I was already saved by then, and was right in the middle of my preaching ministry. As far as I was concerned, that church was a false church, led by a false prophet. What then was I doing in that place is a long story for another day. The point is that what I saw that day wasn’t anything new. I had seen something similar on TV, from what was called “God-channels” those days. However, being there, I got the privilege or I should say the horror of firsthand experience. My initial thought was that perhaps all the bad suspicions I had about that pastor were going to be proven wrong when I was there to attend in person. Unfortunately, there are a lot of things I observed in that service that raised my eyebrows – big time. Here we go…
1.) The congregation. That is, as they were all falling under that “power”, somehow it’s like they couldn’t control it. It was like something immediately “possessed” them and overpowered their will such that even if they wanted it to stop they just couldn’t. One young lady found herself on the ground, wiggling and screaming as if something was tormenting her. What manner of a thing is this? I asked myself.
2.) The second thing of note was that the prophet/pastor himself seemed to enjoy it. Somehow, he derived some deep sense of pleasure when people were screaming and falling over each other, all because of his “anointed hands.” A few bodies who were already down and out, the ushers were asked to pick them up so the “man of God” could touch them again, and down they went again while he, himself beamed with more delight. I wondered why.
3.) I perceived women were the ones that seemed to be most affected. Sure, there were a few men on the pile, but mostly it was the feminine gender that the “power” seemed to have more effect on. That was also a reason for my astonishment. I mean, why was the “power of God” so selective? Why is it that everyone around me was lying flat on the ground while I was left standing, along with a few masculine bodies of course?
4.) What left me wondering even more was the church service itself; the main message that came from the place was nothing about salvation, repentance, heaven; those kind of things that we had known church to be about. Rather, it was more about your problem. If you had some marriage, financial or just things not going according to plan in your life, this was the place for you. That got me thinking: if God, the Holy One of Israel is truly in this place why can’t these leaders prioritize the eternal state of these citizens? Why are these people so hungry to hear about cars, jobs and every worldly gadget, to the neglect of the main reason for church and the Bible – the salvation of their souls?
5.) My observation continued after the service. That is, after all the drama was over, everyone went back to the way they were. Some individuals I had known their whole lives as unbelievers who openly lived in sin, still continued on with their lives even after falling under the pastor’s spell as if nothing had happened. That was a huge point of concern because as far as I knew, if anyone truly encounters the power of God – Saul of Tarsus for example – they cannot remain the same. Something quite didn’t make sense…
6.) Throughout that day, there was still a big question that kept bothering my soul: did we see that in the Bible? I mean, we have Scripture right in front of us; detailing the lives and ministries of the most anointed Apostles, even the Anointed One Himself, never, I mean never did we see Him touching people so they could fall over, and scream all over the place.
After having observed all these factors, and pondered on them the whole day, I came to a final conclusion: that was not a church; in fact, it was worse than I had thought. That “prophet” was indeed the true definition of a deceiver, who got his sense of purpose from hypnotizing gullible souls under the guise of the “it’s the power of God”. Actually, I do not believe that man was saved at all. He seemed to be as far from the Gospel as Cape is from Cairo. That supposed power that he used to slay his people, I concluded, was not the Holy Spirit at all. If anything that was pure demonic witchcraft at its best. And those poor souls, crowding that place, being given false promises of getting rich quickly while being blinded from who really God is and what He requires from mankind. They were brainwashed into thinking that true spirituality was when they were rolling and vomiting on the ground under the spell of their leader.
Brothers, there is a purpose to this whole story of mine. That is, I want us to think, to think about the realities of the Church of Africa, where the prophetic mafia has taken over the Church and is burning every dignity out of Christ’s Name. I challenge you; do your visit to those types of churches one of these days and you will see for yourself the sobering realities. Hopefully, it will stir enough anger and compassion until you want to do something on your part to salvage the situation. Done.
Sinothi Ncube
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