15/11/2017
What I told two leaders after an extended teaching session at a HolyGhost service and a friend of mine 25years ago.
A few years back I was speaking at the closing service of our Church convention, it was on the subject of joy and I spent some time going through the scriptures line upon line. We then had the spirit of joy break out in our midst and there was great rejoicing.
In our post Convention analysis meeting, I was asked by two of the leaders why I spent so much time teaching, they kind of felt I had made my point on somethings but I went through others scriptures relating to the same thing and taught further. They felt I should have released them earlier into expressions in the Spirit rather than keep going over the scriptures. One even said to me jokingly, "we saw a battle between the teacher and the prophetic in you"
I later explained to them the importance of establishing people in the doctrinal aspects of anything they practice, that it is dangerous to push people into an experience no matter how valid it is without them first being fully persuaded from the scriptures. I explained that the only safe entrance into the realm of the spirit is by standing on the "facts" contained in the written Word. That in the excitement of the convention everyone was ready to "jump in" and some would have gotten results, but without them knowing what the scriptures clearly teach about it, they won't be able to sustain the practice in their personal lives.
I also told them that every truth received will come under attack before it can be established. This I knew so I told one of the leaders, "one day everything we do may be attacked if the people who we see participating with us in all this are not themselves established in the truth concerning all we do, they will turn in their hearts against it."
I told them there will be some people who may not get results and some may point to those people as their examples to discredit the practice. I then asked the fact that not all Christians get healed does it mean the fact of the Word that we are healed by His stripes is not true? People must be deepened in doctrine enough to believe beyond the experiences of others.
I learnt early that even if God has given you influence and people are willing to follow, you must in the integrity of your heart not abuse that but make sure you substantiate from the scriptures things you lead people into. You must endeavour to teach the truth with the intent of bringing everyone into a place where they are fully persuaded.
I have seen people over the years turn back from what they appeared to be in the forefront of. Folks who say things today and when you compare it with what they did in the past you are tempted to scream this is hypocrisy. However, I don't think it is hypocrisy. They probably back then acted under peer pressure, a herd mentality, the desire to belong to a group and they couldn't emotionally handle the rejection that may have come their way if they didn't tag along.
The biggest mistake that was however made was they didn't understand the biggest service they could render was a diligent study of the scriptures coupled with a life of prayer. They enrolled into "service" in their churches occupying visible positions and became known. They confused social standing in the Christian community with spiritual power which is built in secrecy. They thought that the way they got their social standing in the world is the same way you walk in the corridors of true spiritual power. Some were in the in-crowd of their churches, the "awon boys".
I once told a friend of mine, this was about 25 years ago how I felt the way she was hopping from one convention in town to the other was a reflection of how she used to party. The same way she was seen in party circles while in the world was still her approach to spiritual things wanting to be seen to be in touch. She acknowledged this and changed her ways.
Many are actually fed up today about their Christian experience. This has come as a result of engaging in things without real persuasion from the Word. I thank God for the Church I grew up in. We were taught the New Testament in a verse by verse study pattern every Sunday morning for an hour before the proper service began. In three years everyone had gone through the entire New Testament verse by verse.
I was trained to do things out of spiritual convictions and that is why today I cannot look back and throw stones at what I practiced, or movements I belonged to in the past because I always followed the integrity of my heart and never did "spiritual things" just because I was told but because I was showed.
Poju Oyemade
