By Azemobor Gregory
Christ, during his earthly ministry had anticipated the perversion and commercialization of the gospel, when He forewarned His disciples to be circumspect of the antics of false prophets:
“ … Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but in-wardly are ravenous wolves.” Mathew 7:15

Today, the gospel of Christ has been turned into a mega money-spinning industry, championed by business savvy persons who disguise as ‘men of God’, merchandising the message of salvation for pecuniary gains.
Apostle Paul described these merchants of the fake gospel in disdainful manner, when he said, “They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth”-Philippian 3:19
Let me show you how these people you idolize as ‘men of God’ are nothing but shrewd business men, who are neither ‘born again’ nor ‘called’ by God. Follow me:

They Focus on Promoting their Brand Name:
These business men you call pastors understand the importance of branding to the success of their ministry business. They understand the need to create a brand identity. They would stop at nothing to create public awareness of their brand name. Have you noticed that, every flier or handbill of their events carry the picture of the pastor and the wife( not the picture of Jesus Christ- does He have picture? ). All their marketing ( sorry evangelism ) materials- bill boards, banners, newspaper ad, car stickers, calendars, T-shirts, conspicuously showcase the picture of the G.O. Now, this is a deliberate marketing strategy to create brand awareness. The goal is to make them popular. Don’t be fooled!
Many of them go as far as starting expensive television broadcast to preach the ‘ gospel’ Story! The telecast is actually designed to expose their brand identity to a wider audience. It is a marketing strategy to boost their popularity. Check out the pastors in Nigeria that have television programmes, you would noticed the huge numbers of followers (customers) they command. Few of them now have cable TV stations to further extend their media mileage. The expensive TV programmes, regrettably, are sponsored by their gullible members, who are fed lies that such investment is to ‘ take the gospel to the unreached’. This is ridiculous!
They Make you believe they are Powerful, and can solve all your problems
The pastorpreneurs are adept at creating ‘super power ‘ image before their followers. They impress it on them that they are ‘anointed’ by God, and that they can perform signs and wonders. They conjure palpable miracles ostensibly to mesmerize their audience. A touch from them could cause you to fall instantly ‘under the anointing’ .They can tell you your name, your phone number, and your problems and display many signs and wonders using the power of sorcery to dazzle and bewitch you. But do not be fooled, Christ knows them and he had cautioned you beforehand,
“At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. So be on your guard; I have told you everything in advance…..” –Mark 13: 21-23
The purported ‘miracles’ are aggressively publicized on television, radio, social media and on printed fliers. Their goal is to hypnotize you to believe they are truly powerful, and that they hold the solution to all your problems. This powerful- man- of- God’ persona they depict allure followers to them, who they fleece off their hard earned money.
They deploy aggressive marketing (sorry evangelism) strategies to entice new converts
What they call evangelism is nothing but sophisticated marketing activity. Instead of preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and the message of salvation to the world, what you hear nowadays is: ‘come to my church, the man of God is powerful. A touch from him will end all your problems’.
The ignorant members are mobilized to distribute fliers inviting people to a ‘power service’ where one would have an ‘encounter’ that will transform one’s life forever. A typical flier is designed with the front page having a well -crafted theme (marketing proposition) such as:
“ An encounter with destiny” , “ Your time for total recovery”. “ Deliverance from the yolk of Poverty” “ Anointing for supernatural Abundance” and so on……….
The front page obviously adorns the picture of ‘Papa and Mama’ , who God is using to do ‘wonders’. And when you turn overleaf, you are confronted with ‘powerful testimonies of what God is using the ‘anointed man of God to do in the lives of many. The titles of the testimonies are also devised to attract gullible miracle seekers. You read something like:
“ 10 years yoke of barrenness destroyed” “ I received instant healing after a touch from papa” “ After the anointing service I received a miracle job” “ God favoured me with an America VISA”. “ A word from papa changed my life” and so on…….
All their evangelism (sorry marketing) efforts are contrived to attract more people to their churches, not to the kingdom of God. The economic importance of numbers is that, the more the people the bigger the market for them to sell their ‘spiritual wares’. The pastorpreneur actually sees the people coming to church as customers, who buy the ‘spiritual solutions’ he has to offer for their problems in exchange for their offerings and tithe, hence the desperation to attract more people to their churches. Many of the pastors even resort to the use of voodoo power to enchant their gullible followers-This is how despicable the church business has become.
Church Sermons are designed to market the church and the pastors
Go to any church on Sunday in Nigeria, what you usually hear are messages that saliently sells the church as a ‘solution ground’ and the pastor as a ‘powerful man of God’ that can change your life. If the pastor is not busy telling you fables of the litany of ‘miracles’ he has done, you will be inundated with absurd ‘testimonies’ from credulous members to affirm the spiritual capability of the pastor. Often times the testimonies are doctored to beguile the unsuspecting members. Hear this:
“ Praiiiiiise the Lord. I joined this church in 2014, I came here in poverty; my business was down. I could not feed, my children were out of school, my landlord was about to throw me and my family out. A friend invited me to come here to meet with the man of God, and that my life would be turned around. Truly, I followed him. The first day I stepped in here, I knew in my spirit that I had entered my paradise. As the man of God was preaching that day, he said something that, there was somebody here whom God was about to change his story, I immediately’ received’ it. He called for a seed faith offering, and I ran out with the only N1000 I had on me. I did not bother if I had to trek home with my family that day. Brethren, to cut the long story short, I became committed to church, joined the workers, became faithful in my offering and tithes and today, 4 years after, my life is indeed a testimony. From a tenant struggling to pay house rent, I now own a house of my own, bought two cars, my business have been totally restored. I am now a big importer. I return all the glory to God and to the man of God ( now kneeling before the pastor), whom God has used to change my life”
This is the concocted line of testimonies that most of the church businesses use to hold their customers ( sorry members) spellbound. You know in business, testimonials from satisfied customers are effective marketing tools to drive sales.
All they talk about is Money! Money!! Money!!!
When you walk into any church and all you hear is money….money.. money…, and not messages to edify your spirit. That place is a business centre. If you want information on how to make money, go to a business seminar, read business books, attend trade fairs, and not churches. Any pastor that tells you about ‘anointing for business or financial success’ is a scam. Run away! He wants your money. Mark Zuckerberg, the owner of facebook did not attend any ‘anointing service to become a billionaire. The richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon, is not paying tithe and offering to any church- he does not have a ‘spiritual father’ either. So what is this bullshit about? ‘ special favour’ for financial breakthrough?. To me, it is arrant nonsense.

