by Obafemi Fawibe

 

Now things have changed, we can talk to God one on one. God is nice and kind now. (Always has been.)

It must have been over a hundred times or after every film show in church. For me, it was at every alter call. I was so scared of hell that I had nightmares.
Those were the days of “thief in the night”, “image of the beast”, “burning hell”. And much later, mount zion released titles like “agbara nla”, “beginning of an end”, “lost forever”.

The movies then were about hell. Fire burning hell. Scary hell. You dare not, not give your life to Christ after such movies. Who born you?

The scheme of the evangelists back then was to instill FEAR of HELL that will drive folks to JESUS.

Every Sunday sermon was more of condemnation. “You will go to hell”, “Hell is Real.” “Jesus is coming soon.”

Perhaps that was why I and a few others like myself thought the world was going to end by year 2000. When the rapture didn’t happen then, I had to “rebase” my thoughts & spirituality.

If He (Jesus) is not here yet, I might as well settle to make the best of this world. Let’s not forget, his mission was to bring Gods kingdom and will to earth as it is done in heaven.

Christian flicks of those periods were HELL scary.

They achieved two main things. 1. Make people conscious of HELL & repent so they could go to heaven. Good Job.

2. They portrayed God as a fearful, wicked God. If he loved us, why did he create hell. Wrong.

God isn’t wicked.

Till date many find it difficult to relate with God as a loving father.

Now things have changed, we can talk to God one on one. God is nice and kind now. (Always has been.)

The God we preach now loves us and wants us to prosper. We can go into ministry with hope of riding jets soon.

Back then you only needed a shirt & a trouser. A big worn out Bible and a bell. Ministry don set. Now our Bibles are Android powered.

What changed between now and then? Did God change? Hell NO!! Our understanding of God changed.

God is and has always been loving. He can be ruthless like a consuming fire. He can also be kind and merciful.

Every church denomination you see today is a reflection of the founder’s  personal journey with God. One man discovered he had a weakness for televisions he stopped watching, it became a doctrine. He later realized he could use the same tool for evangelism, he embraced it.

Another prayed his way through the trials of life by force and fire. To him the kingdom of God (and this earth) suffereth violence and the violent taketh it by force. it became a doctrine.

We are all a summation of our experiences. John, Mathew, Mark and Paul preached the same Jesus. The difference was their experiences. Little wonder someone said ” That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings… If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead., that was brother Paul speaking. He looked at his persecution of Christ and he wanted to make up by his own power.

Another translation says ~
I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death. Phil 3:10

He finally submitted though, for it is by grace we have been saved through faith… Eph 2:8″

Have you ever asked yourself what you’ll pray for when you travel abroad. Surely, you won’t pray for NEPA to bring light in London or America.

You can’t blame the 80’s evangelists. They were scared themselves.

Who is God to you? That is why Christianity is not just a religion, but a personal relationship with God.

To the sick he is the healer. To the poor, he is the provider.

Who is God to you?

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Obafemi Fawibe is a writer and a social media enthusiast. He is the author of “17 Ways to Wow Your Next Employer With Your Social Media Activities.” he blogs at obafemifawibe.com/about.

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.