₦airaland Forum

by J. Lee Grady
Gideon Thuranira, editor of Christian
Professional magazine, calls these men
“churchpreneurs.” They plant churches not because
they have a burden to reach lost souls but because
they see dollar signs when they fill an auditorium
with chairs. 1. It is mixed with occultism. Before
Christianity came to Nigeria, people visited witch
doctors and sacrificed goats or cows to get
prosperity. They poured libations on the ground so
the gods would hear their prayers. Today similar
practices continue, only the juju priest has been
replaced by a pastor who drives a Mercedes-Benz. I
am aware of a pastor who buried a live animal
under the floor of his church to win God’s favor.
Another pastor asked his congregants to bring bottles
of sand to church so he could anoint them; he then
told the people to sprinkle the sand in their houses
to bring blessings. The people who follow these
charlatans are reminded that their promised
windfall won’t materialize unless they give large
donations. 2. It fuels greed. Any person who knows
Christ will learn the joy of giving to others. But
the prosperity gospel teaches people to focus on
getting, not giving. At its core it is a selfish and
materialistic faith with a thin Christian veneer.
Church members are continually urged to sow
financial seeds to reap bigger and bigger rewards. In
Africa, entire conferences are dedicated to
collecting offerings in order to achieve wealth.
Preachers boast about how much they paid for suits,
shoes, necklaces and watches. They tell their
followers that spirituality is measured by whether
they have a big house or a first-class ticket.
When greed is preached from the pulpit, it spreads
like a cancer in God’s house. 3. It feeds pride. This
greedy atmosphere in prosperity churches has
produced a warped style of leadership. My Kenyan
friend Gideon Thuranira, editor of Christian
Professional magazine, calls these men
“churchpreneurs.” They plant churches not because
they have a burden to reach lost souls but because
they see dollar signs when they fill an auditorium
with chairs. A selfish message produces
bigheaded opportunists who need position, applause
and plenty of perks to keep them happy. The most
successful prosperity preacher is the most dangerous
because he can convince a crowd that Jesus died to
give you and me a Lexus. 4. It works against the
formation of Christian character. The prosperity
message is a poor imitation of the gospel because it
leaves no room for brokenness, suffering, humility or
delay. It offers an illegal shortcut. Prosperity
preachers promise instant results and
overnight success; if you don’t get your
breakthrough, it’s because you didn’t give enough
money in the offering. Jesus calls us to deny
ourselves and follow Him; prosperity preaching calls
us to deny Jesus and follow our materialistic lusts.
There is a leadership crisis in the African church
because many pastors are so set on getting rich, they
can’t go through the process of discipleship that
requires self-denial. 5. It actually keeps people in
poverty. The government of Malawi is currently
under international scrutiny because of fraud
carried out by top leaders. The saddest thing about
the so-called “Cashgate” scandal is that
professing Christians in the administration of
President Joyce Banda have been implicated. One of
these people stole millions of kwacha from the
government and hid the cash in a teddy bear! Most
people today in Malawi live on less than $1 a day,
yet their leaders have been known to buy fleets of
cars and huge plots of land with money that was not
theirs. Sadly, the prosperity gospel preached in
Malawi has encouraged pastors and leaders to
follow the same corrupt pattern. As a result, God’s
people have been financially exploited. When Jesus
described false prophets as wolves in sheep’s
clothing, He warned us to examine their fruit.
Matthew 7:17 says, “So every good tree bears good
fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit” (NASB). What
is the fruit of prosperity preaching? Churches have
been growing rapidly in many parts of Africa today,
yet sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the world
where poverty has increased in the past 25 years.
So according to the statistics, the prosperity gospel is
not bringing prosperity! It is a flawed message, but I
believe God will use selfless, broken African leaders
to correct it.

Raymondenyi: Was dat rude? My bad! I never said he was; I was only emphasizing dat 'if he pays'.... My bad!!! I bow to tek a leave! Sorry

am humbled by ur remorse....wish we could all act and feel truly sorry like u did. very exemplary

spicyonu: My ex-boyfriend's new wife want to be my friend, anytime they come around she's follows me anywhere I go show friendly gestures but I've been different toward her. I do not know what to do because I've been trying to completely avoid the both of them and It's getting so obvious that people around have now tagged me bad. I don't like her because he left me for her, what do I do...

its obvious u and her hubby have not given up on urselves from the bolded. if u don't like her as a friend then try not to have anything with her husband by avoiding them both.

i think it does indicate the level of our intelligence but it is not a measure of intelligence in it self. our taste of music is a combination of alot of factors like culture, age group and ones nationality and the type of music one was introduced to in its formative years. hip hop as a trending type of music gets its audience hooked to the rhythms and tones rather than the message it conveys. while most rock and soul music tend to catch its audience through its lyrics. A listener of the former will most often times than not be a gregarious type judging by the strong and explicit contents that its famous for, as oppose to other genres that a tools for expressing social and deep societal ills and actions.

the once gentleman that we all voted for thinking he is different from the rest is showing us how ruthless he can be. come 2015 he will be vying for votes through his stewardship for the past 3 or 4 years. dude really got it on a platter last election.

deportatn for breaking terms of their visas, and some ayefeles are wandering without papers.

tragic

Omoocash: We wrote NAEC Exams at OAU, Ile-Ife in 2011 for Candidates from south west region and those of us that passed went to Asokoro in Abuja for the interview and at the end of the Interview we were given N10,000 each for transport and since then we have not heard anything from them only that Our Names , I mean Shortlisted Candidates have been in their website since 2011 till date......
What is the hope of these Candidates Now that they said we should not apply again but update our Registration..........

omo, is there any means of reaching them on phone or email? they keep telin me my registratn is pending after 2 days now.

most dudes I knew that applied are already gainfully employed and those that were working in NAEC have secured employment elsewhere. hoping for the best in the aptitude test.

