry or department for sustainable poverty alleviation, no tangible scholarship or even bursary awards for indigent students who are regular church members; no form of financial assistance for rent, no free medical facilities like the old missionaries did in order to win souls, no free education and no effective community development. These are things that speak volumes for Christianity. No pastor needs to brag about it from the pulpit. When the catholic missionaries did it, even the blind saw it. There’s no need for churches to advertise or praise themselves.

Enough of boasting. When you get into a church with loads of issues for God to handle, you hear a pastor boasting about his wife, his house, his cars and how “this church cannot make me rich”. How come the pastor keeps marketing his books in church, selling tapes, receiving salaries and monetary gifts from members. “sow into my anointing, sow into this conference e.t.c” yet they keep telling others to use their faith to get what they want from God. Every conference that is highly promoted and widely attended becomes a money-spinning show, a big opportunity to raise millions and massage the ego of all the ministers. Each day’s programme is rounded off with financial altar calls in different categories.

It really chills my bones to see church members come out to give testimonies and it’s all about “if not for daddy (that is the pastor) and mummy (the wife) I would not be alive today. Oh… thank you mummy and daddy”. They use over five minutes praising the pastor and then use about three minutes for the real testimony. Every testifier praises pastor to high heavens and pastor does not feel any form of embarrassment at all. “oh to God be the glory”, he would eventually say “which God”. In most churches, pastor is the god. Everyone is focused on pleasing pastor. It’s like a spell, I tell you. People hardly notice the lack and poverty amongst church members. All the material gifts, money and attention belong to pastor or so everyone is meant to believe. Once I preached this message in a church and one rich church member confessed to me afterwards that he was saddened and humbled by what he heard. He told me that it was during the sermon his eyes opened and he realized that one particular man he had been seeing in church for years who always sits in front of him wears the same shirt and trouser every Sunday. He had to speak to the man after service and opted to change his wardrobe.

A pastor who has enough time to shop for trendy suits, shoes, cars and cosmetics, while counting cost of blocks for the mega church project, dating ladies in the church, watching pornography on the net, traveling the world, and keeping up with pop culture, what time does he really have to study the word, hear God, and minister to his flock? Why has the church compromised so badly? What really happened? You may say it’s end time signs and I will not argue however, there are still a few ministers who are not cash- inspired. They are quite few, sadly because “narrow is the way that leads to eternal life” and only few go therein and “broad is the way that leads to eternal damnation”, that’s where the crowd troops into.

These few dedicated men and women of God may not be on television, may not have big titles, remember Jesus never did, may not have a big congregation and the liquidity that comes with it, may not be fashionable or glamorous yet they are worthy ambassadors of the gospel. Of course, they are tempted daily to be like others, who doesn’t like to be validated, by the world. But they know that friendship with the world is enmity with Christ. They know that Godliness and Worldliness are staunch enemies. They don’t mix. They don’t belong together at all. Forget all this hype artistry in the body of Christ. Mark 10 vs. 44 says “whoever shall be the greatest among you shall be servant of all”. Pastors are called to serve the flock by ministering to them, not to snob poor members of the church or intimidate people, talk down on everyone, engage in self- exaltation, and exhibit all forms of tribalism, envy, enslavement of junior ministers in the name of “service to God” and then pay poor wages to staff while living in luxury. Their lifestyle is a study in the manifestation of selfishness at its most sophisticated form, arrogance, competitive spirit, greed and sheer wickedness. Those are not Godly virtues at all.

When our pastors started plastering their faces on billboards at strategic points on Lagos roads I felt a bit embarrassed for them. Why? They are not God? Do they really need bill board adverts of their faces to win souls? Imagine if the Lagos State Governor had not destroyed those billboards it would have been a case of Pastors not only trying to out do one another, but also trying so hard to out – do politicians and the entire Lagos roads would have been covered with billboards. What a pity!

The word of God says it all in Eccl. 4 vs. 4 “and I saw that all labour an all achievement spring from man’s envy of his neighbour. This too is vanity and a chasing after the wind.”

My love and concern go to those wounded souls out there that have got more than they bargained for through illicit sex. Some are trying so hard to cope with a live-in lover whose bride price they cannot afford and an “unwanted baby” to feed in the midst of stifling poverty. Some have become wounded by the guilt and shame of masturbation but don’t know the way out, while others are simply asking me “what is wrong with couples being naked and using their body as they like?” I will tell you right away.

