oniw9999:
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.

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.


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