Nigerian Pastors and their Gross Hypocrisy and Disregard for Rules.

David Oyedepo, Nigerian preacher, Christian author, businessman, architect and the founder and presiding Bishop of the megachurch Faith Tabernacle a.k.a. Winners' Chapel International gave out the hand of his daughter in marriage over the weekend (August 21st and 22nd, 2020).

 

In these pictures, the popular pastor and his wife lead their daughter to the aisle during the wedding ceremony. A wedding day is expected to be a day of joy as two persons come together to become one. But in this case, certain things were seen to be wrong and disappointingly so.
 
The wedding of the Oyedepo's daughter took place in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. And all the COVID-19 protocols were thrown overboard. 

• No masks.
• No social distancing.

This is a gross demonstration of ignorance, stubbornness and nonchalance to public health.
 
And, by the way, it is the usual practice of Oyedepo's church, the Winners' Chapel, to join wedding couples together in a mass ceremony. However, when it came to his daughter's wedding, there were no other wedding couples to share in the limelight. What an hypocrisy!

Religious Posturing.

"Not everyone who says, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father" (Matthew 7:21). 

The Irritating Hypocrisy in the Christendom.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” - Matthew 7:21 (NIV). 

The Ten Commandments Brouhaha in Oklahoma.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of Oklahoma ruled in a 7-2 decision that the Ten Commandments statue on Capitol grounds violated the state’s constitution and therefore, must be removed. Since this ruling, Christians across the United States have been expressing self-righteous disgust, disappointment and anger over the court’s decision. 

As a Christian though, I refuse to be concerned or outraged by the legally-ordered removal of a mere object of decoration when several pressing issues are calling for attention. Isn’t this the United States where popular religions have largely been bastardized and turned into one big joke? This is a country where a guy (well-known in his community as a Muslim cleric) and who, actually was observing the current Islamic fasting season, went on a drive-by shooting of his rivals in the drug-dealing business. This is a nation where the most vocal Christians are the most racist, prejudiced and hateful of people different from their race. And this is God’s own country where a lot of the so-called religious people are closet gays, on-the-down low, pedophiles, sexual perverts and serial hypocrites. They preach one thing in public but practice something else in private.

By the way, George Carlin (American social critic, actor, and author) had the following reaction to the issue: "Here is the real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments in a courthouse: You cannot post 'Thou shalt not steal,' 'Thou shalt not commit adultery,' and 'Thou shalt not lie' in a building full of lawyers, judges, and politicians."

U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah Sr: Physician, Heal Thyself.

According to news reports, Chaka Fattah Jr. the son of U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah Sr. is currently awaiting trial over $200,000 in various spurious bank loans. The Feds are of the view that Chaka Fattah Jr. diverted the loans to live his fun-filled life as a “socialite”. In spite of his being a drop-out, the young man is said to have his residence in a $600,000 Ritz-Carlton condo. He is also reportedly spending lavishly on exotic cars for him and his girlfriend. And lest I forget, the man is alleged to have racked up over $33,000 in casino gambling debts.

The Bible says "Physicians, heal thyself." I have often wondered how some guys can claim to be effective in running the affairs of state, as huge as it is, when they cannot manage their lives or homes. Now, which is a greater responsibility?

The senior Fattah, a U.S. Rep; is supposed to be representing the interest of millions of people at the federal level. Yet, he cannot really be said to have got his life in order. He is twice divorced and on a third wife. And here is just one of his kids that is alleged to be a downward spiral educationally, and yet living large on other people’s money. This is an irritating irony of life that is common among folks who are in the public eyes. It’s worse for political leaders that are entrusted with caring for the lives of those in their political constituents, many of whom are poor.

These public figures are like some pastors whose charity don’t begin at home. They preach about morals, being “born again” and all that. Yet, their kids are the essential anti-thesis to everything they sermonize about on daily basis.

93 Year-old Woman Denied Funeral Because She “Owed” Back Tithes.

In Texas, a 93-year-old woman (Olivia Blair) had been attending a church for about 50 years. She is now dead but her pastor refused to allow her funeral service in the church. Why so? The pastor said the old woman “owed” some back tithes!

According to the church’s pastor, the other “sins” committed by the deceased was that she “...had not paid her dues, and she had not attended the church in recent years.”

But when contacted by KRIV FOX 26, the dead woman’s daughter retorted that “For the last two years, my mother has been in either a nursing home or she’s been in a hospital. And the last few months, she was in a coma!”

Now, what manner of a shameless pastor would ignore a sick, old church member for so long and then turned around to condemn the poor woman for not paying tithes in her period of agony and anguish?

X                                                                                          X                                                                              X

And in a related incident, a pastor (in a different American church) has directed members of his church to stop practicing cremation because according to him, “When Jesus comes back, how do you expect him to be going around searching for the remains of your loved ones that have been cremated and whose ashes have been scattered all over the ocean and some other places?...”

