This is a follow up article on my recent submission on the gospel of prosperity.

Yes! I have seen it all. Talk of passionate praise and worship teams, tearful prayers and the intense hunger for the word of God. The unsuspecting brethren are blinkered by the false hope preached by today's preachers, evangelists, pastors and prophets. Yes! Christian faith is at the mercy of a formidable force, its not persecution of Christians by infiltration by dangerous money spinning business opportunists who masquerades as prophets. Honestly the integrity of the christian faith is at stake. It's unfortunate that the truth is not what the people want to hear, they want to be fed with lies and candy doctrines. God forbid! I would like to submit that the gospel of financial prosperity and material possessions is a horrible distortion from the gospel of salvation which our divine savior Jesus Christ crafted. Prosperity teachings are just some new age philosophies with a few scriptures thrown thrown in to Christianize them. I would like to make it clear here now that the prosperity gospel is fake. If it was true then there would be no poor Christians today. The prophets are possessed by three big demons, Pride, List and Greed. They are the devil incarnate. Biblical prosperity is not material and financial possessions but having your needs met. Let me substantiate my submission with scriptural evidence;
①Matthew 6:19-21 "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal".
② Luke 12:15 "And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth."
③ "Matthew 16:26 "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
④1 Timothy 6:10 "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
⑤1 Timothy 6:9 "But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and [into] many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition."
⑥Matthew 6:24 "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."
⑦1 John 3:17 "But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels [of compassion] from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?"
⑧Matthew 6:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."
⑨Acts 4:32-35 "And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any [of them] that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common."
⑩1 John 2:16 "For all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."
Psalms 37:7-9 "Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass."
2 Corinthians 9:7 "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, [so let him give]; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver."

ICC vs Omar al Bashir Case

South Africa made a reasonable decision by allowing Omar al Bashir to leave the country in contradiction with the ICC's order to have him arrested. Perhaps the South African government could not brush off the possibility of a diplomatic dilemma with other African countries. They couldn't subject themselves to the wrath of heads of African nations and risk being labelled a puppet of the west and ICC. My understanding is that Omar al Bashir committed his crimes in Sudan rendering it impractical for him to be arrested in South Africa. Besides the arrest was going to jeopardize the peace keeping activities in Sudan where South Africa is playing a key role. I would like to submit that the ICC's justice system is selective. There are so many African leaders who have committed crimes against humanity but they were not brought to book. 20 000+ people were massacred in Matabeleland and Midlands in Zimbabwe but nothing was done, Idi Amin never paid for his crimes, the list is endless. The truth is that the ICC has lost its relevance and has in some way become a western tool to fix hostile regimes whilst on the other hand the same court can not arrest them.

MARRIAGE?

I was delivering a lecture on marriage and family to one of my sociology classes this afternoon when a beautiful, sophisticated but scornful lady at the back of the room challenged me.She argued that my opinion that marriage was the greatest career for a woman was wrong. She further argued that marriage is almost finished and that it was not desirable or even necessary for one to link themselves with one person and limit themselves to that person for the rest of their life. Her words are still vivid in my mind."Sir, I'm sleeping with a fellow that i like, i don't want to marry him and i don't think he intends to marry me. This is not my first love affair and probably won't be my last. i cant see anything wrong with this. Someday when and if i choose to have a child i may be forced by the society to marry, but until that time i shall not be part of it. if i ever do choose to and the relationship goes bad i shall not be trapped in it." she even substantiated her assertion with a question,"why cant a man-woman relationship be just as meaningful outside of marriage as it is in it?" I paused for a moment before responding. In my submission i clearly highlighted that if it doesn't have the commitment then it surely doesn't have the permanence. i further argued that, it takes brains and determination, time and effort to make marriage good and the rewards are just enormous. I then defined marriage as the total commitment of the total person for a total way of life, a relation between a man and a woman in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal. Yes! I have to admit that the discussion was a thriller and i really enjoyed.

CRY BELOVED ZIMBABWE

I'm only another young man from a country where there is no room for dissent, opposition and freedom of expression. A county where the gap between the rich and the poor is wide as the rift valley. A country where no politician is correct in all they say and affirm politically. A society afraid of its own shadow. A country where violence and impunity have become normalized and and an important part of the leaders DNAs as a result of cynicism. A county where the "accept and move on" mantra has become the rallying cry of political leaders. A country where no politician is truthful and correct in all they affirm politically.

PRAYER TO MY DIVINE SAVIOUR

Dear God

Jehovah El-Shaddai, Almighty God [Genesis 17:1, Psalms 91:1]. As a truly obedient son i resign myself to your holy will.

You sent your son Jesus Christ who loved me to such a degree as to suffer and die for my salvation. It was for my salvation that He willed to be born in a stable, endured poverty, suffering and sorrow throughout his life and finally experienced the bitter death of the cross.

God, i believe that nothing great is done without suffering, without humiliation and that all things are possible by means of it. My Lord, i also understand that poverty is better than riches, pain better than pleasure, obscurity and contempt than name and ignominy and reproach than honour.

Lord, i beseech you for strength and wisdom in this life full of failure, prejudice, contradictions, coldness and imapatience, contempt, mental darkness, the silence and dryness of hearts.

