There was a time in the land of Israel when idolatry, corruption, rebellionavarice, and self aggrandizement occupied the centre stage of the governance of renegade King Jeroboam who defied the Lordship of God over his country!

*One day, a man of God was sent from out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: where Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense to warn him of impending disasters but he got angry, tried to hit God’s servant when his hand “dried up so that he could not pull it in again to him!”

“The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.” [1King. 13:1-34].

*This biblical account also revealed that Jeroboam’s dried hand was restored through the prayers the man of God who refused the hospitality offered him in obedience to the LORD’S instruction that he should neither eat, drink, nor return by the same way to Judah on completion of his assignment!

*It is regrettable however that this same man of God was killed by a lion on his return journey because he was eventually lured to disobey God through the food and drink from which he was forbidden!

*A similar situation has unfolded in Nigeria, South of the Sahara, where Servants of God had been instructed not to covet the lifestyle of corrupt politicians who have ceaselessly robbed both God and the citizens of the large financial and solid mineral resources of this great nation with reckless abandon from the country’s independence in 1960![Psalm. 24:1-5]

*But the APOSTATES among them have thrown caution to the wind: they now dress flamboyantly, throw parties, dwell in FORTRESSES, drive state-of- the-art Limousines and Sport Utility Vehicles

[SUV’s], fly in their own private jet aircrafts and dine with Presidents Kings, Heads of State and Captains of Industries!

*They are making headlines for the same odious reasons of allegations of being too attracted to the RED POTTAGE which in this context signifies covetousness, greed, long-throat, “giraffing,” etc, at other people’s belongings, possessions, properties and acquisitions!

*In Genesis 25:29-34; the following account of the red pottage is recorded:

“And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field. And he was faint:

“And Esau said to Jacob, feed me, I pray thee, with the same red pottage: for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.[meaning Red].

“And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.

“And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?

“And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright onto Jacob.

“Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat and drink. And rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.”

*The dramatis personae are the first biblical twins who turned out to be rivals as they grew up under a biased and jaundiced parental oversight! [Read Gen. 25:19-28; 27:1-46].

*The news making rounds spotlight some Nigerian top-notch pastors of the prestigious Christian Association of Nigeria, [CAN], and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria. [PFN], in a scandalous allegation of receiving BRIBE OFFERINGS of a whooping SIX/SEVEN BILLION NAIRA FROM MR. PRESIDENT AND THE PEOPLES’ DEMOCRATIC PARTY [PDP] who have of recent been fraternizing and politicking frequently with the Pastors for election gains but have pretended to solicit God’s blessings through WORSHIP AND THANKSGIVING ACROSS ALL CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS!

*On 3 February 2015, Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, publicly alleged that some principal Nigerian men of God have collected the sum of SIX BILLION NAIRA from the PDP to print libellous pamphlets to warn Christians against voting for the opposition presidential candidate, who was being accused of a secret plan to ISLAMIZE Nigerian if he became the next president and advised them to return the blood money!

Read below, Governor Amaechi’s allegations:

“Some Pastors collected the N6 billion and are circulating documents and telling you not to vote for an Hausa man, not to vote for a Muslim – tell them to return the N6billion to the Federal Government coffers from where it was stolen!

“Nobody can Islamize Nigeria. They, pastors, have commercialized Jesus Christ; they should stop commercializing our Lord and Saviour. “Jesus Christ chased away the money-mongers from the Temple. We will chase pastors who collected the bribe money away from the pulpit!”

*While PDP, CAN and PFN have all denied Amaechi’s allegations as the figment of his imagination another Nigerian Man of God – a pastor - boldly came out to disclose that the actual bribe money was N7 billion and not N6 billion as erroneously alleged by the Director General of Buhari’s Campaign Organisation, thereby confirming the word of God which says, “At the mouth of two or three witnesses, a matter is established”. [Matthew 18:16].

*WE OF THIS EDITORIAL BOARD ARE THE THIRD VOICE because we believe that without a FIRE, there would be no SMOKE!

*In the Red Pottage scenario, there were two prominent characters, namely: Esau, [the famished and covetous who sold his birthright], and Jacob, [the ambitious and cunning who bought the birthright]. Esau represents the greedy and rebellious pastors while Jacob represents PDP, the Tempter – which makes the culpable pastors and PDP, twins from the same parent -NIGERIA!

*From the ongoing analysis, the renegade pastors have sold their collective birthright to the PDP for red hot pottage in this rivalry between Light and Darkness!

*In our VOL. 2. NO. 59, Edition of 27-09-14; titled “GIVE A DOG A BAD NAME AND HANG HIM,” we took the following stand on the issue of the LOVE OF MONEY AND MONEY LAUNDERING AS IT AFFECTED MEN OF GOD IN NIGERIA! Below are some excerpts:

“The Big Brother of Africa had never had it so bad in image laundering, when in one fell swoop, within a very short interval of FIVE DAYS, a massive Pastoral six-storey edifice in Lagos State came crashing down in the “twinkling of an eye”; while in far away South Africa, a Canonical aircraft, was intercepted with $9.3million US Dollars of laundered, now being claimed to have been legally “appropriated by the Nigerian Government, for the purchase of arms, to fight Boko Haram terrorists!

