Tainted legacy?

I was caught up in the terrible traffic
of January 1st, 2021 on the Lagos-
Ibadan Expressway
One of my brothers, who had to turn
back the previous night at around 10 pm
had told me the traffic was a mess and
not worth waddling into
I told myself the traffic would be done
by the time we were through with the
watch night service
I was in Lagos while my wife and
children were somewhere in Ogun State
I was determined to spend the day
with them
I left Surulere at about 1:30 and got
into the traffic at 2 AM
The traffic was worse than was
reported
At about 3:30 AM, i found myself
sleeping behind the steering
I was still at Opic
I decided to park by the roadside and
sleep
There was no point endangering my
life and that of other road users
by sleeping while driving
I parked, left the engine running,
adjusted the AC for maximum
comfort and relaxed my chair
I called my wife and children on a
video call to keep them abreast of
developments and pray with them
I slept off instantly
When I woke up, the time was 8:30
The road was still totally blocked
I realized i needed to get a room
and sleep
The car also needed to be refueled
and given some respite
I drove into Isheri Estate
I tried locating a hotel
I couldn’t find any
I bought fuel and drove back to
the expressway
There was a road by the right
leading into a petrol station where
one could navigate to turn back
to Lagos
I took that lane and was lucky enough
to be able to turn back
I drove straight to a hotel and booked
a room
I called my wife again to keep her
updated
She promised to monitor traffic for
me and to please inform me the moment
the traffic had cleared off
(She was monitoring traffic radio
and giditraffic on Twitter)
I slept off as soon as I landed on the
bed after a shower
When i woke up the second time
it was 2:00 pm
i ordered lunch and heard a name
in my spirit
It was the name of an old friend
I knew it was the Holy Spirit
I picked my phone and called her
She picked and said she was very
happy to see me
She asked me how i was
i told her about the traffic and that
I was staying at a hotel to while away
time
When i told her the location of the
Hotel, she laughed
She said she was with a friend and
the friend’s house was about
500 meters from the hotel where I
was lodged
She asked if my wife was with me
I said no
She said she will like to see me but
since my wife was not with me she
didn’t think she should come anywhere
close to the hotel
I told her I was going to buy some
snacks for the children at an eatery
She said she will meet me there
We met
She sat down and within a minute
she was in tears
What is the problem? I asked
She said did i read anything recently
about Ravi Zacharias?
She sent me a link
I opened it and read it
I was equally devastated
She started to talk about what we
had both read about the “sexual                                                                                                                        misconduct”
She was heavily disappointed that
such a man of God could have such
an alleged character flaw
I didn’t say a word
She spoke on and on and on about
all the allegations and how RZIM had
to conduct an independent investigation
and own up to all the “alleged”
attrocities of Ravi Zacharias
I listened patiently as she ranted on about                                                                                                                the world not being a forgiving place
Then she said “I understand why Clinton
was forgiven for being like that.
Clinton had likability
(Eran ife, that was what she called it
in Yourba)
Clinton was everybody’s darling and could
practically get away with anything but
Ravi’s legacy has been tainted by all
this.”
I disagreed with her immediately
I know no man after the flesh
I had never met Ravi Zacharias in my
life but his impact in my Christian reality
was huge
I listened to many hours of his
teachings and read most of his books
I see the impact he had in the world
and I know the wonders of the gospel
that was at work in his life
I know Ravi Zacharias by the spirit
and therefore I cannot reconcile the
“tainted” legacy claim
What I had learned from him cannot
be unlearnt
The virtues his walk with God deposited
in my life cannot be corrupted
He might be a man to some people
To me, he is a man of God
I know the difference
She didn’t
She was appalled that I didn’t see Ravi
in the light the “revelations” now painted
him
She said I shouldn’t state my claim in
public because it will be like invalidating
the pain of those who claimed Ravi
Zacharias did some bad things to them
I laughed
Then she said “But why him? There are
seven billion people in the world
Why would anyone claim you did
something to them?
I reminded her of Archbishop Benson
Idahosa and the neked lady that hid
in his wardrobe in a hotel room just
to set him up
If the archbishop was not anointed,
that scandal would have been the end
of his career as a man of God
As young as I am, I have found myself
navigating and surviving schemes that
I would rather not validate here
One thing I know for certain, I command
some strange understandings in the
spirit that will guarantee a long season
of madness for anyone who tries to
do rubbish with me or my legacy!
I am not holding a water pistol
If you will come for me, be ready to
plunge several generations into the
same pit that Dathan, Korah and Abiram
found themselves in
I know the key that opens the earth
although i would rather not use it
At that she looked at me and said
“Your christianity would do that
rather than endure a tainted legacy?”
Are you for real?
Would it not be wise to turn the
other cheek and let God judge?
I said no
If Peter judged Ananias and Sapphira
for lying to the Holy Spirit, I do not
see why the scheme of any man
should rubbish the work of the Holy
Spirit in my life while I turn the other
cheek
The life I now live is not my own
For me to live is Christ
If Moses struck the rock twice
and was judged, anyone who tries
to strike me must buy a coffin
I do not joke around!
I had always had some reservations
about Ravi Zacharias ministry
It was cerebral and impactful
He did apologetics in such a manner
that has never been seen before since
the days of C. S. Lewis but he limited
the Holy Spirit in my opinion
Perhaps because of his conservative
background
The speaking in tongues, word of
knowledge, gifts of the spirit reality was
downplayed by his ministry
There is a downside to being led by
the mind, you will stumble
Kenneth Hagin couldn’t in a million
years be caught in scandals of the
flesh
He could be ridiculed by the world
for the strange things that we saw
happening in his meetings but not
for chasing skirt
Why?
He lived his life by the spirit and in
the spirit
When our flesh is weak, the spirit
bears us up
If you are in ministry and you belittle
the place of the Holy Spirit in any way
you will be of men most miserable
If you are in ministry and you believe
the lie that speaking in tongues and
the manifestation of the supernatural
power of the Holy Spirit is religious
extremism, I am sorry for you.
If you are a believer and your relationship
with the Holy Spirit is limited to
sharing or reciting the “Grace”
You will find yourself doing many things
that you will be made to regret by this
wicked world
Ravi Zacharias shared a testimony of
how he was healed of severe back
pain in one of his teachings through
the word of knowledge that was relayed
to him by a friend
It changed his perspective on divine
healing forever because he experienced
something that defied all the cerebral
assumptions and conclusions
He said from the day he got healed,
he no longer could argue against
divine healing
I listened to that teaching and asked
myself why that didn’t prompt him
to delve more into the supernatural?
In my experience, i know
that the more we delve into the
supernatural, the more our weaknesses
lose their hold on us but the more
we dwell on the cerebral, the more
we will find ourselves yielding to
the flesh until we come to see our
weaknesses as thorns in our flesh
and start making excuses for them
The Holy Spirit does not only keep
you from falling, he will also present
you as faultless before the presence
of God’s glory with exceeding joy!
When I was done, the lady asked
me how I came to know the Holy
Spirit that way
For her, especially under the
circumstances of our meeting some
years ago, the Holy Spirit was
something christians talk about
He was more like a glorified conscience
She didn’t know Him the way I do
She didn’t know Him the way He
desires every believer to know Him
but she was quite religious and yes,
i got to know her when i was quite
religious too
I told her to give her hands across
the table and held her hands
I prayed with her, that she will come
to know the Holy Spirit in such a manner
and dimension that will consume her
wholly
She said Amen at first, but as i began
to pray in the spirit, she kept quiet
When I was done praying, she was in
tears and had began to whisper His
words
I drew her to her feet and walked her
to her car
She got behind the wheels and began
to pray
The time was 5:45pm
I waited a while, hoping she would
recover and drive off
When i realised she wasn’t even
opening her eyes and seemed to be
lost in the spirit, I walked to my car
and drove off
The expressway was clear and I
got home by 6:20pm
I didn’t hear from her until 9pm
She was still crying and praying
She said “Gbenga, this is so sweet”
I was also praying at that moment
so we prayed together over the
phone for some time
She had been born again since 2004
and was attending a pentecostal
church
She was also praying in tongues in
her own way but she had not
experienced the Holy Spirit in that
dimension before
It was the first time the Pneuma
Himself was praying through her
Apostle Paul described the Holy
Spirit as the treasure in us
You must seek him with all your
heart
When you do this, you will find him
You will come to know him beyond
the senses and filter reality through
Him at all times until he becomes
your life!

