Chapters 38-41 - Quest for Knowledge, Mindful of the Spiritual

Chapter 39

A God-Sent Driver

  "He drove excellently and safely throughout the period.  Impressed with his overall manner, I asked him about his antecedents and he confirmed that he had just been released from a contract employment with an oil company for which he had worked several years.  I then informed him that if he was willing to accept my offer (which would surely not be as high as his previous earning), I was prepared to employ him permanently."

          During my 400 level at LASU, it became obvious that I had not been kind to my body by the excessive daily driving exercise I undertook and endured.  This soon manifested itself with excruciating pains around my  waist, and a more concentrated pain on the left side of my stomach.  This spread to my spine and it became very unbearable.  I went for various medical check-ups and the area around my spine, waist and my tommy was x-rayed and even scanned.  The first examination of the x-ray revealed that there was a slight bending of my spine, especially on the left side.  I attributed this to my excessive clutching while driving and the fact that the seat of my Datsun car was uncomfortably bevelled and I had tried to correct its positioning a number of times.  I was treated and the pain subsided then.  However, shortly thereafter, the pain resurfaced, usually after some driving.  On the average, I covered approximately 110km every day and 60km every Saturday or Sunday.  The distance might not have been the problem, but the constant traffic gridlock which was stressful to health.

           Finally, I had to engage the services of a professional driver!  My experience with the first driver was however unsettling.  He was uncouth and a victim of his domestic problems, which made him to lose concentration even at top speed!  He finally gave me an unpalatable 'present' one of my birthdays, July 22nd, when he woke me rudely from a tired sleep after the day's work as he battled with the car, zigzaggedly toward the concrete divide at the Anthony Bridge apron along the Gbagada-Oshodi Expressway.  Before I could comprehend fully our dangerous situation, he had lost total control and the car hit the culvert with a crunchy dive, thereby exploding one of the front tyres of my Mercedez Benz 230 car before, mercifully, we came to a jolting halt!  That accident effectively ended my employer-employee contract with the driver.

          Then I reverted to driving myself but soon my backache returned more painfully than before.   Yet I was afraid of engaging another driver and foolhardily kept on managing to do so to the detriment of my health.

          But my suffering fortuitously ended when I had to go to my hometown on a week-end to attend my younger brother's wedding.  For the distance, I had to engage, on an ad hoc basis, someone (this time, one Mr. Mukaila) who was himself jobless at the time.  He drove excellently and safely throughout the period.  Impressed with his overall manner, I asked him about his antecedents and he confirmed that he had just been released from a contract employment with an oil company for which he had worked several years.  I then informed him that if he was willing to accept my offer (which would surely not be as high as his previous earning), I was prepared to employ him permanently.  He agreed and became my driver, a relationship which covered three crucial years of my life.

          On joining us, Mr. Mukaila - a 55 year old man, a highly disciplined Muslim and a lover of children, not given to laziness - worked with me so well that he eventually became a member of my family.  I trusted him with my children to anywhere.  He was a good family man who did all within his capacity to train his own children.  He never looked at his watch once he started his work and his driving was smooth and consistently safety-conscious.  I was so impressed that within the three years he worked with me, I had doubled his starting salary through gradual increments.  He made my life easy for the rest of my academic pursuit, during extensive night driving and at week-ends.  My children, my wife, everybody in my household, loved him very much.

          Another unique thing about Mr. Mukaila was the fact that he did not have the bad habit of frequently requesting for salary advance!  He was contented with what he earned and managed it reasonably well.

          Fortunately for him, at the beginning of his fourth year with me, he secured a better appointment and had to leave us.  Even after he left, he was very active in trying to source for a good replacement for himself.  I appreciate this good man, especially for the peace he gave me throughout that turbulent period during which an upset was capable of tearing me apart, healthwise.

Chapter 40

 My Experiences

As A Student-Worker

          Working and studying at the same time brought me many challenges, such that I had to live strictly - a lifestyle that curtailed my relationships within my nuclear and extended families as well as my social and spiritual activities.

