I met with a friend recently during one of my missionary trips, He was a bosom friend whom I have known for over thirty years We spent our teenage years together in the boarding school and shared many unique experiences in life. While we were in school, he was a very brilliant mind, He studied sciences and excelled in that endeavor He was eventually admitted to study Agricultural Science at LAUTECH. I had no idea how he became a member of a cult I didn’t even think he had it in him or that they would accept him for that matter I still wonder what criteria the cult people use to screen their members. This young man was handsome, but he was not rich, He was not wicked or ill-tempered, He was reasonable and a bit local (he grew up in Sokoto and Ogbomosho) Anyway, I still didn’t see how any cult could want him or what they might think he had to offer. While we were in secondary school, we were all a bit naughty, but we didn’t do anything out of the norm for teenagers, We never committed anything one could outrightly call a crime Yes, we raided the lockers of wicked seniors (never juniors) in the hostel When we got lucky and we found some money in those lockers, we would share it and laugh when the senior or seniors started crying If you have ever been to some boarding schools, you will know that some seniors deserve to drown in their own tears for many of their heartless conducts.

We took it upon ourselves to mete out justice on such, but never physically Maybe once or twice, he went with some other boys to sleep with prostitutes at a nearby brothel He never went to parties I did. I snuck out of the hostel several times to attend night parties organized by tertiary institution students close to our school He loved his beauty sleep too much to take such risks, I had to dig out all the “terrible things we all did and those that I know he did personally between 1995 and 1998” when we were together as teenagers In my opinion, he was not half as bad I know many guys who are very terrible, I know people who were into armed robbery in our secondary school days, I know some who were highway robbers, I know some who were serial rapists, I also know some who are born-again, Christians who never made a wrong turn in life, I know some who would say the only wrong thing they did while in their youth was lying or getting into a fight or stealing some meat from the pot or some of their parents’ money, My point is, in my classification of this guy and how I know him, I don’t really think he was evil I still don’t see any evil in him. The girls he asked out, dated him joyfully and willingly He respected them and treated them right, He never had a sexual relationship with them, but they exchanged letters and went out on dates several times.

The ladies, to date, are still in contact with him, even though they are married and have become parents, How could a good guy like this end up in a cult? Anyway, he joined a cult and got rusticated out of LAUTECH He said there were nine of them, and they participated in an open renunciation His father tried to get him back into LAUTECH so that he could graduate, but he was advised to take his son to another school if he did not want rival cultists to kill him The man then took his son to another school, When he got to this new school, he joined a Christian fellowship and graduated with good grade. He moved to Abuja and got a job, He got married to the love of his life Then, he lost the job and had to move back to the location where I met with him. He searched for a job and couldn’t get any So he began to ride a motorcycle for a living, He would use his motorcycle to pick up passengers from one location to another in exchange for some money, This was how he was when I met him Of course, many people had already told him he was suffering because of his past deeds, Prophets and pastors told him it was God who was afflicting him for the blood on his hands, Family members turned their backs on him because he had misused his youth and put the family name through the mud. It is very easy to judge him, It is also easy for him to accept the role of the black sheep they had carved for him and wallow in the pain of it.

However, I know for a fact that he has allowed the past to tabernacle over his future, His current situation has nothing to do with his antics as an undergraduate he is suffering from a “close-minded” virus that renders the greatness in all men ineffective, it is a loop of excuses, regret, failed promises, disfavor, the inability to rebrand, truly repent, and change one’s way. I have seen many ladies suffering from it, too. This obsession with God, judgment, and a supernatural verdict that befalls the simple.

A young lady was on the call with me, complaining about her abusive husband and all the evil the husband has done to her She said she was sure that if she did not leave him, she was surely going to die very soon, She showed me pictures and videos of all the ungodly things this man has done to her, Then she said, “I do not want to leave him because divorce is a sin, and I don’t want God to turn his back on me.” Before I married this man, I lived a very colorful life to the point where I even believed God would never give me a husband in my life, When God eventually gave me a husband, I realized I must make it work, otherwise I may never get another chance, This is why I have been holding on to this marriage, and I am ready to go to the grave for it, just so I can make heaven I told her she was going to die for nothing. There was no promise of heaven or eternal life in the covenant of marriage, There is a promise of love, a good life, faithfulness, and joy, which can be nurtured and kept by the couple or broken by the couple.