PS: I shared a story when recently
and quoted one of the wise sayings
of Ravi Zacharias
Some jobless fellow came into my
DM and told me I should know the
truth about the man before I quote
him
I was like, did I force you to read
my post?
I am as entitled to my opinion as
you are to yours
Ravi Zacharias is a blessing to me
I am sorry that he is not a blessing
to some people but just as his
“goodness” does not invalidate his
“alleged crimes” in the opinion of
the world, so does his “alleged
crimes” cannot invalidate the
blessing he was to me and many
others
David was still a man of God in
God’s eyes and so will Ravi
Zacharias remain a man of God
to me.
Thank you

GSW’s notes: You need the Holy
Spirit
Sometimes you are tempted and
you think surely I have gone too
far and He will just show up at
that moment
I was mentoring a young man once
who went to Abuja for a ministration
When he finished his ministration, he
got bored in his hotel room and
decided to call some old friends
whom he served with when he was
doing his NYSC in Abuja
One of them, a lady picked his call
and went to his hotel room to visit
room
One thing led to another
They put the yam in the mortar
and it was time for the pestle to
pound it
The pestle refused to stand up
He said the lady tried everything to
get the pestle up to no avail
After two hours, she dressed up
and left
She wrote a long post on facebook
about it
She called him a paper stallion but
she didn’t mention his name
He read it and was devastated
His reputation was in tatters (In his
opinion)
He got back to Lagos and told me
what happened
I just laughed
He sulked and threw himself into
fasting and prayer
His confidence was shaken to the
core
Two years later, he met his wife
They picked a wedding date
Two days to the wedding, he came
to me and said “What if it happens
again?”
I laughed
I told him he would pound the yam
so well, his wife would testify to
his poundability
He said AMEN
He got married and went off to Ghana
with his wife for the honeymoon
He said it was as if the Holy Spirit was
waiting for the right time for the
pounding machine to come alive
He is happily married now with two
sons
I wrote a story titled “Man of God”
(Story is on gbengawemimo.com)
in which an angel appeared to a
lady and told her to keep off a
minister of the gospel who was
waiting for her so that they could
go off and do questionable things
together
I have seen a lady’s period coming
at the oddest time just because
the Holy Spirit was protecting her
target (Read The Protege on
gbengawemimo.com)
The Holy Spirit watches your back
and orders your feet
Don’t live your life through the senses
You were redeemed for more
You were redeemed to reign in life
(Romans 5, Revelations 5)
You can only reign through the Holy
Spirit
This is the reality of the Christkind!