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Easter in Nigeria, blindfolded religious people and misguided worship of church cathedrals
Easter in Nigeria, blindfolded religious people and misguided worship of church cathedrals
By: Bodunrin kayode
One of the most unreasonable question that bestrides christendom in Nigeria is the phenomenon of what Church does one attend. And i wish to describe such a judgemental phenomenon as belonging to misguided “churchism.” Where some Christians play church, transform themselves overnight to blinded pharisees and go to the building because today is sabbath day. Some denominations i will not name here do not care if their members come for the desire to worship their creator or wanting to be born again as John 3: 1-21 stipulates, they should just come and fill the spaces because its a commandment.Looking at the verses quoted above it would be worthless going to fill benches and go home without any connection with our creator. This is because the founder of our faith warns that our righteousness is like a filthy rag before His father in heaven.
Again, the response of Jesus Christ to Nicodemus in thecontext of John 3 was apt enough for him to know that without going through the process of beingborn again he was a mere religious man. And just being religious could not give him entrance into the kingdom of God. As a matter of fact, with the burden of mere religion after the birth of Christ and still stealing billions of public funds for instance, does not make some of us better than the pharisees.
But why should the genre of church one attends be of importance to anyone except if one discovers that he or she is in the church of the anti Christ or the latest one they call Church of Satan? Why are the orthodox and African congregations so fixated about their traditions instead of salvation? Nigerians dropped orthodoxy for practical Christianity since the sixties and seventies when caricatures of judas was displayed and beaten in public for instance at times like this. We flew kites in the seventies as kids during Easter to celebrate the risen Christ but is that relevant today? The answer is no. Those who used the vehicle of Judaism like Elijah to drive to heaven lived by traditions and the law. But we don’t we live by his grace and shall drive to heaven by the vehicle of his salvation through Christianity. The message of salvation was all over the country by the early eighties. Why then should anyone be fixated about traditions and the celebration of cathedrals in the millennial age instead of praying to make heaven? There is some form of relativity in the Bible hermeneutics which talks about the difficulty of a Carmel passing through the eye of a needle but the sum total of the message is the same especially if our hearts do not become like that of little kids noted the founder of Christianity.
I agree that if one discovers that he is in the church of Satan, he should run away or as the good book describes it flee. The church of satan is already in Nigeria and young people who are not afraid of hell fire are already attending the place. Sadly some of them have read Rebecca Brown’s book “He came to set the captives free” yet are not afraid to experiment the dark kingdom because of the false gifts of the illuminati. They think those free gifts are really free. But does the devil really give anyone anything for free?
Mechanical church goers and their anti christ mentality
One feels sorry for such people when they ask funny questions as what church do you attend because they look at you in a judgemental way as if it is the Cathedral they attend that will take them to heaven. I was talking to some of their ilks, mostly young people in a platform recently and they asked me what was wrong in mixing their African spiritual traditions with their belief in christ. I said everything was wrong with that and they never liked my response. Because i let them understand that one cannot serve two masters and yet make it to the third heaven where the Ancient of Days live. We do not worship cathedrals because they do not have the power to take anyone to heaven. Neither should we worship “Sundays” because we are supposed to be above Saturday or Sunday with the ability to command Sunday to vomit our blessings as we do to other days every day we wake up from our sleep. The implication of this is that we are no longer tied to the Sunday Sunday tonic of going to church. A practicing Christian within or outside the congregation connects with his creator on a daily basis and shows love to all which is the summary of the Christian phenomenon that started in Antioch. That is what makes us slightly different from the Hindu, Bahai or over a thousand other religions in the world who have their own ways of reaching out to their gods. A practicing Christian asks how hot or cold you are and not what church do you go to or why did you not go to church this good Friday. No one can be in between, you are either hot or cold for the Lord. Those who do not want to be found in between sometimes abandon the cathedral completely and end up worse in the realm of apostasy.
Adherents of Islam in Nigeria however hardly ask such nonsensical questions about which mosque their neighbors attend before accepting them as brothers in Islam but will walk into any mosque and worship with their neighbors when it is time for prayers. What matters to them is brotherhood of their beliefs.
Sometimes I wonder why so called Christians display such gross ignorance when it comes to Christianity which should be a way of life other than a mere religion. Sadly, such practices are the exact opposite of what is expected from our Christian brethren who tend to “love religion” more than “Jesus Christ” who is supposed to be the author and finisher of our faith. Because someone was into spiritism during his life time in the church doesn’t mean he understood what Jesus said to Nicodemus about being born again. Such people when they transit from this world will love to be called religious people but they have their rewards for misleading many into the dark kingdom of masonry or the illuminati which has become the second largest religion in the contemporary Babylon.