And this guy is supposed to be a "Man of God"?

Al Sharpton: The Gold Fish has no Hiding Place.

When the news broke the other day that one of the highly visible and vocal civil rights activists in the black community, Rev. Al Sharpton owed some money in unpaid taxes, I was not really surprised. Guys like that, in spite of the pious image they portray to the public, usually have some stinking skeletons in their cupboards.

I was however surprised to learn that the amount he owed was in the sum of $4.5 million! According to an investigation conducted by the New York Times, Sharpton “regularly sidestepped” taxes, rent and other bills. His non-profit organization National Action Network alone owes over $1 million in overdue payroll taxes. Now, how could taxes be deducted from the employees of his organization without the same taxes being remitted to the Internal Revenue Service?

For Al Sharpton, it is a double moral tragedy.

In his desire to fight for justice and the civil rights of other people, Al Sharpton does not necessarily have to be a holy angel or a saint. But he is not only a sundry civil rights activist but also someone who strongly lays a claim to religious leadership, a factor on which rests the bulk of his reputation. For this factor therefore, he definitely needs to be morally above board.

And in silly attempt at self-defense, Sharpton appeared on the CNN yesterday saying that the reported $4.5 million was the original figure he was ordered to pay back in 2008, but that he has been making regular payments since then and the amount is now less. Pleaseeeee! Can someone please tell this guy that whether 2008 or 2014, he has no moral right to owe taxes, period!

Sharpton cannot, on the one hand, strive to be seen as a respected “man of God” that is playing “savior” all over the place while, on the other hand, he is grossly shirking in his civic responsibility to pay taxes in his individual capacity and as a business man who owns some for-profit companies such as Raw Talent and Revals Communications.

If a famous, money-making public figure such as Al Sharpton refused to pay taxes why should poor, ordinary folks like me pay?

Things to Do When You've Been Betrayed.

After being betrayed, most of us want two things, usually at the same time. We want to wound the person who hurt us—as deeply and as excruciatingly—as we've been wounded, and we want to rise above the situation and offer that person forgiveness. But neither of these tactics work. Wounding words tend to boomerang and make you feel as terrible as the person you wanted to hurt. Forgiveness, especially if halfhearted, tends to come off as condescension.

There are actions, though, that you can take to can heal yourself. Every hurt has its own story, and so does every healing. But we can say this: You can heal yourself when you've filled the hole left behind by a betrayal, and you can heal the other person when you sincerely drop the need for revenge.

Remember, the only betrayals that inflict damage are the ones where an intimate bond has been torn. Love makes you merge with another person, able to feel their emotions as keenly as you feel your own. If you have experienced such bonding, you know that it is a kind of higher reality—and when that bond is ripped apart, it's as if you've lost half of yourself. So how can you get out of torment and find yourself again?

1. Gain some detachment. Stand back and view yourself as if you were the helper, not the victim.


2.  Don't indulge in emotions you cannot afford. Don't act as if you’re feeling worse than you really are—or better.

3. Make a plan for emotional recovery. Look at where you hurt, feel wounded or see yourself as victimized, then set out to heal these areas. Don't rely simply on letting time do it for you.

4. Feel the hole inside and grieve over it—but promise yourself that you will fill it.

5. Seek a confidant who has survived the same betrayal and has come out on the other side.

6. Work toward a tomorrow that will be better than yesterday. Don't fixate on the past or what might have been.

7. Counter self-pity by being of service to someone else. Counter regret by seeking out activities that build your self-esteem.

Written by Deepak Chopra.

How We Destroy Sacred Institutions in America.

In the global community, we are known as a nation that destroys every sacred institution. Nothing is sacred anymore. Here are samples:

Back in those days, even in the most rotten society, priests are revered and held in very high esteem. But in the United States, it’s no longer the case. A parent that trust his/her child to a priest, and especially, a Catholic priest, is courting trouble for the child.



I remember my growing up days when sports coaches played important roles in the lives of us kids. Apart from parents, we could easily trust our lives to coaches. Now, the “game” has changed. Sports coaches in high schools and colleges, these days, have to be carefully monitored by parents or guardians to ensure that their kids are not sexually abused.

As for marriage, no institution has been so battered, trashed and ridiculed in any part of the world as that of marriage in the United States. Now approaching 60 % divorce rate, the marriage institution in God’s own country can, at best, be described as a farce.



And what about fatherhood and motherhood? Instead of a man and a woman raising children together, we now have over half of the children in the United States out of wedlock. In some neighborhoods across the country, over 7 in 10 children don't have any form of relationships with their fathers. And among the few kids who do know the sowers of the seeds that produced them, all they have are “Disney fathers” who show up once-in-a-while to take them out shopping. And after a couple of hours together, the “fathers” leave, and not to be seen in a long time. It’s only in the United States that a kid grows up and gets to become a celebrity before a man will suddenly show up to admit paternal responsibility for the star.

