Christians Should Vote For Candidates Based On Performance
Clement Ejiofor, 5 minutes ago

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Even with the elections postponed, Nigerians guess it’s still going to be a Buhari vs Jonathan showdown in late March. Naij.com’s guest author Evangelist Raymond from Benin talks about how some of Nigeria’s religious leaders tend to support either Goodluck Jonathan or Muhammadu Buhari based on their religious affiliations instead of performance.

I was in a bus recently in the company of various pastors and fellow Christians as we traveled to attend the annual Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) meetings held in Lagos.

After all the praise and worship that usually characterize such trips, a pastor stood up and, to my surprise, began campaigning against Muhammadu Buhari. He said Buhari is an Islamist and we should not be carried away that his running mate, Osinbanjo, is a pastor. He said Buhari only chose Osinbajo to use as his puppet; once Buhari is done with using Osinbajo to gain the seat of power, he would dump him and take up his Islamic agenda.

At this point, I was raging. But my friend, whose guest I was, noticed my annoyance and pleaded with me to calm down and not be the “odd man out”. My friend knows me too well with respect to blasting anyone who’s took his stand with liars, so he was not a little worried.

As the pastor rattled on, so did my anger. Finally, I reached my breaking point and busted out. I told that pastor to focus on the message of salvation and leave Buhari alone. I told him that he had no right to discredit Buhari only because he is a muslim. If the pastor also was born into a Muslim family he would not have been a Christian. I told him he had no right to compel anyone as to who to vote for. I continued my assault on him and all those who dared to take a stand with him.

The showdown was quickly put down as the chairman of the PFN of the particular location shut him down and replaced him with another pastor who focused on the message of Christ. Fear fell upon the entire bus that conveyed over 50 of us. My words opened up a new realization in them and they were even more dazed that I stood against a man of God.

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We must never be un-bold to tell the truth, we must never respect personalities more than the truth. Obviously, the pastor was not in the truth. He was been partisan and acting in falsehood. However, some issues presented themselves which I want to clarify to the body of Christ.

Should we Christians vote for Buhari? Will God choose a Muslim Buhari over a Christian Jonathan?
One of the greatest rulers that ever lived was King Cyrus. His story is recorded in the Bible Book of Ezra. He was not of the people of God, yet, God used him to bring prosperity to the world and to rebuild his house, the temple in Jerusalem.

We must understand that God is not a partial lunatic like we humans are, so he never acts like us.

Nigeria is a country made up of Christians, Muslims and idol-worshipers. When God is choosing a leader, he chooses one with the right heart. Whether such is of any of the above religions does not matter because they all have equal rights to the nation of Nigeria. That is the first point I want us to realize. Regarding presidential election, God will choose the best among the available with respect to how much goodwill they have a heart to carry out for the people.

Any pastor saying we should not vote for Buhari because he is not a Christian does not know the ways of God.

I think Christian leaders are insinuating that we should vote President Jonathan into power because he is a Christian, even though he has failed to perform prosperously during years of his administration.
It is annoyingly disgusting. I mean, how can we be so selfish and call ourselves Christ-like? How do we stand on such grounds and yet say the Muslims want to come to power by all means because they are unhappy that a Christian is in power? If we Christians say ours is a better religion than Islam, how has our Christian Jonathan proved Christian living through his leadership? How has he bettered the life of the poor? Has he stood against oppression and all the vices that characterize bad governance as Godliness commands us? Christianity is not so in name; rather, its a life formed after Christ’s image. So can we Christians championing Mr. President’s re-election beat their chests and define Mr. President’s governance as being Christ-like? The truth is, that Mr. President has disgraced Christ.

I, for one, am very ashamed of Mr. President because of his failure as a Christian leader. Many men in the Bible, such as Prophet Samuel, Paul etc., boldly stood before the people and urged their people to say of they ever took advantage of their position to defraud. Can Mr. President say such today? David led God’s army to destroy all enemies of Israel. But has Mr. President, the Christian leader whom PFN admonishes us to follow, used the armies of Nigeria to destroy Boko Haram? Read what God says is the problem with Jonathan the Christian leader: Joshua 7vs 12: He has an accursed thing in his government. Corruption is the accursed thing in this government, the reason for Nigeria’s inability to stand against enemies. The anger of the Lord is kindled against Mr. President because he has shamed the body of Christ and wasted the opportunity given him to shine the light of the gospel.