          It affected my friendships and impacted, adversely, on my health - indeed my total being.  This state of existence had its good and bad sides.  On the one hand, I gained intellectual improvement as a good human capital for the employment market.  I was exposed to the latest technological developments that made life much easier for me: e.g, access to palm-tops, mobile phones, laptops and other gadgets that made the achievement of several goals feasible simultaneously.  (This explains my attachment to such gadgets even as I write this book!)  They made life easy for me.  For instance, with my Psion's Series 3a & 5, I was able to continue with my various presentations - typing, excel sheets etc - outside office hours, and wherever I was in the car, the airplane, in public transport, in the toilet, on my bed, etc, etc.  Also the fact that these gadgets were operated on ordinary batteries eliminated the need for dependence on electricity, which was more predictable in terms of supplying darkness than light.    All I needed to do was to download the stuff from my main computer to the palm tops and continue my work outside the office.  The next morning, I would download the updated version back to the computer and then produce the final copy, ready for submission to my boss.  This way, I did not suffer any set-back in my official capacity. Neither did my academic aspect suffer too.    My first set of Multilinks land phone cost me N171,000 (one hundred and seventy one thousand naira) while the mobile one cost me N151,000 (One hundred and fifty one thousand naira only): both purchased on a credit basis. I did not mind these seemingly exorbitant prices then, because I needed to communicate, if need be, 24 hours daily.  Because of the need to enjoy latitude, I migrated to the use of the Thuraya phone sets but only to discover that, because they charged in dollars, I could not sustain its use.   Thank God for the introduction of GSM phones, which have today plugged virtually all the avenues the older phone companies employed to thoroughly exploit Nigerians.

          The way I was able to manage my busy circumstance of a working-student gave exemplary leadership to my entire household, so much so that a reading culture was fostered among my wife, children, nieces, nephews and other dependants.  As I said earlier, my wife and I graduated the same year, 2000/2001 academic session - she, in Accountancy and I, in Law.  The same year one of our children, passed out of Secondary School with flying colours.  Beside winning the top prizes in five core science subjects and also the prize for the best-behaved boy in his set, he had been the School's Prefect.    The following year, his younger brother, performed similarly very well.  He too won the best prizes in four core Science subjects and topped them up with winning the prize for the overall neatest student in the whole school that academic year!

          During the period, I was able to network with good people whose homes thereby became my home.  It was then I met Mr. & Mrs. Wahab, who were respectively employees of the Lagos State University and the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Ijanikin.  While their home virtually became mine, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education also became my reading spot.

          So was my relationship with Rev. & Deaconess Asaju who both work for the Lagos State University as well.  Their home too became my home.  With Deaconess Asaju heading the Law Library, I had uninterrupted access to the library materials at will, of course following laid down procedures.

          Mr. Ferdinand Ojiemen was my Tutorial Lecturer who chiefly was responsible for my indepth understanding of ALL my courses from 200 to the 600 levels of my Law School courses at LASU.

          Mr.  & Mrs. Ajayi were also in the network of happy second or alternative homes for many fellow students who have remained my close friends.  So was Mr Remi Fatunase (now the Registrar) of the French School, Badagry.   With him, I was able to have access to the serene study environment of the French school where I studied during week-ends.

          I owe all of them a deep gratitude.  I equally had a rough passage while always on the road, day and night.  On one occasion,  I ran into a gang of armed robbers along Governor's Road, Ikotun about 9pm while  returning home from LASU.  God saved me and Bimpe Adewale, a Youth Corp member, who was in the same car with me.

Chapter 41

My Spiritual

Life (1)

          As I grew up, I queried every axiom of life.  Religion was one particular area where I went into extensive research to convince me of the need or necessity to serve God at all!

          While my research confirmed that God exists, I found Him too awesome, big and complex to be subjected to human scientific proof.  So I had to draw the curtains on my research in order not to present myself as either faithless or agnostic.

          However, that did  not stop me from doing a comparative study of the various religions, as a result of which I chose to remain a Christian.  So I am now competent to speak elaborately on Christianity to which I belong.

          But I am not satisfied with the fact that there are many denominations  in Christianity.  Why, for instance, can't we be one Church as in the beginning and then have branches of it all over the world?  I have since discovered that achieving universal Christian unity (or ecumenism as currently packaged) is an impossible mission because churches are now founded on their founders' convictions or callings in the different dimensions of how God Almighty allegedly allowed them to establish the denominations!