Izon-tubo:
I was invited too...

I would really need help as to the new english questions for dragnet.....

I really have a problem with the english language test...I messed up big time when I wrote that of mobil....

Can anyone here help me out on how to go about answering the english questions within the alloted 20 mins??....

pls can u tell us the usual subjects for their exams and the format of english u are talking about.

pls is it possible for me to change my center? sugestion abeg

eHustler: Guys, I submitted my application and was acknowledged successful without a cover letter cos I didn't know I was supposed to upload my cover letter until after I was through and now checked 'my career tools' and saw 'you have not added any attachment' with the heading 'cover letters and attachments'. Am i still on track? Should I reapply? Can one apply to more one than one branch since it is not explicitly stated in the advert that one should not?

pls where could i register to become a member before logging in. am havin a hard time finding the right page where i could register.

Am tired of hearing the tivs cry every time gunmen atack their homestead because dat is how they live. why nt device a means of defence since d state have failed to do so. organise urselves into cluster settlement and arm urselves like a fotress. colabo wt other neiboring vilages unda atack too. gather info where this gunmen live and how they go about their normadic lives. lastly d best form of defence is atack rather than wait like lambs ready to b devoured.

i read on some thread that the shortlisting is in batches, dont know how true. i actually wrote on 27th as batch 1, any body with info should respond especially otherwise.

good health, wealth and long life.....pls also extend the love people have shown you to others in your situation. God bless u.

Nateboijones: Did anybody that applied through 1st bank website get the invite...pls reply it urgent!!!

yeah i did

for those who are yet to know their centre, i advice you check ur spam or junk mail and see if there is any mail from workforce and follow the instructions. i just uploaded my passport and cv as requested.

meanwhile my test venue is: Chams City Plot 66, 1st Avenue, off Shehu Shagari Road, Beside Federal Character Commission, Opposite Federal High Court, Abuja, first batch on the 27th of june. other info pertaining the exams are there on the accreditation form to be printed. hope these helps.

Cele-pope:
Like i said before i can bet my monthly salary you don't know the cause.If you know it you won't be typing thrash all in the name of criticism.Okay tell us the cause my bet on that

the longer i engage u, d more u expose ur stupidity. obviously ur sense of reasoning is profoundly immature, what joke to say u will stake ur monthly pittance on the internet and i will take u on that......hahaha u must be a genuis.

datsmee: @whitest...i hv bin trying 2 get bak 2 u but couldnt. well i have now confirmed my centre and its abuja;also my state of residence is kano.

no specific venue in abuja? pls d house will lyk to know. tnx

didicold: @house,
wherz d venue for d abuja test plz?

well i tried checking thru d site provided bu to no avail. myt be due to phone though, am yet to try using a desktop.

let d house know at eanest if you know d venue pls

Whitest: Pls frnds if smbody who resides smwhere around northern nigeria n middle belt was also called for d aptitude test pls indicate.cos i reside around these regions n i wasnt called for d test.Jst wnt to knw my fate pls.

i reside in kaduna, got the text invitation around 1am on sunday. hopefully u will be contacted via email or text, just keep ur fingers cross.

those guys rip off naive job seekers due to desperation. I find thhis story preposterous, besides other sites provide better services and free for that matter. this is called hyping.

Logically speaking, the number one contra-ban should be petroleum products. but na they aint gonna do that cause the benefit directly from importation.

Cele-pope:
Primary school student?I bet you don't even know the cause

i suppose u know the cause. then why dont u move ahead and tell them the causes? or arent u patriotic enuogh to profer solutions instead of allowing the endless circle of corruption to continue. save the so called panel time and money we dont have.....u asslicker!

Cele-pope:
Primary school student?I bet you don't even know the cause

who is talking to this scumbag?

Rubbish.....is like the more power stations they establish the lesser the hour one has electricity.

Must they constitute a panel or committee to know the root causes of power failure? Even a primary school pupil will know its corruption without second thought..

lorretta u: downlaod the lyrics sir/madam.you'll get why people say it's demonic.lol.my bible is here.where's yours?let's cast and bind these demons.e don too much for them

pls do u knw where i can download -heros come home- d soundtrack in beowulf

~Bluetooth:
Would it have been a fiction if Tofa had won the election ?

Will Babangida cancel the election if Tofa had won ?

The guy is just bitter that Abiola won the election even though after all these while he(Tofa) had gone into political asylum.No matter what Tofa thinks,Most Nigerians knew what happened during the campaign,before the election,during the election and after the election.

Posterity will judge all those involved directly or indirectly northerner or southerner in scuttling that election.

Tofa has been in oblivion for years after the election and have more or less been passive in politics. if he(Tofa) had been bitter, u would have been hearing from him often. Beside he never contested the result of the result as false, he is just concerned by folks who have not moved on since then(1994)!

History is to be learnt and not to be celebrated in the case of an annulled election. However flawless the victory was its now in the past and its not worth celebrating because it never stood.

goke300: First Bank has started sending confirmatory code for their graduate trainee 2013 programme
People that got the confirmatory code should be expecting test invite in the shortest possible time from workforce.

Best of luck.

i was given a confirmatory code that was initialised with my institution. dont know if that is what u mean. op do u work with workforce or first bank? we will do with more info if available. tnx