It is written that “when the righteous reign, the people rejoice”. Can the PFN boldly say that Nigerians are rejoicing because of the goodwill this government has ushered in? If people are not, it means the man in power is not righteous, and we know what that means.

The money Jonathan gives to the leaders of the body of Christ does not make him special to God. As a matter of fact, God is even all the more angry with him because those monies belong to all Nigerians. God is not a selfish being. He doesn’t want to use the money meant for Nigeria for his church. It is error!

The PFN feels that because a government gives money to support their works, it is approved by God. I am sorry for them because they are “Balaam wrong”! Don’t collect money or resources meant for Nigeria for the gospel. God has enough to take care of his work.

Finally, I had a vision where I saw Mr. President’s train headed for Abuja, blaring loud sirens. Many Nigerians gathered to enter the train. Most already did and others were waiting on train station. But, as the trains rattled towards the station where we all gathered, I realized that the track was weak and something terrible was going to happen. I shouted for everyone to move backwards. Those that heard me quickly rushed backwards but others didn’t listen. Then, all of a sudden, the train track gave way and the train skidded of the track just when it was about to disappear into a tunnel. It crashed into a great pit.

Mr. President will fail in his quest. His works and many supporters will all go down with him. This is the meaning of this vision. Not even prayers of Christian leaders will save him. God has left the President because he has been weighed on the scale and found wanting the accursed thing. Jonathan’s days as a president are numbered.

Please note that opinions expressed in this article are author’s own and may not represent the viewpoints of Naij.com editors. Sumbit your own opinion articles to info@naij.com!

READ MORE: http://www.naij.com/381318-christians-should-vote-for-candidates-based-on-performance.html

my broda! I tink tire o,but I gas giv am to buhari

Woow I neva new there ar enlighted once left

the main issue is ....has jonathan failed ? yes ( at least to me)
......voting him is same as voting a failure which am against
...... do i believe buhari will perform ? yes
...... what if buhari become another jonathan ....we vote him out again
....
....
...
for the fools talking about Islamizing nigeria by buhari ...........pls get a life we have past that stage
no man can christianze nigeria nor islamize us

Sorry to say, I've also seen Muslim leaders campaign for Buhari in their sermons. Personally, I don't rush to the internet to post such things because I usually trivialized them.

I have seen Children of Muslim preachers who are in secondary or primary school, (considering their height and stature they'll not be more than 13 years of age) talk about GEJ with so much hatred and religious bias. Imagine children of such age exhibiting such bigotry, quoting their preacher in some instances and vowing that GEJ must be stopped.

One of them was making reference to the new 100 naira note in which Arabic inscription was removed.

I was shocked that a child who was not up to voting age could say all what I heard. The school wears green trouser in this Ajah area of Lagos.

God who created me knows I'm not making this up.

Few days later, a colleague in my office also made such statement during one of our political discussions. he also brought the 100 naira issue. This got me surprised because my colleague is intelligent and enlightened. I had to ask did they preach these things in your mosques? We had to end the discussion right there.

A caller called into Nigeria info FM . and stated that divisive sermons were being preached up north in mosques in a bid to increase so much hate for GEJ.

Reference was also made to reactions in BBC Hausa.

I also got corroboration from some Igbo friends who left Kaduna and other northern towns recently due to the coming election for fear of being attacked.

@Op, from what I know lots more damage have been done by Muslim bigots than that of the Christian believers. We can't rule out the perceptions during the earlier days of Boko haram where some folk never condemned the attacks. In fact in my church some of the pastors surreptitiously preach in favour of Buhari because of Osinbajo.


Believe me I know the damage that is being done.



On performance, GEJ have performed well comparative to past leaders and giving the hostile climate his administration have operated in. Not also forgetting the manipulations from people who want o get vantage positioning in their presidential ambitions and the brazen gang up to return power to the north at all cost not considering if the Messiah of Nigeria was from the south.

Now for buhari, If not for this election, can this generation point to any legacy of buhari as a leader?

Can a 25 year old boy point to any landmark achievement with his name on it from north to south? now be honest. Apart from his historic highhandedness which some persons ignorantly project as positives. or is it the pseudo strong man image which we know he can't exhibit in this era that is his cutting edge?

common we can not subject ourselves to this torture because we hate GEJ. let's be reasonable.

Why is it only Northern want power at all
cost? I pity some Christian who are sold out
to APC propaganda and Media hyphen. You
listen to Northern radio,you will hear them
calling anyone voting for Jonathan as infidel.
I’m just wondering how Southern especially
Xtian doesn’t aware that there is more to
this Election. If Buhari wins, u better buckle
up. He will disappoint Southwest and devote
much power to Hausa Fulani. Ask
Middlebelt,Plateau,Benue,Taraba,Kaduna
South,etc why they reject him?

