I Met a Traditionalist: What He Told Me

By: Deji Yesufu

Those who follow my writing on social media will remember that in the past few weeks, I have been complaining about this matter of power supply in the area where I live. Well, I finally found a way around it. Someone suggested a very affordable solar system for me, where I could even pay in instalments to defray the cost of the whole installation. The man who came to install the system in my house just yesterday was a traditionalist and I want to use the first of a three-part essay to tell you what transpired between him and me. I met a traditionalist, and this is what he said to me.

While installing the system in my house, Mr T (I will recognize him anonymously) asked if I was a pastor. I told him I was; how did he know? He said he just knew – that my mien showed it. He then said that he was not a Christian; he was a traditionalist. He used the time to install the system to tell me his story. Mr Tee is a 51-year-old man who lives in a humble abode here in Ibadan. He has been installing the solar system for two months now because he would rather find himself doing something than sitting at home. He is a graduate of Engineering and has lived in the city of Portharcourt for many years working for an oil company. It was his experience living in Portharcourt that led him away from Christianity. I told him that I had only recently visited Portharcourt and when I mentioned the place I lived in, Rumoadara, he said he knew the place well – even mentioning neighbourhoods that were close to that place.

Life in Portharcourt was good until he joined a Pentecostal church there. We’ll call this church PFFG. While in PFFG, Mr T became an ordained pastor and rose through the ranks to become a senior Pastor. He was a pastor in this church for 18 years. He told me that he spent practically everything he earned in his days working in Portharcourt building the PFFG – that he single-handedly built two churches for them. He looks back now and is thankful that he had the sense of judgment to have bought a house for himself while there. And that even this happened by chance. He had gone for an overseas training that was to last for six months and he suddenly discovered that if he could take advantage of a facility a church was offering in that country, he would be able to save money and bring home for a large project. He said that his senses began to open after he travelled out. That church offered a living facility for people with low income. So, rather than spend money on rent and feeding, he saved all that money and returned to Nigeria to buy a house – the only property he took out of his labours working in Portharcourt.

Mr T, the traditionalist, explained that after he returned from his training overseas, two incidents occurred that jolted his faith. The first one concerns a young lady in the church who found herself in a financial mess. This lady had procured a generator set for the church – although she took money off her company’s finances to pay for the facility. She planned to pay the money back bit by bit. Unfortunately for her, there was a sudden arrival of an auditor, who demanded to see the books of the company. At this point, the lady had paid back most of the money but there was remaining a N600,000 to balance the books. The auditors asked for the money, and she told them she would get it for them in a day. She rushed to the church and explained to her leaders her peculiar situation, and requested to be loaned the money so she could pay her company back and not lose her job. Her leaders refused. When Mr Tee learnt of the situation, he gathered a few friends, and they gave the lady the money. The lady never got over that incident. She left the church, although she remains a friend of Mr T to date.

The second incident had to do with a mission outreach Mr T and a few friends were involved in. This initiative was something outside the purview of PFFG and it required that they travel to a village in the deepest interior of Niger State. He explained that the village was so backward, some of the people wore no clothing. After the outreach, a medical doctor and his family volunteered to remain in that village to cater to the health challenges of the people, and at the same time share the gospel with them. Mr T returned to Portharcourt and reported this initiative to his leaders at PFFG, Portharcourt. He also told them that to put things in motion at that mission, they needed six million naira to sort out that missionary and other things. He said his leaders showed no enthusiasm for the project. He then went to different branches of the church explaining this need to them. No one responded. Everyone said they had one church project or the other they were pursuing and could not add this to their financial burden. Then this happened.

Mr Tee was discussing this challenge at the office and one of his bosses heard about it. Now this man was not a Christian. He had some deep moral flaws that I dare not even mention here as this essay could reach his table. It was this man who kicked started the mission work by donating a sum of three million naira. Mr Tee said he also put a million naira into the project, while others in the mission group raised the remaining and the work in that interior village in Niger State was kickstarted. Mr T explained that many such experiences led him to the conclusion that churches were only stealing from their members. It was about this time he began to examine the religion of his father.

Mr T’s father was a traditionalist. But he had practiced this faith along with his attendance at the local Anglican Church. His four children, of which T was the last born, were raised in a Christian environment. T explained that as they grew older, three of the four of them became ostracized from their dad. He explained that somehow their association with the new Pentecostal phenomenon had made them believe that the little challenges they were facing in life could be traced to their father. He said that it was only one of them that stood with that man till his death and that that is the only one of the siblings that is doing well now. The rest of them have either lost their jobs or facing one life issue or the other. He said he is thankful that ten years to the end of his father’s life, he realized his mistake and retraced his steps. That it was during that period, he learnt the traditional religion that his dad practiced. Then he confronted my Christian faith – because I told him his experience with PFFG should not be enough for him to renounce Christianity. He then asked me a few questions.

