Prosperity Today
Magazine shares here a pathetic story about a Lazarus like miracle, promised by
prophets of The Chosen Church, but which did not happen in a community in
Nigeria’s Imo state. It is a wake-up call to all gullible Nigerians who believe
everything their pastors tell them, hook, line, and sinker.
By Victoria Ohaeri
The book of Matthew 24:24 says: “For false christs and false prophets
will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if
possible, even the elect. 25“Behold, I have told you in advance”.
This Biblical
injunction freely and clearly offers an advance warning that many Christians
are yet to heed. It warns about the rise of false prophets masquerading as men
of god that use God’s name to swindle, deceive and hypnotize the gullible. That
was exactly what happened in Umuezii, Nguru Mbaise where the Chosen Church of
God prophets embarked on a failed mission to resurrect the dead. This is not
the first time the Chosen Church is directly fingered in fake miracles and
spiritual hocus-pocus.
A young man, from
Umuezii community died in Burkina Faso in November last year under mysterious
circumstances. A month after, his sealed body was brought back to Nigeria and
was buried the same day in his family compound in Umuezii, Nguru Mbaise, Imo
State.
Trouble started when
prophets and seers of the Chosen Church of God prophesied that the
dead-and-buried young man was still alive (six feet beneath the earth) as his
soul has persistently approached them via telephone calls and other spiritual
means, requesting immediate exhumation. His elder sister, who is a member of
the Chosen Church, communicated this prophecy to the entire family, leading to
a family resolution insisting on the “divinely ordered” exhumation.
The decision to
exhume the dead body did not go down well with the community as such act was
considered an abomination both under the native tradition and under the
prevailing Catholic norms deeply established within the community. All
entreaties to the family made by the traditional ruler and parish priest of the
St. Luke Catholic Church, Umuezii to refrain from such religious charade fell
on deaf ears. It got to a point that the deceased family representatives openly
accused the church and community leaders of killing their late brother, and
preventing his “god-ordained” resurrection.
As a lasting solution
to the impasse, the traditional ruler of the community invited the Chosen
Church seers and prophets to sign an agreement of performance failing which
they will be handed over to the police authorities for prosecution. The second
condition was that the miracle will be performed in full public glare and in
the presence of other independent witnesses. Proudly beating their chests and
boasting deafeningly about their “majestic powers”, the seers and prophets
signed the agreement and a date was mutually agreed for the resurrection
miracle.
On the appointed day,
a horde of prayer warriors, choristers, singers, speaking-in-tongue experts,
seers, prophets and the like stormed the village as early as 6 a.m. The
traditional ruler also invited the police, radio commentators, reporters and
correspondents from local newspapers and the state-owned Imo Broadcasting
Corporation. Chosen Church of God seers boastfully started with an early
morning prophecy that the dead young man will “resurrect” by 12 noon prompt.
The digging up of the grave followed immediately until the body was exhumed.
Then the singing,
violent shaking, screaming, cursing, loud yelling and other theatrical displays
in the name of deliverance prayers ensued while the large crowd of keen
onlookers watched with deep interest. From 6.a.m till 12 noon, there was no
sign that the young man was preparing to wake let alone resurrect. Seeing that
the 12 noon deadline had passed, the seers quickly issued another prophecy
shifting the hour of resurrection to 3.p.m. By this time, the prayer and
singing sessions became even more intense and violent. 3 p.m came and went. No
sign of life. The Chosen Church prophets again, quickly handed down another
prophecy declaring 6.p.m as the divine resurrection hour. 6.p.m also went by,
and the dead man remained still, lifeless and unresurrected till this day!
Understandably
impatient and angry after the 6p.m deadline, the policemen on standby arrested
all the prophets, dancers, singers, clappers and everybody that accompanied
them to the community. But before then, the Chosen Church prophets had
forwarded messages to their head office requesting for spiritual reinforcement.
Undeterred by the arrest of their team members, an additional team that arrived
around 6 p.m continued with the prayer sessions even more aggressively and
vociferously. They prayed and sang all through the night till the following
morning. Still, no sign of resurrection! The police officers, who had then
totally run out of patience, arrested the remaining Chosen Church members, and
everyone connected to the resurrection miracle including the deceased’s family
representatives.
Some of the arrested
Chosen Church members are currently on bail, while a lot more are still in
custody till date. The dead body was deposited at the morgue at the Federal
Medical Center, Owerri, as exhibit, pending further police investigations and
prosecution of the false prophets.
I was present at the
New Year church service held at St Lukes Catholic Church, Umuezii, Mbaise where
the parish priest’s sermon harped on the infiltration of false prophets into
the Christendom, warning parishioners to be wary of them. He then invited the
members of the deceased family to tender an unreserved apology to the community
for the abominable acts they committed. (PICTURED ABOVE) The deceased’s elder
sister tendered what seemed like a half-hearted apology on the family’s behalf.
What happened in Imo
State is reminiscent of the stories that feature on Nkan ‘Nbe, a popular Yoruba
TV Program that features latter-day mystical occurrences. The Imo incident
provides a compelling and cogent rationale for the effective regulation of the
nefarious activities of churches whose stock in trade is to constitute public
nuisance and to deceive and hypnotize the gullible. As a direct result of this
incident, some Mbaise communities have proscribed the activities of Pentecostal
churches in their localities.
All eyes are on the
Imo State Police Command to see how they would handle this issue, and ensure
that measures are put in place to deter future sinister activities perpetrated
under the banner of religion. Perhaps, its time to ban the churches and their
abracadabra miracles. That time is NOW!
Culled from the blog of Victoria Ohaeri @http://victoriaohaeri.wordpress.com/2014/01/07/the-chosen-church-and-an-abracadabra-resurrection-miracle/
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