But Buhari said muslims should vote only candidates who will defend islam and sharia: http://www.theheraldng.com/vote-candidates-will-defend-islam-sharia-buhari/

ndcide:
Sorry to say, I've also seen Muslim leaders campaign for Buhari in their sermons. Personally, I don't rush to the internet to post such things because I usually trivialized them.

I have seen Children of Muslim preachers who are in secondary or primary school, (considering their height and stature they'll not be more than 13 years of age) talk about GEJ with so much hatred and religious bias. Imagine children of such age exhibiting such bigotry, quoting their preacher in some instances and vowing that GEJ must be stopped.

One of them was making reference to the new 100 naira note in which Arabic inscription was removed.

I was shocked that a child who was not up to voting age could say all what I heard. The school wears green trouser in this Ajah area of Lagos.

God who created me knows I'm not making this up.

Few days later, a colleague in my office also made such statement during one of our political discussions. he also brought the 100 naira issue. This got me surprised because my colleague is intelligent and enlightened. I had to ask did they preach these things in your mosques? We had to end the discussion right there.

A caller called into Nigeria info FM . and stated that divisive sermons were being preached up north in mosques in a bid to increase so much hate for GEJ.

Reference was also made to reactions in BBC Hausa.

I also got corroboration from some Igbo friends who left Kaduna and other northern towns recently due to the coming election for fear of being attacked.

@Op, from what I know lots more damage have been done by Muslim bigots than that of the Christian believers. We can't rule out the perceptions during the earlier days of Boko haram where some folk never condemned the attacks. In fact in my church some of the pastors surreptitiously preach in favour of Buhari because of Osinbajo.


Believe me I know the damage that is being done.



On performance, GEJ have performed well comparative to past leaders and giving the hostile climate his administration have operated in. Not also forgetting the manipulations from people who want o get vantage positioning in their presidential ambitions and the brazen gang up to return power to the north at all cost not considering if the Messiah of Nigeria was from the south.

Now for buhari, If not for this election, can this generation point to any legacy of buhari as a leader?

Can a 25 year old boy point to any landmark achievement with his name on it from north to south? now be honest. Apart from his historic highhandedness which some persons ignorantly project as positives. or is it the pseudo strong man image which we know he can't exhibit in this era that is his cutting edge?

common we can not subject ourselves to this torture because we hate GEJ. let's be reasonable.

I read your post and wanted to give it an objective soul despite the GEJ bias and Buhari smear.
Yes everyone goes to religion, but there are always real probity selling points to support what those religious selling point. The north felt Goodluck has not done his job so many northerners wish he has done so that there party will still remain in power. Power has intoxicated PDP that they underestimated the strength of Nigeria. That stupor made them weaken their party, alienated themselves from most part of Nigeria in ways peculiar to those part. All because they believe they could rig and get block vote from some parts of Nigeria and still go ahead to win the elections. This Buhari wind of change was planted since 2003 with people like Peter Obi, the masses want to speak and they will do so with their votes.

stupidd thread. so Christians should vote based on performance while Muslims should however vote for only believers as Christians are infidels to them.

nonsense.

Op thank you for been so courageous. From the way you talk you did not make a claim to be a pastor but you definitely possesses more knowledge of God than many of these pastors. One concern of God is the level of the ignorance of the ways of God in these pastors. On Jonathan, I don't consider him as a Christian, that he answers bible's name and runs around these pastors does not make him a christian, Jesus said that those who do the will of my father who is heaven not those who goes to church. Jonathan is a mockery of the message of righteous we proclaim, I told some of those pastor like the one you confronted in the bus that if there is anyone that has made the preaching of righteousness to be more difficult to preach between the so called Christian Jonathan and the muslim Buhari that it is Jonathan. Or how could a christian say openly that stealing is not corruption and that how much did Nwonbodo stole self that made them jail him. You can imagine the types of people that surrounds him in his government, imagine the level of corruption going on in his government and he feels not bordered. It is a shame that people identify a pig like Jonathan as a Christian. A vote for Jonathan is a vote for corruption, a vote for Jonathan is a vote for unrighteousness, a vote for Jonathan is a vote for impunity, a vote for Jonathan is a vote for insecurity and a vote for Jonathan is a vote for incompetence.