He asked how old the earth was. I explained that I was a young earth believer and that the earth could not be more than 6,000 years old. He said I was wrong because even in Yoruba land there are artefacts that are up to 30,000 years old. He explained that Christianity was a white man’s religion imposed upon us by those who came to colonize us, etc. In the second part of this essay, I will tell you how I responded to Mr T’s enquiry. But for now, I think it is safe to examine the merits of this man’s story.

I have long argued that the Pentecostal religion was producing a mass of atheists among Nigerians. My thinking then was that these people abounded among the youths who had been in these churches and had turned their backs on them. I am now realizing that even older people have their experiences too. People invest their livelihoods in churches and when they lose their jobs or retire, these churches turn their backs on them. The story is everywhere. My response to Mr T was that church could be done differently. I hope those who are in the leadership of these churches read this essay and learn something from it. I also hope that all these young people investing their lives in churches will take a cue from this. When you are old and should be earning a pension, these churches will not be there to help you. I will stop here for now. Watch out for the second part.

Source: https://textandpublishing.com/i-met-a-traditionalist-what-he-told-me/

I didn't read , it's too long.

Interesting...

Pentecostal christainity is destroying the church and making people turn their heart away from God. Pentecostal churches will encourage members to bring money to the church irrespective of the source of money.

IconicR:
I didn't read , it's too long.

Ok

Interesting.

LordReed:
Interesting.

LoLz, the joke though pathetic is on anyone who chooses dead gods and ablutions to Jesus Christ. Thankfully, he didn't leave church or disbelieve God because of God or the Bible. He left because of his irresponsible colleagues.

Image123:


LoLz, the joke though pathetic is on anyone who chooses dead gods and ablutions to Jesus Christ. Thankfully, he didn't leave church or disbelieve God because of God or the Bible. He left because of his irresponsible colleagues.

He still believe in God

VBCampaign:


He still believe in God

The God of the Bible that said no way to Him except Jesus, or another one?

“He explained that somehow their association with the new Pentecostal phenomenon had made them believe that the little challenges they were facing in life could be traced to their father.”

This is one of the scariest experiences of the Nigerian form of Christianity- the destruction of homes and villages. Some homes will never be whole.

Acehart:
“He explained that somehow their association with the new Pentecostal phenomenon had made them believe that the little challenges they were facing in life could be traced to their father.”

This is one of the scariest experiences of the Nigerian form of Christianity- the destruction of homes and villages. Some homes will never be whole.

Very true

CC: Seun, Lalasticlala

VBCampaign:
I have long argued that the Pentecostal religion was producing a mass of atheists among Nigerians. My thinking then was that these people abounded among the youths who had been in these churches and had turned their backs on them. I am now realizing that even older people have their experiences too. People invest their livelihoods in churches and when they lose their jobs or retire, these churches turn their backs on them. The story is everywhere. My response to Mr T was that church could be done differently. I hope those who are in the leadership of these churches read this essay and learn something from it. I also hope that all these young people investing their lives in churches will take a cue from this. When you are old and should be earning a pension, these churches will not be there to help you. I will stop here for now. Watch out for the second part.

Lol... way this OP reasons issued always makes me laugh. You can tell he is seriously invested in the church enterprise and in it maintaining its controlling role over the lives of individuals. Wetin God talk or demand no dey even enter his own equation at all at all..

Kobojunkie:
Lol... way this OP reasons issued always makes me laugh. You can tell he is seriously invested in the church enterprise and in it maintaining its controlling role over the lives of individuals. Wetin God talk or demand no dey even enter his own equation at all at all..

VBCampaign:
I Met a Traditionalist: What He Told Me

By: Deji Yesufu

I cannot lie. I enjoyed this 🥰🥰🥰

FRANCISTOWN:

I cannot lie. I enjoyed this 🥰🥰🥰

I Met a Traditionalist (Part 2): What I Said to Him

By: Deji Yesufu

The first part of this article narrated my encounter with the traditionalist. I explained what led him to renounce Christianity and I shared a few of the questions he asked me. In this piece, I want to narrate what I told this man and then I will venture to provide answers to his questions.

