The Power of Independence

The power of “independence”.
Dave Chappell did a series of comedy shows,
chartbusters. Some people protested, some
even staged a walkout.
The man had it. His talent was
not dependent on contracts and endorsements.
He came out again and
the people said “You’re not canceled”

Another guy somewhere cracked a joke using
his child as an illustration.
The same set of people heard
that he was chosen to host the
Oscars and they got on his case
until that opportunity was taken away
from him and he had to apologize
several times on live tv for
his comments.

Both of them are comedians.
One was bullied easily because he
had his livelihood in the hand
of others. The others couldn’t be
bullied, he had a track record
of not caving to pressure.
I learned this lesson a long time ago,
that for me to live my life
on my terms. I must owe
no man.

I remember tweeting that Donald Trump would
win America’s election. One day
I saw on Twitter a post
by a Christian brother thanking me
for coming through for him in
a matter. Someone else saw the
same post and then proceeded to
quote my “Trump will win” tweet
as evidence that I am not
a true believer. When I saw
the tweet I laughed and even
retweeted it. Where were you when
I was hawking pepper and sponge
on the streets of Oyo state?

You don’t know what my skin is
made of. I have always extricated
myself from situations that would hem
me in with those who I know
only desire to use me.

Kenneth Hagin said the Holy Spirit
told him three people were coming
to him with deals for his books
and other media-related materials,
Lucrative deals.The Lord said
“If you take the deal they
will be the one to control you!
They will tell you how to dress,
where to go, who to see,
who to associate it and they
will claim it is all in a bid
to protect your brand and image.
You will become their slave.
Sure enough, it happened exactly
as the Lord told him.
The three men came to his office
the next day. He gladly turned down
the deal. His books were still sold
all over the world, he only
had to wait for a few months
and this time he did everything
on his terms.

Any man who will walk with God
must rid himself or herself of
insecurity which can lead to concessions
and agreements with the world
and her values.

Many pastors compromised during the
Covid era because of their livelihood.
They had to say the right thing
as whispered into their ears.
The reason they did this was
that they were not independent of circumstances.
Like Balaam, they had been contracted to use
the gift of
God for the benefit of human ambition.
It took a donkey’s speech for Balaam
to see the error of his ways.

A pastor in Abuja told me
his financier was brought to the
church by a lady in the choir.
The lady in the choir was
the side chick to this rich man.
This man started supporting the pastor
with good money every month
and as a result, the pastor
cannot caution this sister or her
sugar daddy. Before long, other members
began to tow the same line.
Young ladies in the church started
flaunting all sorts of married men
and ungodly lifestyles. His church became
the hub of lascivious folks. He said
he wanted to stop the rot
but he didn’t know how.
He started becoming careful while preaching.
He didn’t want to step
on the toes of men. He didn’t
want to lose his membership and
affluence. It got so bad that
on some Sundays, he would call
ahead to ask if “so and so”
would be coming to church so
that he can tailor his sermon
to stroke the ego of that person.
It became a burden.

He had a crisis of conscience
and he came to me for counsel.
I told him what he had to do,
he had been thinking along
the same line but he was scared
of the consequence. He was scared
of losing everything he was getting
from those lascivious members if they
decided to leave.
The truth has been placed on a scaffold
and deceit has been placed on the throne!
This is the world we live in today.

Refuse to be indebted to anyone,
stand firm in the faith and defend it
Do not live a fake life,
own what you have!
Remember that someone kicked a cat
and is being dragged through all
sorts of punishment for it while
another killed millions of people and
got monuments built for him.
You owe yourself this liberty!