Let us look at 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verses 19 to 20: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you have been bought with a price. Therefore honour God with your body.” Some translations would say “therefore glorify God with your body.” Once you defile the temple of God through sexual perversion, married or single, the Holy Spirit takes a walk from you, period. Your body becomes the temple of unclean spirits, I mean, demons.

Let me add that God has entrusted this body to you for the fulfilment of his purpose on earth. The book of Romans chapter one clearly explains that once you leave the natural use of a woman’s body for that which is unseemly you are indulging in sexual perversion and you are dishonouring your body in flagrant disobedience to the word of God. Maybe your next question would be “since I enjoy it very much what happens to someone who disobeys God’s word?” I’m still here with more explanations. It’s my full-time job, you know. Don’t laugh.

Sin is very pleasurable but the consequences are fatal. The soul that sins, not only dies here on earth but also ends up in hell fire, that fire that is unquenchable. Also, sexual sin not only wounds your soul but deadens your conscience. It is quite progressive. It leaves a big hole of insatiability in you that’s why there is a graduation from oral to anal with one woman today, one man tomorrow, then a prostitute next tomorrow etc.

Each encounter keeps chipping off your virtue, your morality and your conscience. All manner of sin, sexual and non-sexual deaden the conscience. And would you like to know what happens to somebody who has no conscience? Just the same thing that happens in the lives of our Governors that they could wake up from month to month living in affluence while teachers and civil servants go home with no salaries, no food for their families, no peace and no dignity. Generally speaking, the Blackman (African leaders): Presidents, Ministers, Governors, local government chairmen, commissioners, past and present, behave like people who have no conscience at all. A wounded soul with no conscience would wound another person. And the cycle continues.

Romans chapter one verses 22 to the end explains that sexual perversion is a sign of a reprobate mind, that is, a mind that has degenerated. The church cannot afford to keep pretending that all is well. Unfortunately, many people are searching for solutions from their Pastors rather than from the word of God. That is why they could be misled by the kind of pastor that encourages couples to go on with oral sex, that, it is not a sin. There are so many wounded lives on church pews who need to be in tune with Jesus – friend of the wounded heart. They must spend time reading their Bible not just running from one motivational and entertaining church programme to another: Success Secrets…“Ten ways to be successful, in life”. Tell me, please, after being successful what happens to your soul?

It is not just enough to be a staunch member of a Pentecostal church yet you are living in sexual sin – fornication, adultery, masturbation, homosexuality, lesbianism (the latest craze in Nollywood) and polygamy. My sincere question to you is this: why are you in bondage? What do you open your mind to? Things that wound your spirit but gratify your flesh: Films or home videos and worldly music that tease you sexually even though they are not labelled pornographic. You know they have sexual undertones in spite of the excuses you are making. I know, but what images do they send to your mind: Holy or sexually-polluted images? What images are you absorbing through your eye gate? What do you receive through your ear gate? Of what spiritual value are they? Is it possible that they are polluting your spirit, soul and body? Or are you just  injuring your spirit man? Have you checked your dream monitors? Are you having sex in the dream? Do you find yourself in dirty surroundings in your dream? Or you don’t even dream at all? You may need counselling and deliverance.

Those secret habits of yours may just be caging your spirit man. They cannot empower you to control your lustful feelings towards a woman or a man that you are not yet legally married to; fiancée or financer. They only gratify your lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life at the expense of your spirit man. The sort of thing that King Solomon calls vanity upon vanity all is but vanity and a vexation of the spirit. Those things you read, or watch, and discuss, with friends how pure are they? What is the spirit behind them: spirit of rebellion or sexual immorality?  Or do you think they are Holy-Spirit inspired? Whatever you take in through your eye gate or ear gate get into your heart and eventually manifest in your thoughts. Thereafter   they find expression in you and they show up in your habits and in your character. Garbage in. Garbage out. Have we forgotten that Jesus told his disciples that the things that defile us come from the heart? “For out of the heart come evil thoughts murder, adultery, sexual immorality, false testimony, slander (Mathew 16 v 16 to 20.)