People keep asking which church you go to such that they do not know that there is a generation of young people who now go to the latest anti christ Malian churches created by the evil one himself. So many questions cross my mind when i see Christians who go to church in a mechanical way like some of us used to in the 70’s when we were growing up in the orthodox traditions. In those days you are flogged if you do not go to church on Sunday as if Sunday was the only day meant to worship God. It was the orthodox phenomenon brought in by the white man who never knew anything about eternal salvation yet they were insisting that everyone must come to church on Sunday so that they hear from them and collect their tithes from their farm products.
In the sixties and seventies, Christianity was a mechanical machine movement. People went to church like zombies as Fela will call them without even knowing why they were going into the building. Sadly, some adherents still follow after that pattern in a dangerous and dogmatic way without knowing that practical Christianity has stopped being a religion with fixated traditions. What they fail to realize is that, traditions such as are spelt out in the Torah has nothing to do with salvation long ago. There is nothing wrong in going to church on Sunday but that is not the only day to worship God as far as practical Christianity is concerned. If Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith we must worship him daily and not one fixated day as ascribed in the Torah
for those who believe and practice Judaism till this day. A large chunk of jews do not believe in Jesus the Christ of Nazareth even though he came through their race but they will surely get to know what we know one day when the messiah returns to this earth. Some Church doctrines are so fixated that they are now reversing the thinking of their followers from Christianity to the
good old Judaism where only the laws matters above grace which is freely given by God. I mean from the city of Antioch back to the days of relying on the laws as stated by Moses in the Torah. Going to church is not what makes people Christian but practicing what christ stands for. When a young man of about the age of the late musician Majek Fashek begins to take drugs and follows after occult people then the church is loosing it already. And this should bother the Bishops and others with big titles. We should all try to dump too much emphasis on religion at this Easter period for practical Christianity which is a way of life. Let our way of life portray christ and let love, long suffering and all the good attributes outlined by the new testament guide us as we celebrate this Easter wherever we find ourselves. Happy Easter in advance to all of us.
Easter in Nigeria, blindfolded religious people and misguided worship of church cathedrals
News
3 bandits, 11 community guards killed in bloody clash in Katsina
3 bandits, 11 community guards killed in bloody clash in Katsina
By: Zagazola Makama
No fewer than three suspected bandits and 11 members of a local vigilante group have been killed in a violent clash between communities and repentant bandits in Jibia Local Government Area of Katsina State.
The incident, which occurred on Tuesday, followed the collapse of a peace arrangement between residents of Falale and Kadobe villages and a group of repentant bandits operating in the area.
Security sources told Zagazola Makama that the confrontation began at about 12:00 p.m. when tensions escalated into a fierce exchange, leading to the killing of three of the bandits.
The development, however, triggered a swift reprisal attack by the armed group, resulting in the deaths of 11 vigilante members drawn from the affected communities.
The Katsina State Police Command confirmed the incident, noting that security operatives were immediately deployed to the scene upon receipt of the report.
Similarly, a joint teams of the troops of Operation FANSAN YANMA, police and other security agencies engaged community leaders and stakeholders to de-escalate the situation and prevent further violence.
“Normalcy has been restored in the area, while investigation into the incident has commenced,” the sources said.
The clash is believed to be linked to a breakdown in trust between the communities and the repentant bandits, amid ongoing efforts by the state government to explore non-kinetic approaches to addressing insecurity in parts of the state.
Residents said the situation remains tense, although security presence has been reinforced to forestall further attacks.
3 bandits, 11 community guards killed in bloody clash in Katsina
News
Nigerian Military eliminate 61 terrorists in Malam Fatori, Borno
Nigerian Military eliminate 61 terrorists in Malam Fatori, Borno
By: Zagazola Makama
The Nigerian Army troops of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), in close coordination with, The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), has neutralised no fewer than 61 ISWAP terrorists during a foiled infiltration attempt in Malam Fatori, Abadam Local Government Area of Borno.
Sources involved in the operation disclosed that the terrorists launched the attack in the early hours of Wednesday, advancing on foot and deploying armed drones in a desperate bid to breach the defences of troops at the 68 Battalion location.
The sources told Zagazola Makama that the attack, which came through the frontage of Bravo Company from the Duguri general area, was met with overwhelming firepower and superior coordination between ground forces and air components.
The sources explained that troops, supported by precision air strikes, engaged the insurgents in a fierce battle that resulted in heavy casualties on the side of the terrorists.
