Preach II

David Yongi-Cho was dying of tuberculosis
at a very young age when a young lady
started coming to his house with a New
Testament Bible
According to him, the young lady came to
his house persistently until he took the
Bible from her, read it and accepted Jesus
Christ as his Lord and saviour
Smith Wigglesworth was a sinner who
had no time for the message of grace
until a lady (He later married her) took it
upon herself to witness the gospel to him
After his conversion, Smith Wigglesworth
raised his wife from the dead by the
power of the Holy Spirit
Romans 10 vs13 for, “Everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 How then can they call on the One in
whom they have not believed?
And how can they believe in the One of
whom they have not heard?
And how can they hear without
someone to preach?
15 And how can they preach unless
they are sent? As it is written: “How
beautiful are the feet of those who
bring good news”
I was very well on course to be a
fraudster or an armed robber in my
twenties
I had a penchant for dreaming up
get rich schemes that would empty
the pocket of the gullible and
leave them clutching at straws
My first scheme worked like a charm
when i was 12
I came up with the idea of writing a
letter to all the parents of my roommates
in the boarding school informing them
that the school would be organizing
an excursion and each student must
resume with extra 500 Naira for this
purpose
I signed the letters in the Principal’s hand
My roommates took the letter home and
they all returned with 500 Naira each at
the beginning of the next term
I got 50% of all the proceeds
I wasn’t taught by anyone
Such stuff would just come to me and
they worked
Even when i was in primary School, I
wrote a letter in my elder sister’s hand
and sent it to my class teacher claiming
i was a sickle cell patient
It struck fear in the heart of all the
teachers and none of them dared to
flog me for any offense
I did this when I was 8 years old
(In Primary 3)
My friends in Secondary school had
me pegged as “Ade Bendel 2.0
Long after I became a believer, many
of them were convinced I was just
pulling a long con or trying to scam
my way through life
I imagine today how my life would
have turned out if the gospel
was not preached to me by Sister
Titi Laniyan at Olivet Baptist High
School when I was in SS2.
I listened to Titi because I wanted
her to be my girlfriend.
She invited me to the Baptist Student
Fellowship meeting on a Friday afternoon
at the chapel and they sang that song
“Ijoba Orun lere Onigbagbo o”
That was my first brush with the gospel
I was 15
I didn’t embrace the gospel immediately
I was preached to but the seed had been
planted
Growing up in a Christian home where
Christianity was a religion didn’t let me
appreciate the power of the gospel but
that encounter with Sister Titi Laniyan did.
I was very receptive to her
I remember @LekeAlder writing on
Twitter about His conversion story that
came about through a “sister” when he
was an undergraduate
I read that story several times
Many of us are more receptive to our
peers than authority figures
It took me another 12 years to become
a born again
The seed planted at 15 continued to
grow as I stumbled my way through life
until it exploded in my heart on
September 17, 2007
I wonder today how my life would
have turned out if the gospel was not
preached to me
Perhaps I’d be in prison, dead, living
out my life as a notorious criminal and
leaving behind me a trail of sorrow,
tears and blood
One thing was very certain, the path
i was on when I met the Lord at 27
was anti-social, ungodly and injurious
to society
The gospel saved me
The gospel saved my potential victims
from my evil ways
The gospel changed the course of my
life
If I have been a blessing to anyone
since 2007, in any capacity, the person
should thank Sister Titi Laniyan
Recently, i was introduced to my
Secondary School Alumni association and
Titi Laniyan was crying on the phone
when she saw how my life has turned out
We both live in Lagos, we have not had
time to see but the fragrance of the
gospel in me had reached her in many
ways
She is a blessed mother of three now
and i am eternally indebted to her for
preaching the gospel to me
I can count at least 500 people on
Twitter who came to know the gospel
of the Lord Jesus and it’s transforming
power through me
(I boast not)
I wrote that to say that those 500
blessings were on a path of destruction
and would have been a curse but for
the gospel
When I see believers who don’t preach
the gospel complaining about the society
being corrupt and sin running riot
When i see nudity and pornographic
content and lurid contents being
retweeted or liked by believers who
do not believe in preaching the gospel
I shake my head!
There is no other philosophy or way of
life that has the record of the gospel
when it comes to transforming destinies.
When you preach the gospel, you are
doing yourself a favour!
A potential criminal who embraces Jesus
is one less menace you will have to
contend with in our society
The gospel cannot be preached by
angels, it was not given to them
In Acts 10, the angel appeared to
Cornelius and told him to send for
Peter so that Peter can preach the
good news to him!
It is our duty to preach the gospel
We cannot dodge it
If we intend to transform this world
the gospel is the only way
It is true that organized religion has
its issues but when you encounter
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
through the Holy Spirit, the transformation
is undeniable
Please preach the gospel
It remains the power of God unto salvation