Psalm 19 verses 7 to 11 tell us that “the law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the hearts. The commands of the LORD are radiant giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure enduring for ever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey from the honey comb. By them your servant is warned, in keeping them there is great reward.”

God created us for his own pleasure. We are to do only his will, and that gives him pleasure. He hates rebellion and stubbornness. He calls rebellion – witchcraft and stubbornness – iniquity.

The book of Ezekiel chapter 12 tells us the characteristics of a rebellious people. “They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear”. A stubborn child is a source of pain to his parents. A rebellious child brings sorrow instead of joy. When Jesus sent his twelve disciples to the lost sheep of Israel (children of God who had become rebellious) he instructed his followers to preach this message “The Kingdom of God is near”, Matthew 10 verse 7 and 8. He asked them to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy and drive out demons. Why are we reluctant to preach that the kingdom of God is at hand so that people can flee sexual sin, eschew evil and live a holy life like pilgrims on this earth?

I feel that because Jesus understands human nature and our tendency to make merchandise of everything, he quickly added “freely you have received, freely give”. The other day, someone sent me a text saying “I have a burden in my heart. How about a pastor who will ask the congregation to bring all their salaries without removing a dime? And all he talks about is sowing seed. Am I in the right church?” I replied his text by advising him to please go on his knees and sincerely ask God if he is in the right church. God alone knows everything. You must ask him because it would be disastrous to be in a particular church only to discover on the day of judgement that you were merely wallowing in filth by association. Have you ever heard about something called collective captivity? You can ask the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Or doesn’t it bother you that almost every pastor in Nigeria now has a “financial anointing” and is “called” in the area of prosperity teachings?

The other day I ministered at a youth programme and someone said their pastor had told them that once you are about to wed your fiancée you can start having canal knowledge of her. So I wanted to know if waiting for a few more weeks for them to become legally married would render the husband -to- be impotent. I mean why the hurry since they are already on their way to the altar? Well I simply explained to the youths that such a pastor was not yet born-again. Apostle Paul once warned the Christians about some people who would trouble them and would pervert the gospel of Christ. He said “though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed.”

Paul also advised Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 4 to “preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. For a time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap themselves teachers having itching ears. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables.” Exciting church sermons by way of motivational teachings are good but why are we still wallowing in sexual immorality, from church worker to bank worker, pastor to politician all na the same? The consequences still await all of us. The book of 1 Peter 4 verse 17 to 18say “for it is time for judgement to begin with the family of God, and if it first begin with us what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if it is hard for the righteous to, be saved what will, become of the ungodly and the sinner?

In Matt 15:24, Jesus clearly told the Canaanite woman that was crying after Jesus to heal her daughter of a terrible demon possession that he (Jesus) was “sent only to the lost sheep of Israel”. That “it is not right for him to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs”. The woman quickly replied that “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table”. So, Jesus granted her request immediately. In other words, healing/ deliverance are the exclusive preserve of “the lost sheep of Israel”. Most sicknesses and demon possession are curses of disobedience. Once they happen to a child of God, there must have been an open door somewhere through sin or unbroken covenants. “When the hedge is broken the serpent would bite” Matt 15 vs 16-20. We are meant to understand that things that defile us come from the heart. “ for out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander these are what make a man unclean. And when the hedge is broken, the serpent would bite according to Ecclesiastes verse 8 “ whoever digs a pit shall fall into it and when the hedge is broken, the serpent bite”

When we break the hedge of God’s protection over us through sin, then sicknesses and all manner of demonic attacks could overwhelm us. But there is still deliverance on mount Zion.

Let me wind up with Paul’s advise to Timothy in the book of 2 Timothy 4 “preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. For a time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables”. Exciting church sermons by the way of motivational talks are good, but tell me, why are we still wallowing in sexual immorality? “Ten ways to be successful in life” So, after being successful, what happens to your soul? The consequences of fornication, adultery, masturbation, homosexuality, lesbianism, anal sex, internet sex and sexting still await you. The book of1 Peter 4 verse 17 to 18 say “ for it is time for judgement to begin with the family of God and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if it is hard for the Righteous to be saved what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? In plain English, it is quite possible for the so – called righteous people and the sinners as well as the ungodly to end up in hell fire.