The “gospel” is now a product marketed with
razzmatazz by mega-pastors and televangelists.
I was having lunch at “Sweet Sensation,” a fast-
food restaurant in Lagos, when someone tapped
me on the shoulder. I looked back to see a
gentleman grinning at me from ear to ear. “Dr.
Aribisala, how are you doing?” he asked
expansively. It was one of my former pastors.
As a young believer, I was so hungry for God I
juggled several church-memberships
simultaneously. I grew up in the Anglican
Communion. But when I finally had an encounter
with Christ, I switched to the Baptist Church and
then to Pentecostal Assembly. Even then, I also
attended mid-week services at Zoe Ministries,
before ditching both for several branches of the
Redeemed Christian Church of God.
When the Lord formally called me to a healing
ministry, I decided to establish a Christian
fellowship of my own with a handful of people in
Lagos. Within five years, it metamorphosed into a
full-fledged church.
A repentant pastor
My former Zoe pastor was genuinely glad to see
me and I readily changed tables to sit with him.
He told me he was no longer with his old church
but was now coordinating a small prayer-group.
He wanted to know what I was doing. When I told
him my office was just five minutes away, he
insisted on seeing it. So after finishing my lunch, I
took him back to my office complex and showed
him the different features of the building.
When we came to my office, I sat down behind my
desk and he sat in front of me. He looked at me
with a curious intensity. Then he said: “So you are
now a pastor?” It was a question and yet not a
question. I had shown him the church-hall, the
Christian video and book libraries, the prayer-
room, television room and the counselling
cubicles. I had also come clean and acknowledged
I was then a pastor. Nevertheless, he felt it
necessary to ask the question again, as if he was
trying to confirm it to himself.
He suddenly became very quiet. He seemed to
crouch a little bit in his seat. He stared for an
embarrassingly long time at his finger nails. Then,
out of nowhere, he started to apologise to me. His
apologies were all the more intriguing because we
never had any noticeable differences in the past.
But there in my office that afternoon, he just felt
the need to apologise and I understood exactly
why. In a rambling manner, he told me how sorry
he was for “all the rubbish we were doing in those
days.” Somehow, he just knew that by now I
would have come to know they were rubbish, even
if I might not have realised it at the time.
I remember one occasion when Zoe president,
Patrick Anwuzia, was visiting the church, we were
required to raise a “love offering” for him. But then
the pastor insisted it had to be in either dollars or
pounds sterling. He asked for public pledges but
when nobody responded, he called people up at
random and dictated pledges for them. He told
them what they had to contribute irrespective of
whether they were so disposed or not.
In those days, he often came up with imaginative
ploys to extract money from us. No less than three
offerings were collected every service; one for the
Father, another for the Son and a third for the Holy
Spirit.
Church business
When Jesus was only twelve years old, he went
with his adoptive-parents to Jerusalem to
celebrate the Passover. But on returning back
home, they discovered he was missing. They
spent an agonising three days searching for him
and finally found him in the temple, engaged in
discussion with the teachers of the law.
His mother chided him for his insensitivity. She
said: “Son, why have you done this to us? Look,
your father and I have sought you
anxiously.” (Luke 2:48). But Jesus was
unapologetic. He said to them: “Why did you seek
me? Did you not know that I must be about my
Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49).
A similar anomaly applies to pastors. Precisely
what is the Father’s business and to what extent
are pastors engaged in it? The Father’s business is
supposed to be the preaching of the gospel in
order to usher men into the kingdom of God. But
make no mistake about it; today’s churches are far
more interested in your money than in your soul.
The single, most important, objective of today’s
pastorate is the collection of money from church-
goers.
House of merchandise
Folusho Aribisala told me about a banker colleague
of his whose church applied for a loan from his
bank. He was dismayed to find in the application
projections about anticipated increases in the
amount of tithes and offerings that would be
collected over the next few years. The man was
disgusted that his church was not only targeting
his current income, it was already making plans
about his future earnings.
Jesus’ gospel is addressed to the poor. (Luke
4:18). James insists it is the poor that God has
chosen for his kingdom. (James 2:5). But the
primary focus of today’s gospel is the rich.
Pastors are ever reaching out to those better able
to pay fat tithes and give big offerings. Some even
give commissions to church-members who invite
them to church. In some cases, special seats up-
front are reserved for them.
Pastors have become get-rich-quick tipsters who
offer keys, not of the kingdom, but of financial
prosperity. We organise special programs for
businessmen, promising to give them the power to
get more wealth. Like Joel Osteen, pastor of
Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas (U.S.A.), we
offer our parishioners “your best life now;” an
infinitely more appealing proposition than Jesus’
“take up your cross and follow me.”
Marketing Jesus
No wonder, many now see church-going in
economic terms; deeming it invaluable for making
business connections. Bankers come to church in
search of depositors. Traders come to church in
search of customers. That nice gentleman shouting
“hallelujah” across the aisle from you is likely to
button-hole you after the service, give you his
complimentary card, and inform you that he
services generators; just in case you are
interested.
The “gospel” is now a product marketed with
razzmatazz by mega-pastors and televangelists.
Bishop T.D. Jakes of Potters House, Dallas, Texas
organises a lavish annual religious jamboree called
“MegaFest.” The 2005 edition in Atlanta, Georgia
was sponsored by Coca-Cola; GlaxoSmithKline;
American Airlines and Ford Motor Company,
among others.
But how can the gospel of a kingdom not of this
world be obligated, at the same time, to corporate
America? Inevitably, there is conflict, as the
message is punctuated by the obligatory “word
from our sponsors.” It is not a surprise therefore
that, according to Annette John-Hall of the
Philadelphia Inquirer, during the kick-off of the
2005 MegaFest, T.D. Jakes mentioned his
corporate sponsors more times than he mentioned
God.
In effect, pastors are no longer engaged in the
Father’s business. Mary and Joseph have been
looking for us in all the right places, but to no
avail. Someone needs to tell them we can be
found in the supermarkets and flea-markets,
putting Jesus up for sale.

http://247latestnewsupdate.com/2014/02/18/why-pastors-dont-go-to-heaven-1/

it's a pity what d Love for material things has turn people into. Only Allah Subhanahu Wata'ala will save us!!

it should have been...WHY SOME PASTORS WONT GO TO HEAVEN...not y pastors dont go to heaven..rephrase ur statement...please