No one who hears this man’s story will blame him for the conclusion he reached as far as the Christian religion is concerned. God says “My name is blasphemed among the gentiles” because of the actions of his people (Romans 2:24). The 16th century Reformation was sparked over the contentious issue of money. The Pope was building St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and needed money badly. He then began to send out his emissaries all around Europe, promising that if people gave to the church, God would suddenly release the souls of their loved ones from purgatory into paradise. Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, challenged this thesis from scripture and the result was a reformation and the creation of the Protestant churches. When men face difficulties, they find a way to think through the philosophical bases on which their lives stand. Mr. T reached his conclusions based on the available data in his hands.

After hearing his story, I began to show Mr T that his situation was not unique. In fact, I am in ministry for this very reason. I then told him the story of the birth of Providence Reformed Baptist Church, Ibadan. Our church was founded on the principle that church can be done differently. In a recent dialogue with members of the church, I explained to them that while the church is a Reformed Baptist assembly, only the people who will enter the ministerial cadre will be required to subscribe to the confessions of the church: The London Confessions of 1689. Those who will become members will be required only two things: first that they are born-again individuals and second that they hold the Bible as the sole authority over their life and faith.

I then added that in my ministerial experience, money was the last thing needed in the church. I showed him that since Providence Church has been meeting in 2019, we have not collected a Tithe or an offering. Yet we have an bank account that has never turned red, we support church members financially and we have enough to pay for our meeting space. We have people who give but we do it biblically: with utmost secrecy, such that the right-hand does not know what the left is doing. The implication is that our finances are low, but it also means that we can trust God more and wait on God in faith to meet our needs – just like any other organization within the Nigerian system. When money issues have been removed from church leadership, the people you find left there will be genuine.

Afterwards, I endeavoured to provide Mr. T with answers to his questions. To be sincere, I cannot argue against the Old Earth theory. I’ll rather put this in God’s hands, with the belief that what I cannot explain today, we can know tomorrow, or in eternity. The biblical position is one of a young earth. From Adam to Moses is approximately 2,000 years old. Moses to Jesus is another 2,000 years. Jesus to us today is 2,000 years old. Making the age of the earth approximately 6,000 years. I cannot explain how artefacts are found to be tens of thousands of years old. I cannot explain the presence of dinosaurs. I have a dogmatic commitment to holding scripture as true and I am convinced that what cannot be explained today, will be sorted tomorrow.

As to the position that Christianity was a white man’s religion, I have sufficient data to dispute this. Probably the best course I read in seminary was Church History, which traced how Christianity came to us in Africa. The Christian Faith started in Jerusalem, following the death and resurrection of Christ. After Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in AD70, Christians dispersed all over the Roman world – with key Christian leaders, like Paul and Peter, going to live in Rome. But Christianity was mostly in the Eastern nations and in North Africa (Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia). The rise of Islam in the 8th century began to eat at the Christian presence in the East so most Christian thinkers began to emerge from Western Europe. It took military might for many countries in Europe to ward off the encroaching influence of Islam on European countries in the medieval period.

And with the fall of Constantinople in Turkey to Islam, the only other Christian power left was Rome. The Roman Catholic Church ruled most of Europe until the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. The protestants took their evangelism zeal from Britain and America first to the Indian nations in the early 19th century, before heading to Africa later that century. Thus, it is safe to say that two kinds of white men came to Africa: the colonisers and the evangelists. And because of so few human resources, these two groups often relied on each other for the success of their missions. The colonisers used the preachers to reach the natives. The preachers used the colonisers for protection. Regardless of motive, we received the gospel and today we rejoice. So, Christianity’s primary centers moved from the middle east to Europe and now to Africa.

What will make a grown man renounce Christianity and then lead his wife and children out of religion into traditional practice is not a small matter at all. I trust God that in my third instalment on this subject, I can lay out a philosophical defense for the truth of the gospel, while at the same time defending it against the fraud that much of religion has become in our day. My aim in the first part is to show our sins to the churches and to call those with ears to hear to repentance. This second part aims at answering Mr. T’s questions. The last instalment will be a worthy summary of it all.

I will also request that good-hearted Christians should pray for Mr. T and his family, that God will open them to the truth of the gospel.

Amen

Source: https://textandpublishing.com/i-met-a-traditionalist-part-2-what-i-said-to-him/

VBCampaign:
I Met a Traditionalist (Part 2): What I Said to Him

By: Deji Yesufu

The first part of this article narrated my encounter with the traditionalist. I explained what led him to renounce Christianity and I shared a few of the questions he asked me. In this piece, I want to narrate what I told this man and then I will venture to provide answers to his questions.

