By a dream which Joan Isoke had recently, the Lord commanded every one of us to review our history, for therein are lessons which will enable us to stay long in our Promised Land. Based on that command, we have also taken time to review our church history. Our history as Last Adam Tabernacle has majorly been one of obedience to Him to whom we belong – Jesus our Lord. This has saved us a lot of trouble, including being swayed from the Lord by the seductions of Satan, as has happened to many Pentecostal preachers.
After the service on Sunday, one of us asked me why we do not hear of the occult practices (Satanic worship) in the Church of Uganda (COU) denomination unlike among us the Pentecostals. My first answer was that there is little reason for Satan to attack many of the COU churches. My second answer is the subject of this article, and it will greatly help us as a church to stay on the path of life.
The main reason why some Pentecostal preachers opt for the way of Satan is pressure; pressure to: 1) get many people into their churches, and 2) become financially prosperous. Pentecostal preachers’ spiritual greatness and ability to solve people’s problems is generally judged (unbiblically) by how many followers they have, and how financially prosperous they appear. However, and fortunately for them, COU ministers are not judged that way, and are therefore not under pressure to either get people into their churches, or to look financially prosperous. When COU ministers are posted to a given church, they find the people already there in the church. And, because these ministers have an official inexpensive dress code which they adhere to daily, they do not have to dress so as appear financially well off. Coupled with that, their monthly remunerations, and other necessities like housing are all assured. In the event that they are dissatisfied, the accountability systems of the institution that COU is does not give them room to be ‘shady’ (including opting for devil worship), without being quickly discovered and penalized by excommunication.
The lesson we learn as a church from all this is that we should never put upon ourselves the pressure of either making the numbers so as to look great and spiritually powerful, or raising money so as to look prosperous. Numbers should never be our goal, but rather simply obeying what our Master Jesus commands us. Of course very soon we shall grow numerically big, but even when that happens, Satan will still whisper saying, “I can make you bigger if you bow down and worship.” Making money off the congregation so as to prosper should never be an option for us. Even when personal and/or family needs for money mount upon us, we should never turn the ministry of Jesus Christ into a business. If it means losing dear relationships or suffering disgrace because of meager financial resources, let it be, but let money never take us away from the pure devotion to Jesus. More so, we should never fall for the lie that our worth is a function of how many people we minister to, and how deep our pockets are. Our worth is primarily because we are children of God, bought with the precious blood of Jesus, and we please Him in everything we do. If we do these things, Satan will not get us. We shall live long in our Promised Land because we shall have done ministry in the right way.
God bless you.