LESSONS

He knew he was called to be an Evangelist from age 16.

It had nothing to do with his father being a Pastor, but it had everything to do with his zeal for talking to people about Jesus, getting them Born Again and baptizing them in the Holy Spirit.

He was a very active member of the Evangelism Department of the Youth Fellowship in the Church his father pastors. With time, he took over the leadership of the Department. Nobody else wanted the position: everybody knew he was the right person for it. He was like a fish in water whenever they went out for evangelism…

 

At 18, he left the Youth Fellowship for the adult Church. He joined the Evangelism Department of the adult Church immediately. His father was very proud of him! He had 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls, but his first son was his pride and joy. He was the only one that had a heart for Ministry and apparently, he would take over from his dad whenever his work was done on the planet…

 

He was 22 when he went out on evangelism with the Church members one day and he met a young lady who was a prostitute. He preached to her and she was convicted. She gave her life to Jesus and was baptized in the Holy Spirit.

She joined the Church, went through the Foundation classes and joined a department. She was 19.

She became very committed and active in Church, her life took a turn for the better. She gained admission to the University, graduated a few years later and got a job that paid her well. Her life was a testimony of how the Holy Spirit corrects faulty destinies.

 

She had remained friends with the Pastor’s son all this while. She asked him a lot of questions about her newfound faith and he answered them all. He helped her to understand Scripture and taught her how to pray.

She looked up to him as a spiritual mentor.

 

With time, they would go for evangelism together, preaching to people and bringing them into God’s Kingdom. She spoke freely about her past, how she met Christ and how He had transformed her life. “He did it for me; He can do it for you too! Come to Him!”

She started winning converts too…

 

They would set monthly targets for themselves: “Let’s win 100 souls to Christ this month!”

 

8 years after her conversion, he proposed to her.

She said YES!

He was 30, she was 27.

 

He told his father…

And that was when trouble started!

 

He had expected his father to be happy for him but he could read his father’s body language: he wasn’t impressed!

“You can’t marry that woman, son! She is a prostitute!”

 

Woah!

He didn’t see that coming!

“Dad, she WAS a prostitute! That was her former life! She is changed: you KNOW!”

“Son, look at the optics: you know you will take over this Church after my demise. You will be Pastor of over a thousand people. “The Pastor’s wife was a prostitute”: how do you think people will look at you? And the Church? The backlash will be too much for you, son…”

The son was devastated.

 

He couldn’t understand what was going on. He really loved the lady and she was a Ministry material. He decided to let it slide: his father would come around sooner or later. He spoke to her and they agreed to make it a prayer point. God will make his father see reason and give his consent with time, he assumed.

 

A week later, he was summoned to a meeting.

As he entered the room, he was surprised to see 12 elders seated. He immediately knew what this was about: the lady he wanted to marry! This is going to be interesting, he thought…

 

Bishops, Apostles, and Reverends who were his father’s mentors sat in front of him. His father also sat among them. He greeted them all and sat down.

“Your father told us about your choice for a wife”, the Bishop started. “You must know as Ministers of the Gospel, the choices we make in life will ultimately affect our Ministries…”

He went on and on, advising the young man about his choice of a spouse.

When Bishop was done talking, Apostle took over.

After about 90 minutes, the 12 elders were done.

His father asked him, “Would you want to say anything?”

He stood up and cleared his throat. “As a matter of fact, there’s something I want to say!”

His father gave him the go-ahead.

 

“I thank you all for your counsel, sirs. I appreciate the fact that you all came here to talk to me on this matter, despite your tight schedule. I have learned a very good lesson today that I never learned before. Your coming and your speeches taught me that. I only wish I had learned it earlier, I wouldn’t have done a lot of things I did in the past 14 years. I guess it’s never too late…”

 

The Elders looked at each other. What is he talking about, they wondered.

“What lesson are you talking about, son?” his father asked.

 

“I have just learned that there are some sins the Blood of Jesus can NEVER wash away! I have just learned that PROSTITUTION is too big a sin to be washed away by the Blood of Jesus!

I just learned that all the years I spent evangelizing and preaching, telling people the Blood of Jesus could wash them from ALL their sins was a waste: You just taught me His Blood is LIMITED! There are sins it can NEVER wash away!

You guys just taught me that prostitutes have absolutely no chance of turning over a new leaf! No matter what they do, no matter the prayer, the service, the commitment, the fasting, they will NEVER be good enough for God! No matter how much the Holy Spirit works in them and with them, they can NEVER be good enough!

The scripture ‘IF ANYONE BE IN CHRIST, HE IS A NEW CREATURE’ is a LIE! Prostitutes can NEVER be new creatures! In their case, old things can NEVER pass away! And that makes you all HYPOCRITES!!!!”

 

He got up and walked out, slamming the door behind him…

Shalom,

 

Haruna Daniels