No one who hears this man’s story will blame him for the conclusion he reached as far as the Christian religion is concerned. God says “My name is blasphemed among the gentiles” because of the actions of his people (Romans 2:24). The 16th century Reformation was sparked over the contentious issue of money. The Pope was building St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and needed money badly. He then began to send out his emissaries all around Europe, promising that if people gave to the church, God would suddenly release the souls of their loved ones from purgatory into paradise. Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, challenged this thesis from scripture and the result was a reformation and the creation of the Protestant churches. When men face difficulties, they find a way to think through the philosophical bases on which their lives stand. Mr. T reached his conclusions based on the available data in his hands.

After hearing his story, I began to show Mr T that his situation was not unique. In fact, I am in ministry for this very reason. I then told him the story of the birth of Providence Reformed Baptist Church, Ibadan. Our church was founded on the principle that church can be done differently. In a recent dialogue with members of the church, I explained to them that while the church is a Reformed Baptist assembly, only the people who will enter the ministerial cadre will be required to subscribe to the confessions of the church: The London Confessions of 1689. Those who will become members will be required only two things: first that they are born-again individuals and second that they hold the Bible as the sole authority over their life and faith.

I then added that in my ministerial experience, money was the last thing needed in the church. I showed him that since Providence Church has been meeting in 2019, we have not collected a Tithe or an offering. Yet we have an bank account that has never turned red, we support church members financially and we have enough to pay for our meeting space. We have people who give but we do it biblically: with utmost secrecy, such that the right-hand does not know what the left is doing. The implication is that our finances are low, but it also means that we can trust God more and wait on God in faith to meet our needs – just like any other organization within the Nigerian system. When money issues have been removed from church leadership, the people you find left there will be genuine.

Afterwards, I endeavoured to provide Mr. T with answers to his questions. To be sincere, I cannot argue against the Old Earth theory. I’ll rather put this in God’s hands, with the belief that what I cannot explain today, we can know tomorrow, or in eternity. The biblical position is one of a young earth. From Adam to Moses is approximately 2,000 years old. Moses to Jesus is another 2,000 years. Jesus to us today is 2,000 years old. Making the age of the earth approximately 6,000 years. I cannot explain how artefacts are found to be tens of thousands of years old. I cannot explain the presence of dinosaurs. I have a dogmatic commitment to holding scripture as true and I am convinced that what cannot be explained today, will be sorted tomorrow.

As to the position that Christianity was a white man’s religion, I have sufficient data to dispute this. Probably the best course I read in seminary was Church History, which traced how Christianity came to us in Africa. The Christian Faith started in Jerusalem, following the death and resurrection of Christ. After Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in AD70, Christians dispersed all over the Roman world – with key Christian leaders, like Paul and Peter, going to live in Rome. But Christianity was mostly in the Eastern nations and in North Africa (Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia). The rise of Islam in the 8th century began to eat at the Christian presence in the East so most Christian thinkers began to emerge from Western Europe. It took military might for many countries in Europe to ward off the encroaching influence of Islam on European countries in the medieval period.

And with the fall of Constantinople in Turkey to Islam, the only other Christian power left was Rome. The Roman Catholic Church ruled most of Europe until the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. The protestants took their evangelism zeal from Britain and America first to the Indian nations in the early 19th century, before heading to Africa later that century. Thus, it is safe to say that two kinds of white men came to Africa: the colonisers and the evangelists. And because of so few human resources, these two groups often relied on each other for the success of their missions. The colonisers used the preachers to reach the natives. The preachers used the colonisers for protection. Regardless of motive, we received the gospel and today we rejoice. So, Christianity’s primary centers moved from the middle east to Europe and now to Africa.

What will make a grown man renounce Christianity and then lead his wife and children out of religion into traditional practice is not a small matter at all. I trust God that in my third instalment on this subject, I can lay out a philosophical defense for the truth of the gospel, while at the same time defending it against the fraud that much of religion has become in our day. My aim in the first part is to show our sins to the churches and to call those with ears to hear to repentance. This second part aims at answering Mr. T’s questions. The last instalment will be a worthy summary of it all.

I will also request that good-hearted Christians should pray for Mr. T and his family, that God will open them to the truth of the gospel.

Amen

Source: https://textandpublishing.com/i-met-a-traditionalist-part-2-what-i-said-to-him/

You for mention me now..this update sweet

FRANCISTOWN:

You for mention me now..this update sweet

I just read the part 2.
Christianity didn't work for Mr. T, same as it hasn't worked for anyone except for those who were/are in delusions.

He is now a Traditionalist yet at 51 he still mounts roof tops to fix panels🤣🤣🤣

He'll soon try Islam and finally he'll discover the truth, only thah it'd be too late.