“Both events which occurred on the 12 and 16 September, 2014, respectively, involved death of 84 South African citizens and also infringed on the country’s security network…..

“We once featured on a past edition of this Newsletter, the TEN GLOBAL RICHEST PASTORS who are competing favourably with global billionaire business moguls and captains of industries and interestingly, the owner of the edifice that claimed about 115 lives, mostly South African, in Lagos, Nigeria, recently, was adjudged to rank among them.

“The collapsed six-storey building had an approved building plan for FOUR, according to the Lagos State Government, but along the line, two more storeys had to be added, in view of accommodation demands by the international multitude that thronged the CHURCH FOR MIRACLES and the huge amount of foreign currencies that would accrue to the man of God…..

“THE DETAINED PRIVATE JET belonging to another prominent pastor was reported to have been leased to Third Party who was the custodian of the millions of the laundered GREEN NOTES found on board. We are waiting for this mysterious THIRD PARTY AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA, who now claims ownership of the large cache of foreign currencies, to proffer necessary details of the illegal arms transaction deal to the Nigerian electorate and South African authorities without cover-ups of this avoidable scandal!

“The Word of God states that Divine Judgment would begin from the Household of God, which is now so infested with APOSTACY! [Ezekiel.8:1-18; 9:1-11;Peter.4:17]. The universe and all its atrocities of moral and political corruption have crept into the Church, because gullible and greedy servants of God have decided to flirt with the rogues and vagabonds in the world’s system contrary to the Lord’s injunction in the Gospel of Saint John.17:12-19, compare vs.1-11 and 20-26.

“I have given them your Word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your Word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.”[vs.14-19].

“The world which Jesus Christ mentioned in the preceding quotation is the one that has become very hostile to God and God’s people through the activities of the ‘evil one’, Satan, who is doomed for destruction! Servants and disciples of God must not have the mind-set of the world because they have been “born again of the Spirit” and therefore children of God.[John.3:8].

“In addition He prayed that they should not be taken out of the world which He assigned as their PARISH, until the work of The Great Commission was fully accomplished.

“When the Lord Jesus Christ sent forth the 12 and 70 disciples for the work of evangelism,[Matthew.10:7-10;Luke. 10: 2-12], He gave them the following instructions, “…….As you go preach this message: ‘The kingdom of God is near, Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. FREELY YOU HAVE RECEIVED, FREELY GIVE. Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic or sandals or a staff; for the worker deserves his wages. The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field. GO! I AM SENDING YOU OUT LIKE LAMBS AMONG WOLVES.

“Since the advent of the new democratic order in 1999, the Household of God had become a HAVEN AND REFUGE for corrupt, greedy, selfish and wealthy politicians who believe in signs, wonders and miracles to win electoral offices or access political appointments at all costs; and for the GHEHAZIS AND JUDASES within, it was easy for Satan to penetrate the CHURCH and try very hard to destroy it from foundation!

“Many servants of God have compromised their faith and that is why they now compete with the CORRUPT in dress fashion, state-of-the-art- properties of latest automobiles, modern structural edifices and jet aircrafts!

“WHAT BUSINESS HAS JESUS CHRIST WITH SATAN? What business has the CHURCH OF GOD with commercial mighty structural edifices and jet aircraft leasing…..?

“Imagine if the Man of God at Ejigbo, Lagos State, did not delve into the commercial venture of high-rise buildings…. imagine if the other man of God did not receive the gift of the jet aircraft, which he later leased to make much money…..imagine if they had functioned within the confines of their divine assignment, Nigeria would not have become ignoble and odious as it were today – a laughing stock – among the comity of nations!

“This is the Word of God for His obedient children who would not look at the RED POTTAGE of this world in the face like ESAU:

“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the Temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the Living God. As God had said: I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people; Therefore, come out from them and be separate, says the LORD.” [2Corinthians.6:14-18].

*In every bribery deal, there will always be a ‘mastermind’ with a hidden agenda which would tie the hands of the receiver to his/her biddings! If pastors would preach against all vices in the society, must they forget that they should live above board? Must they forget the Lord’s injunction which states that: “No one having put his hand on the plough and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God?”

*Pastors should remain within the precincts of their calling as ambassadors of Jesus Christ who should fulfil their mandate of the Great Commission of evangelizing the world with the gospel, (good news), of the Kingdom of God and of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and not become wolves among the Sheep they should protect! The Lord is at hand to reward every one according to the works of his/her hands.

*IT IS MOST DISGUSTING AND DISGRACEFUL FOR PASTORS TO HAVE BECOME SUCH LAUGHING STOCK!

*Those who are involved should return the BLOOD MONEY because the LORD’S ANGEL has been assigned to execute judgement on the GUILTY! We have been WARNED!

[I am, Yours sincerely,Dr. David B.A. Olufon,Editor.08130669886, 08098194390.g-mail- dvdolufon@gmail.com .]