 

 

 

Your Attitude Goes Before Your Religion.

Some years back, I used to work with a guy who was notorious for his negative attitudes to life. This guy would curse or swear like a rogue sailor over the smallest form of irritation or annoyance. One moment, he was smiling with a colleague and the next moment, he was “stabbing” the same colleague in the back without batting an eyelid.

This guy’s attitude to work was something else. If he was not being lazy, he was complacent. And the worst aspect of it all was that the guy was as prejudiced and racist as a stray, diseased dog was known for being rabid. There was really “nothing good to write home about him”.

Then, something happened one day at work. We were all talking about our weekend, and particularly the past Sunday. It soon came to the turn of this guy. He began by saying “I was in the church…and as a Sunday school teacher…”

“What?...” almost everyone in the office exclaimed and glared at him simultaneously.

“What is what?” the guy, embarrassed, turned around to gape at us.

Suddenly, the entire room was quiet!

I was the first person to speak. “Did you just say…you were a Sunday school teacher?”

It took him a few seconds to answer but he finally did, “Yes…and so?...”

Quietly, everyone began to leave the room, one after the other.

 

When Pastors Get Personal in Their Sermons.

There is a big moral danger in the manners by which some pastors, especially those in "Pentecostal" or new generation churches make it their business to get personal in what they say on the pulpits. These pastors personalized their "interpretations” of the Holy Bible to suit their vain, selfish purposes.                                                                                                                  Their usual excuse is to “blame” it all on “divine inspirations”.  By so doing however, these “men of God” inadvertently leave several doors open for lazy, negative speculations within the ranks and files of their congregants. Among the consequences of these speculations is the avalanche of gossips that sooner or later consume the entire church. The worst aspect of it all is the resort of the same church members to link every subject of sermons to certain individuals and their private affairs.

My Religion is Kindness.

The above words of Dalai Lama are in response to some readers who, at various times and from three different countries, sent me e-mails to ask what my religion was. 

Apparently, they had been trying to link me to a religion for reasons best known to them. But, admittedly, they were completely confused by the way and manner I have been criticizing certain aspects of both the Christian and the Islamic religions.

While I recognize the moral importance of religions, there is too much hypocrisy on the part of many people who parade themselves as pious adherents of the two most popular religions in the world.  

The Price of Truth.

A couple of years ago, I saw a female colleague step out of her car.

But I was not the only guy who did.

All of a sudden, almost everyone in the duty office started to chuckle mischievously.

“She looks like a scarecrow.” one female officer said, shaking her head in disgust.

“Whoever did her hair deserves to be shot!” another one added while the office erupted in laughter.

But as soon as the woman walked into the office, the same colleagues began to pay her all forms of compliments:

“Wow…your hair is cute!”

“Where did you get your hair done…it’s lovely.”

Seeing that I chose that moment to walk toward the kitchen, the woman followed.

“Hey, what is it?” she asked me. “You must be the only one who doesn’t like my hair?”

Smiling, I asked if she wanted to hear the truth and she answered in the affirmative.

“You’re my friend…” she stated coyly. “What’s your opinion.”

“Okay…” I began to say. “Your hairstyle is horrible…too bogus…”

The woman stopped in her tracks as she glared at me for a brief moment.

“You can be very mean!” she snapped, even in subdued anger.

“But I asked if you wanted to hear the truth…” I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

“Fuck the truth!” the woman insisted. “How could you be so mean? I spent a fortune on this hair…and why is it that everyone is impressed except you?”

She was about to walk away in anger when I called her back. I asked if she would be matured in her reaction to what I was about to tell her? After getting her assurance, I told her precisely what the other colleagues had said as she approached the duty office.

“Now tell me…” I continued to say. “Who is mean…me or those mischievous people?”

It took a few seconds for her to digest the information. Afterwards, she shook my hands, thanking me for being so forthright with her.

“Listen,” she began to say. “I saw the style on some women and loved it…that’s why I did it…”

“The problem is with the shape of your head.” I tried to explain. “There is too much space between the forehead and the hairline.”

“Wow!” she nodded with a wry smile. “What the hell are you doing in law enforcement? You should have been a stylist.”

Truth is like a pill that we all rely on to relieve us of both physical and emotional pains. Yet, many of us hate taking it because it’s too pricey and bitter to taste. Most times, people say “truth hurts” and this is why they believe it’s too dicey to tell the truth even when the other party demands for it. But in the long run, truth will always prevail because “no matter how long a lie travels, truth will sooner or later catch up with it.”