According to him, the integration of air and ground manoeuvre ensured that the terrorists were fixed, targeted and neutralised in large numbers.
“Our forces executed four highly effective air interdiction strikes on identified enemy concentrations, decimating their fighting capability. The synergy between air and land forces denied the terrorists freedom of movement and forced a disorderly withdrawal towards the Arege general area after suffering heavy casualties,” he said
The sources noted that additional strike support from allied Nigerien air assets further compounded the pressure on the fleeing insurgents, although battle damage assessment from those strikes was still ongoing.
“The allied forces from neighbouring Niger Republic also conducted rapid strike passes in support of the operation, thereby compounding the pressure on the fleeing insurgents.
“On own casualties, the officer confirmed that four soldiers sustained minor injuries during the engagement and have since been stabilised.
Nigerian Military eliminate 61 terrorists in Malam Fatori, Borno
News
VP Shettima Mourns Borno Terror Attack Victims, Says No Religion Endorses Killing Of Innocent Lives
VP Shettima Mourns Borno Terror Attack Victims, Says No Religion Endorses Killing Of Innocent Lives
By: Our Reporter
Ahead of his trip to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, Vice President Kashim Shettima , has expressed grief over the death of 25 persons killed in the multiple explosions in different locations across Maiduguri, the Borno State capital on Monday.
He pointed out that no religion sanctions the killing of innocent lives, as the sanctity of human life remains a core tenet of major world faiths.
VP Shettima, who spoke on Tuesday during the closing of the Annual Ramadan Tafsir at the State House Mosque, Abuja, prayed Almighty Allah to grant the souls of those killed in the terror attack in Maiduguri eternal rest, reward them with Aljannah firdaus and give their family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.
Praying Almighty Allah to also vanish all agents of terror from the surface of the earth, the VP said, “May the lives of innocent souls – 25 of them – that lost their lives in Maiduguri last evening rest in peace. May Allah grant their souls eternal rest and reward them with His Aljannah firdaus, and may Allah also grant their families the fortitude to bear the irreparable losses.
“May Allah bring this madness to an end. No religion sanctions the killing of the innocent. Whatever that is motivating them, may Allah either guide them on to the right path or May Allah vanish them from the surface of the earth.”
The Vice President emphasised the need for all Nigerians to continue to pray for the country across every sector, as well as pray that the Almighty should continue to grant President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and members of his team wisdom, courage, sincerity and equity in service.
He noted that each season of Ramadan reminds Muslims of a truth that power often tries to hide from man, and that no sit is permanent, just as no office is ultimate and no human being stands above his dependence on his creator.
VP Shettima said, “In the presence of Allah, the distance between the mighty and the unknown vanishes. What remains is character, what remains is accountability, what remains is what we did with the trust placed in our hands.
“This is why gatherings such as this matters. They rescue public lives from arrogance; they retain soul to scale; they teach those entrusted with authority that the nation is not built by policy alone but by conscience; not by proclamation alone but by restraint; not by ambition alone but by fear of Allah.”
The VP called on the Muslim faithful to continue to live in the teachings and lessons of the month of Ramadan, as the final days of Ramadan begins to sleep through their fingers.
“The question before us is not whether Ramadan is ending. The question is whether its teachings will continue to live in us after the moon has changed.
“It is quite easy to cut the head when the atmosphere is charged with devotion. The harder task is to carry it into ordinary days, into the market, into the office, into the home, into the chamber of power, and into the private corners where only Allah sees what we are doing, ” he noted.
While drawing from the lessons of Ramadan, the Vice President said the holy month had thought the Muslim faithful that pity without mercy is noise and worship without service is incomplete.
“So, as we close this year’s Tafsir, let us not return to the habits that weaken our common lives; let us not go back to bitterness, to reckless speech, to indifference dressed as sophistication. A believer doesn’t spend the whole month learning only to become a captive again of anger, greed and division.
“Nigeria needs homes where children encounter good examples before good advice. Nigeria, indeed, needs leaders in every spare who understand that influence is a trust, not a license, ” VP Shettima said.
He paid growing tribute to the Chief Imam of the State House Mosque, Sheikh Abdulwaheed Suleiman Abubakar, and his lieutenant for conducting the Tafsir with wisdom, calm hearts.
Earlier, the Chief Imam prayed for sustainable peace and development of Nigerian and the success of the Tinubu administration’s policies and programmes.
The cleric emphasised the need for leaders at all levels to continue to discharge their responsibilities with the fear of Allah for the process and development of the country.
VP Shettima Mourns Borno Terror Attack Victims, Says No Religion Endorses Killing Of Innocent Lives
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