Oh God, you know the emptiness of my heart. When loneliness looms around me, when my questions are unanswered, when no one seems to care, when i fall deeper into despair, I pray that you let your peace fall upon me, remind me of your unconditional and eternal love for me and assure me of your presece.

Thank you for the great encouragement, comfort and consolation that comes from your Holy Book. You shall always be my "refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble". I understand that finite strength is independable and expendable but your finite power is sufficient for my every need.

My God, help me to understand myself and help others to understand me. Im my agony of fear or anger, sadness or loss of self esteem may i find grace to trust you.

Gracious God, i ask for your blessings on my friends who have given their own hearts and souls to deepen and strengthen my own. I pray for those who have walked alongside me when i have not been a faithful friend. When i feel alone, Oh Lord, remind me that my friends are one of your greatest gifts of grace to me.

I submit all my concerns to you, completely trusting in your abundant generosity.

In Jesus Christ's name I pray. Amen.

PRAYER FOR MY DAUGHTER

As i write this prayer i am reminded of the awesome honour of being a father. God granted me the previlege of raising Zinzile Nicole Mpofu, i understand that with the previlege comes great responsibility and hardwork.

Dear God

God i present my darling girl before your throne. Heart still so pure. Lord keep her innocence firmly intact.

Lord the world is a dangerous place in so many ways, I pray for physical, mental and spriritual protection.

Protect her from others and wrong choices and call her to higher standards.

I ask for wisdom and discernment in teaching and preparing her for a life of purity and modesty.

I surrender my desire to control her, I surrender my desire to manipulate her future, I am totally open, dependent and desperate for you to be in control as i let go.

* Let her learn early in life that to obey you, God, is the best way to the life her heart truly desires. [1 Samuel 15:22]

* May she find comfort in your ability, God, to reach her, hold her and rescue her. [2 Samuel 22:17-18]

* Let her find confidence in you, God, even when hard times come and she doesnt know what to do, by keeping her eyes faced on you. [2 Chronicles 20:12]

* May she keep herself under control and not give full vent to people and situations that anger her. [Proverbs 29:11]

* Let her walk in the security of your assigned worth to her. Give her a strong work ethic and health to accomplish all tasks. Give her a heart that desires to extend her hand to those in need. Protect her for the right husband, a man of respect and Godly, honouring. Let her be a woman of joy and laughter, whose Christ centered character is what makes her most beautiful.

I pray that she may rise up over all pressures of life, walk in your unique calling to make history and challenge convention and expectation.

I also pray that she knows the fullness of your grace and the freedom of your forgiveness and that your mercies are new every morning.

I wait in expectation for your providence.

In Jesus Christ's name i pray. Amen.

WHY THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL?

I have learnt that pastors/prophets of today especially those who lead pentecostal churches are more concerned about the prosperity gospel. Not much is said about salvation as their gospel emphasize on acquisition of material possessions, in essence they preach destruction right from the pulpit of salvation, and they have developed into swindlers without remorse. Surely the integrity of the Christian faith is under siege.

It is a sad reality that this deadly spiritual virus is spreading throughout Africa as these preachers prey on a poverty audience who are eager to pull themselves out of their quagmire of economic comatose. It is of paramount importance to note that some evangelists, pastors and prophets now use the church as a money spinning business venture, a rare opportunity to bequeath wealth even for their unborn children. Some even go to the extent of pouring libations on the ground as a way of enhancing church growth. In some churches so called "anointing oil", sand, water other such substances are given to believers as tools for bringing the much sought after financial or material possessions. It is on record that some of this oil is being sold as church merchandise, alongside hand bangles, handkerchiefs, T-shirt and sweaters.

The preachers emphasizes on the need to continue giving in order to get the promised windfall. Some of the occult practices include indecent conduct with female followers, including hand penetration into private parts, fondling of breasts, or any such indecent behaviour.
ala considerable number of pastors are languishing in prison for cases ranging from rape to sexual harassment et al. A classic example of such is Pastor Gumbura of the End Time Message Church who was convicted of raping several women in his church.
Today’s prosperity gospel fuels greed, and it focuses on getting as opposed to giving. It is a selfish materialistic faith with a thin veneer of Christianity. The central theme of prosperity gospel is to continually urge members to sow financial seeds so they can reap ernomous rewards.

Entire conferences are sometimes dedicated to nothing else but collecting offerings, and believers are almost instructed that this is God’s way towards achieving wealth. This is often punctuated by impressive testimonies from selected or volunteering church members, almost always bragging about how much they paid for their suits, shoes, jewelry, or how they travelled first class because of “God’s blessing.” It is an elaborate scam meant to railroad unsuspecting followers into parting with the little hard-earned cash at their disposal.

Some of the young so-called prophets of today are pathetically proud, and they have the temerity to defend the disgrace of pride by misquoting the Bible. We have a warped church leadership today, thanks to the scandalous commercialization of the Christian faith. We now have pastors who plant churches not because they have a burden to achieve or realize the salvation of souls, but because they see dollar signs in any auditorium full of people.

Brethren, this is a deadly and Satan induced cancer which is slowly but surely eroding the Christian faith. I have questions for such evangelists, pastors and prophets; where in the bible is it written that His wants us to be rich and to have excess in our lives and that one's physical possessions indicate one's spiritual worth? Honestly do we need the gospel of prosperity in the last days? My final submission is that all we need is a life giving message of salvation and repentance from sin.
#God forbid!