Eternal life was attached to believing in Jesus and nothing else, good behavior or bad behavior is no determinant of eternal life.. I saw a three-legged lion once It was said that a trap had caught it on one leg, and in order to survive, it chewed off its own leg so that it would be free of the trap That lion is wiser than many of us who find ourselves in a trap, either marital or in life generally, We give up and die in the trap rather than fight for the chance to make something of our lives. I know really bad people who turned their lives around for the better. The blood of Abel was crying, and yet Cain built a city, Jacob stole Esau’s blessings and yet Esau built Edom. The men of renown who conquered the world from Pharaoh to Nebuchadnezzar, Zenacherib, Darius, Cyrus, Xerxes, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, The Vikings, The Berbars, Bill Clinton, Obama, Donald Trump, Queen Elizabeth, Athaliah, Jezebel, Ahab, Esther, IBB, Buhari, Obasanjo, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and millions of others that have ridden the bull of life and earned their flags as great matadors are not saints.

Evil people thrive and prosper in this world, and that is a fact! The Spiritual men like Apostles Paul, Peter, John, Philip, Francis of Assisi, Kenneth Hagin, Catherine Khulman, Benny Hinn, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, Pasto Adeboye, Bishop Oyedepo, and many more who have ridden the waves of life into glory as saints are also dominating this world. Saints thrive and prosper in this world Innovators like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and so on, who are riding the whales full of money in the ocean of life, are also dominating the world. The Moneybags are thriving and prospering in this world, Nobody is being punished for the bad things they did in this world through poverty.

If you are poor, you have chosen to be. Poverty has always been a choice, If you are poor and you choose to turn your life around, there is a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it. My friend only seemed to be aware of the wrong way when we had a proper discussion as brothers He said, “I know how to turn things around, but I have promised myself I would never go in such a direction again in my life.” I commended him for having that kind of mindset and conviction I, however, told him that there is another way to turn one’s life around that does not involve anything ungodly or shady.

I shared with him the ways of Jesus and the Spirit of God, Believing without any doubt that your sins have been forgiven forever and ever, believing that Jesus suffered on the cross and paid the full price for all your misdeeds so that you no longer have to pay for any sin forever and ever. Accepting Jesus Christ as the Lord and Master of your life Becoming filled with the Holy Spirit with a determination to learn the new life in Christ through him, Praying in the Holy Spirit and growing rapidly in the reality of this new life. Following the paths of light, the Holy Spirit will show you what is unique to you. This gives you a new personal, a confident and inspired mind that opens doors unto you (guaranteed) You know things, and you are prompted to study things that are relevant to your lifting.

You start a business or get a new job, You begin to succeed excellently Within two years, your life will be turned around If you keep it up and don’t slack off like many usually do once they see a turnaround in their lives, You will be a flowing river in five years. My friend was shocked He said, “Do you know all the things I have tried? How can it be that simple?” I said, “Many are the paths that lead to destruction, but there is only one path that leads to eternal bliss. That way is Jesus!” “For thou shalt show me the path of life, in thy presence, there is fullness of joy and at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore”

PS: It was the same path that I was shown by the Holy Spirit in 2017 Like my friend, I was languishing in poverty, and I had a mindset that I was reaping the fruits of all the bad decisions I made and the bad actions I took when I was a teenager, I made quite a mess of my life as a young man I focused on the wrong things and took a lot of wrong turns, The weight of repercussions was heavy, and there seemed to be no way around it. A bad reputation scares away potential helpers Most of those who should and could help kept me at an arm’s length. All I had was God, and I did serve him, hoping one day I would be let out of the prison of penance I had built for myself.

Until one morning, the Holy Spirit showed me the path of life September 17, 2017! He said all my sufferings and labours were not from above, I had been punishing myself for no reason while claiming it was God who was punishing me for my wrong deeds He said, “If you follow me, if you follow my instructions and refuse to slack off, If you will give me half of the dedication you gave to serving guilt and self-inflicted pain. I will give you nations, Those who will come to serve me through you, Those who will come to drink of the river I have given to you”. I obeyed without looking back I have offered the waters from the fountain of life to millions since then I have not slacked for a minute, and I have seen the great rewards that come with it. It is this same river that flows out of our bellies that I have offered my friend, He is drinking, and It is only a matter of time before he becomes a mighty ocean.”

-GSW-