That I remain a Christian in this unresolved disunity is strictly due to my conviction that there is no superior alternative.

           I came to this conclusion after reading so much about the origins of several of the religions I was privileged to research - their bases, their doctrines, and so. I am shedding more light on my adventure into religions to enable my readers emulate me and be able to hold on to what they consider to be the best choice rather than tie their faith to mere religious inheritance.  The issue of salvation is personal to everyone.

          While seeking the benefit of my readers, yet, I cannot fully digest the contents of my research into the religions of this world in a book of this nature.  If I did so, I would depart from the objective of my auto-biography which is to lift the spirit of my readers towards achieving good successes in life rather than enmesh them in unending, seeming eschatological arguments.  

          However, I have endeavoured to explain briefly the religious concepts  that are common to our environment here in Nigeria.

Christianity

          Even the Christianity that I finally embraced, was subjected to thorough investigation.  I went back to the various versions of the Bible  (The King James Version, New International Version, American Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, The Duay Version, The New King James Version, The Living Bible, Good News Bible) and as many more of other versions as possible.   I have six e-versions of the Bible stored in my  palmtop and a further four e-versions stored in my Sonny-Ericson GSM phone set! I read a considerable part of them, especially their introductions and the teachings of Jesus Christ himself.

          I researched thoroughly into their origins.  I was very much interested in the extent of their completeness or otherwise.  I discovered the nature of man through the Bibles and also the number of innocent lives that were lost in the process of trying to make the Bibles available to everyone as we have it today.  I understood the meaning of the word“Authorised” appended to the King James' Version and all the troubles concerning its origin, the life that was lost who made the moving statement “if only God would open the King's eyes”, - uttered by the man being executed for his daring to make the Bible available to the society at large!   I discovered the fact that there were some other books containing the works and miracles performed by some Kings, Prophets, and even Jesus Christ that were not contained in the Bible.

Islam

          When I was in the University, I purposely added Islamic Studies to my course content.  I went into it as part of my research into religions and I was very keen to know the basis of the Islamic Religion.   As I write, I have both the Arabic as well as the English versions of the Electronic Quran which I purchased on the internet installed on my Sonny-Ericson pocket computer..  I read it whenever time permits me.

          My discovery is that contrary to what quite a number of our so-called muslims are practising, Islam, like Christianity, actually preaches peace, love, monogamy (not polygamy), total abstinence from alcohol  (not drink a little alcohol), absolute morality, and so on. 

          At this juncture, let me assure my Muslim brothers and sisters - some of whom are very good friends and my blood relations (nephews and nieces - even Mary, my wife, was one of them!) and who are deeply bound in love just as God loves us all - that what I am about to say are NOT meant to condemn their religion. 

          My little analysis here is purely academic, and the observations I make are necessarily because their omission would weaken my storyline; otherwise, I would have excluded them altogether.

          The most fundamental difference between Islam and Christianity is the issue of the path to eternity  - Jesus or Mohammed? After personally comparing the antecedents of these two men, Muhammed and Jesus Christ, I am more persuaded and have preferred to remain with Jesus because there is something more supernatural about him and which goes to the foundation of the world.  His latter-day counterpart, Mohammed and Islam, I noted, actually began on or around the period when men had lost connection with God about 400 years after the second century of Christian dispersal through persecution.  Therefore Christianity pre-dates Islam.  I also compared the circumstances of the birth, the works and the death of the two men and got more convinced that Jesus Christ was unique in the manner of His death at Calvary and its good portent. The fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, which his brother, Mohammed did not, tells me that there is something more celestially unique about the former than the latter.  His ascension to the heavens before the very eyes of those who were alive then, his walking upon water, his raising of the dead, his asserted super-natural powers, all endeared me to him the more.

When I also compared the depth of authority with which Jesus Christ spoke and acted during his ministry and the promises made from Abraham through to their exact fulfillment  in the New Testament of the Bible, I had no other choice than to remain a Christian!

Other Religions I Researched

          I read some Hare Krishna's books.  So I did some books on The Mormons (called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints).

          I have also read some materials in the Christian Science, the Jehovah Witnesses, the Deeper Life Ministry, the Redeemed Christian Church of God, the Catholics and so on.

          I was born into the Anglican family and my very early days were spent in that church; so I have no problems understanding what they stand for.

