I was reading a book, and I came across this tales that conveys what the churches and pastors of today look like.

THE THREE FRIENDS
In the ‘Canterbury Tales’ there is this story of three friends who took a strong collective decision to fight Satan and destroy him. In the course of their going around searching for Satan to destroy, they met an old man. When they informed the old man that they were in
search of Satan to destroy, because of the untold problems and hardship caused by him everywhere on people, the old man told them that he saw Satan under an Oak tree a moment ago. They went to the Oak tree and saw a large chunk of gold.

The three friends began to thank God that, while searching for Satan to maim and destroy, they had finally stumbled on the fortune of their lives. Then they sat down and relaxed. One of them thereafter went out to buy food for all. As soon as he left, the other two plotted to murder him, while he also concluded to murder those two. Finally he poisoned their food; and when he came to them, they killed him. As soon as he died, the two began to fight and at last the stronger killed the weak. As the stronger settled down and ate the poisoned food he also died. All of them died because each desired to possess the gold alone.

The three friends who set out to destroy Satan were themselves destroyed by Satan through the lust for materialism. They set out to fight a warfare in which they did not possess the right weapon. Love is the sole weapon for victory over darkness. You cannot overcome the forces of darkness with lust, greed, anger, vanity and attachment to material things

What of the churches of our time? There are some people among them who claim to be seriously out to banish the network of darkness. But in several occasions these are maimed by the instrument (materialism) of the very one they were out to cage. The Hindus and others are not left out of this game worked out by the craft of darkness. Humanity must turn fully to the path of Love and
understand that this is the only true religion.

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MUNDANE RELIGIOUS PROPENSITY
We have this illustration of seven great clergymen from different religious denominations who gathered for a preaching engagement. The selected topic for all was 'The Love of God’. People also gathered to hear them. It was set out by the organizers of the event that any among them voted by the people as the ‘Best Preacher of Love’ will become the leader of the rest.

1. The first clergy came forth and spoke. He declared that his church is the first among all, and that anyone who truly want to serve God in Love should come into it and be saved by ‘The Son of God’.

2. The second clergy took his turn. He proclaimed total submission to God as the basis of manifesting His Love. He admonished the faithful to always Love God and be prepared at all times to kill or maim the enemies of God on Earth.

3. The third clergy rose and proclaimed himself a ‘Witness of God’. He categorically declared that his religious system is the best among men, the one and the only true denomination on Earth. He warned that anyone who wants to experience the Love of God in HIS Paradise on Earth must belong to his congregation.

4. The fourth clergy came out in style. He emphasized that anyone who claims to know better than him on the matter of the Almighty is a great liar. He made it known that he has experience beyond all in this matter. He said that he was born not merely once but another beyond the first, which puts him ahead of all. He warned that all men who want to go to heaven must abide by his understanding of this. He concluded that any Love shown outside his system of belief is not acceptable to God.

5. The fifth clergy stood and considered the rest as men of partial thought. He said that his religion wrote the first book about God on Earth. He claimed to have known it all beyond all others. Then he invited all men to come into his temple of worship to experience the Love of God in full.

6. The sixth clergy educated all present on how to fight a spiritual battle. He told believers to Love God and show Love to the brethren. However, for the human agents of darkness, he called on the faithful to come upon the mountain and command the fire of God to consume such bad men.

THE ONLY TRUE RELIGION
7. The seventh clergy was invited to speak, but he did not, rather he directed his drivers and other workers to begin offloading the goods he brought to the venue in twenty lorries. Then he began to call different categories of the poor to come out. To the hungry he gave
food; to the sick he prayed for divine healing, gave some drugs and money; to the ones in rags he gave clothes, and much more. This he did not minding which religion one belonged. At the end he prayed for everyone, asking all to go and live in Love and peace. The people in turn voted him to lead all the clergies.

To help the poor merely to show off, without Divine Love in your heart, or what Saint Paul called ‘charity’ in the Bible, cannot bring you into the path of Light. But to do so in Love is the real work of God.

Our Lord Jesus said that in the hour of fulfillment He would tell those who walked on the path of Love: “Come, ye blessed of my Father … for I was hungered and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me”.

He further made it clear that whosoever does these to any human, has done it to Him. (See Math 25:31-46) Earthman, was it not spoken of by the Wise Ones of old that showing Love to others is the true essence of religion? Remember the admonitions of Saint James in the Bible:

“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world”
(James 1:27).

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MY FEMALE NEIGBOUR
I have a female neighbour, who is doing well in life. I mean, financially free from the battles of the average Nigerian. To her perception of me, there was no evidence of good living that convey to her I was a man of God.

She saw in me no sign of a better future.
I saw and I am seeing in me a man of glorious future

She was seeing in me a life of hardship.

For me, I am beautiful tree that is patiently waiting for the spring and Autumn season to arrive.

She told me by not going to church, I have given Satan the chance to drag me down.

Deep within me, I knew she was spiritually a blind woman.

She knows nothing about me. She only knows me as a single unmarried guy, who is carrying his own cross without complaining or looking into anyone.

She began to analyze my life challenges, hardship and trials as a result of me not going to church or accepting God into my life.

I didn't bother to tell her about the basis about prayer and the wilderness life. She won't understand.

She told me to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. She pressured me for good 16 months to accept Jesus by following her to her winners church.

She began to look at me as someone who is possessed with evil spirit. Someone that is afraid to enter church.

I kept enduring her and her spiritual blindness.

As of yesterday, she came to me again with these words. You can't serve God and face challenges. You are just too good to suffer.

She gave me a small large winner chapel hand bill that has four pages. All they wrote on all the four pages was gateways to prosperity. They twist scriptures to back and suit their greed and spiritual blindness

She said to me, follow me to winners church, we are having a business program.

I asked her, am I a business man that I will go to your church business meetings ?

Do you know who I am?

By this time, I gave her a strong but gentle warning that made her to apologize.

She almost made me believe that God ways of dealing with men is stupid. I then gave her a soft warning with the admonition below.

Prosperity is of the spirit, before manifesting to the physical. Please, allow God to work on His children as He wills. God knows when to bring down His children, and He knows when to lift them up.

God ways is different from the ways of men.

Stop, I blurted to her. She apologized and told me it will not happen again.

THE MESSAGE.
What many winners pastors, redeem and many churches and pastors of today are doing is contrary to what God want them to do. They don't preach to people about the ways of God and the cross because, most of them are made to set their faith on prosperity and not on the cross of Christ. They have no tangible idea about the mystery of the cross and also, the life of the cross.

As a Christian, when you channel your faith on prosperity, you lack the spiritual life in Christ When prosperity become the basis of your faith in God, then you will lack the power and become blind to the ways of God.

Genuine Christian Are Know Through Their Trials And Love

OP please I have sent you a couple of email, it will be a great honour if you can respond. There are a billion and on questions running through my soul that needs answers and I believe you can be of help. I only recently came across your post and it seems to be as heaven sent. Please if you can respond, I have some dire personal things to ask and share. Thank you