Dear atheist brothers, let's welcome a new member in advance 🤣🤣🤣

FRANCISTOWN:
I just read the part 2.
Christianity didn't work for Mr. T, same as it hasn't worked for anyone except for those who were/are in delusions.

He is now a Traditionalist yet at 51 he still mounts roof tops to fix panels🤣🤣🤣

He'll soon try Islam and finally he'll discover the truth, only thah it'd be too late.

Dear atheist brothers, let's welcome a new member in advance 🤣🤣🤣

Thankfully he hires people to climb the roof for him

FRANCISTOWN:
I just read the part 2.
Christianity didn't work for Mr. T, same as it hasn't worked for anyone except for those who were/are in delusions.

He is now a Traditionalist yet at 51 he still mounts roof tops to fix panels🤣🤣🤣

He'll soon try Islam and finally he'll discover the truth, only thah it'd be too late.

Dear atheist brothers, let's welcome a new member in advance 🤣🤣🤣

Lol, it's not a game of numbers. Otherwise, you can't compete in the sense. Nonetheless, few are the people that find the way to life, broad is the way of unbelievers. Y'all are grouped with your brothers in the original list.

Image123:

Lol, it's not a game of numbers. Otherwise, you can't compete in the sense. Nonetheless, few are the people that find the way to life, broad is the way of unbelievers. Y'all are grouped with your brothers in the original list.

Image123, you're still in this arena.

I used to be one of your transducers in the Tithe debate.

Good to read you though

VBCampaign:


Image123, you're still in this arena.

I used to be one of your transducers in the Tithe debate.

Good to read you though

Good to hear from you also, i guessed as much. i remember very well, though i forgot the moniker(name), but from the Yesufu story, i knew. Thumbs up.

VBCampaign:


Thankfully he hires people to climb the roof for him

The implications of the statement above are:

1. Traditional religion does really work for him( Which is a lie, a believe in one or more religions doesn't work for anybody)

2. You are Mr. Deji Yesufu
The writer never mentioned anything like "Mr. T hires people who mount the roof in his stead" ima fact, Mr. T was barely 2months into the business and he would rather mount roof tops instead of sitting by doing nothing.

See the words of the writer again.

VBCampaign:
I Met a Traditionalist: What He Told Me

By: Deji Yesufu

. He used the time to install the system to tell me his story. Mr Tee is a 51-year-old man who lives in a humble abode here in Ibadan. He has been installing the solar system for two months now because he would rather find himself doing something than sitting at home

Mr. Tee lives in a humble abode, he installs solar system because he would rather find himself doing something than sitting at home.

Don't speak on the writer's behalf. Though the writer wasn't explicit enough but comprehension skills should tell us who was mounting them roof tops.

FRANCISTOWN:

The implications of the statement above are:

1. Traditional religion does really work for him( Which is a lie, a believe in one or more religions doesn't work for anybody)

2. You are Mr. Deji Yesufu
The writer never mentioned anything like "Mr. T hires people who mount the roof in his stead" ima fact, Mr. T was barely 2months into the business and he would rather mount roof tops instead of sitting by doing nothing.

See the words of the writer again.



Mr. Tee lives in a humble abode, he installs solar system because he would rather find himself doing something than sitting at home.

Don't speak on the writer's behalf. Though the writer wasn't explicit enough but comprehension skills should tell us who was mounting them roof tops.

Ok

Image123:


Lol, it's not a game of numbers. Otherwise, you can't compete in the sense. Nonetheless, few are the people that find the way to life, broad is the way of unbelievers. Y'all are grouped with your brothers in the original list.

Which Original List sir?

LOVE YOURSELVES AS YOURSELVES. THAT IS THE GOLDEN RULE.

ALSO SETTLE WITH YOUR ADVERSARIES ALWAYS ON THE ROAD FOR VENGEANCE IS ULTIMATELY MINE.

FROM ORUNTO27 ORISAORUNTOSPEAKS
HAPPY SUNDAY!

@VBcampaign the earth is actually a million years old or even older and even there're trickles of evidences in the Bible. There was a civilization on earth before Adam. Look into the Gap Theory . Shalom.

FRANCISTOWN:


Which Original List sir?

E dey angel Kabir pocket.

Image123:


E dey angel Kabir pocket.

Na where e supposed dey be that.

Marvyx:
@VBcampaign the earth is actually a million years old or even older and even there're trickles of evidences in the Bible. There was a civilization on earth before Adam. Look into the Gap Theory . Shalom.

Ok