Inspite of the heightened religious activities in Nigeria and the multiplicities of churches, we have become the poverty capital of the world. A recent report has it that very soon, 40% of poor people in the world would be living in Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Of what use are the anointing-for-prosperity church programmes?, You see, the truth is that the prosperity sermons are designed to prosper just one person, and that is the pastor. Can you imagine if one man collects 10% of the income of 1 million people, won’t he buy private jets, to fly around the world to preach the ‘ gospel’. I laugh!
My people- church folks, ‘ una mumu never do’. How long will you continue to enrich these people at the expense of your life ( if you like, call me names, but I will tell you the truth). They deceive you, take your money and destroy your destiny. You are living, building a business empire for a man, thinking that you are working for God. Don’t be deluded! Wake up! It is time to live your life. You have a purpose why you are here. Find that purpose and begin to live it. Don’t waste your life. You have just only one life. You could be shocked on the last to hear Christ say to:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness.’… Matthew 7:21-23
It is easy to know a business man masquerading as a ‘man of God’. The bible says ‘by their fruits, you shall know them’
“You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?” – Matthew 7: 16.
Any so-called ‘man of God’ that builds a school from the offerings and contributions of his poor members, and at the end of the day, the same members cannot send their children to that school, is a callous business man and an anti-Christ (He is not born again and does not know God).
Any so called ‘man of God’ flying an expensive private jet ( worth billions of Naira), in a country where 90 million people go to bed hungry, seriously needs to tell us which ‘god’ called him.
They claim to know Christ and ‘preach’ the gospel but lifestyle is unchristlike.-They don’t bear christlike fruits.
My humble advice to you, dedicated church folks is: ‘run away from those temples of mammon, you call church( with very few exception). Those ‘men of God’ you call your pastors are ravenous wolves. They will devour on your destiny. You could be bewitched! YOU COULD BE ENSNARED! PLEASE RUN FOR YOU LIFE!
A word is enough for the wise!
Azemobor Gregory, The International Coordinator of Voice of Divine Truth International Outreach is a Messenger of Truth and Apostle of Humanity
Follow him on Instagram: @gazemobor
www.azemoborgregory.com
www.vocinternational.com .
.

It is best to face your bethelmendel business, it is wise NOT to talk about things you don't understand

YESSSSSS MANY PASTORS ARE WOLVES.... but there are real ones.... with real miracles, YET YOU DON'T KNOW OR GIVE HONOR TO MENTION THEM.

You give little alms to people and think YOUR OWN WAY IS THE ONLY WAY OF REPRESENTING THE LORD JESUS.... wake up bro, NO ONE CARRIES FIRST IN THIS ETERNAL RACE.


MIND YOUR BUSINESS..... Criticizing is not a calling or ministry.


DO YOUR OWN SO WELL, THAT EVEN THOSE USING JAZZ OR DOING MINISTRY AS BUSINESS CAN REPENT.


Else, you won't be your best.