          I attended the Catholic Church, and its school as well as the Methodist School/Church at one time or the other and acquired a bit of understanding about them.  The Catholic and the Anglican, to me, differ from the Pentecostals because they appear to be more easy-going than the latter.  The Pentecostals apply more zeal, or, if you like, call it   passion, to everything they do: their prayer, their preaching, their counseling, their utterances and other church processes than the Orthodox churches like the Anglican and the Catholics.  They tutor their adherents to read the bible inside out personally.  They organize more regular and structured bible training for the laity, encourage attendance to the point that, sometimes, they live a seamless, round-the-clock work-church life.  They are more focused organically, unrelentingly, as if under pressure!  They try harder to live Christ-like by making the contents of the Bible to bear on their daily existence.  The issue of demons and how to combat them through deliverance services take a prominent place in their worship.  Conversely, most often than not, their converts narrow down their 'enemies' to those they can see physically - their immediate neighbours, co-workers, some bosses, and, in the extreme cases, their mothers, fathers, brothers and extended families!  They become over-protective of themselves and leave what needs to be done to eradicate poverty from their lives and chase the shadows like the proverbial Don Quixote!

          On the other hand, personally, I don't appreciate the necessity of burning  incense, the predominance of  candles and the sprinkling of water during services as practised by the Catholics and some other Orthodox Churches.    These practices seem to me a continuation of Old Testament practices or a carry-over of Jewish practices than the New Testament approach, which is fashioned after both Christ and the formalities of the early Apostles who fought to carry on His methods and teachings.

          Talking about the 'pressures' of the Pentecostals, I personally feel that, yes, there is need for pragmatism, but some of them have developed to the point of being grating and deceitful as to capitalize upon the low station of their converts and exploit their ignorance and poverty.    If you asked me, I would say we have got to a point where those who seemingly lead the fight to 'kill the unseen enemies have themselves become the foes. They are neglecting to do the obvious practical things that will keep believers' minds or attention focused on the productive ways of existence, which will lift them beyond the poverty level and prepare their souls for salvation.  Rather, futile harangues in a loud bombastic declamation are often expressed with strong emotions!

          My conclusion therefore is this: the majority of the converts in the Orthodox churches are too cold while those in the Pentecostal Churches are too hot!  The mid-way is for the Body of Christ to breed converts who through the full knowledge of the bible, will become their own pastors (grow in the spirit), excel in their secular callings and be able to approach life and people with more love rather than scepticism.

          My mother took me to the Cherubim and the Seraphim Church for some time. I attended the Gospel Faith Mission, The Christ Gospel Church and, during the most part of my bachelorhood, I was an active devotee of Christ Apostolic Church where I was of the Choir.  I studied their doctrines.  As for the Cherubim & the Seraphim Churches, most of my candid observation (without necessarily being judgmental please) is that some of their converts  especially the youths - definitely live at cross-purposes, wherefore they see the church more as a social fraternity than a place to progressively get involved in propagating the word. They need more exposure to living the word.  My suggestion is that they need a corrective dose of re-orientation in the word of God!

Traditional Religion (Ifa, Sango, Oya, Osun,

Ogun, (The god of iron)  Obatala and all that.

          If the contents of our history books, which were very explicit about the origins of most of our traditional religions, were anything to rely upon, my conclusion about all traditional religions is that they are man-made, which cannot be practised at the exalted level or presence of the Almighty, Omni-potent, Omni-scient, Omni-present and Awesome Jehovah Who is the invisible God - the creator of the heavens, the seas and the earth. It has also been justified by some of their adherents that these gods are actually lesser gods and intermediaries between man and the true God.

But, fate, once upon a time, unavoidably brought me into contact with  the activities of a local religion which comibined Ifa oracle with spiritism.  I used the words “fate” and “unavoidably” from the onset because I had thought that we were going to visit a Prophet Prophet of God rather than a traditional setting. Maybe at the time, God just wanted me to see something about the other side of life if only to confirm to me, as the Bible rightly said that there are truly spiritual “powers and principalities”.  Whatever it is, I thank God it was not enough to separate me from Him.

Judging from the level of its accuracy, what I saw with my eyes and heard with my own ears were astounding especially when compared to earlier orthodox medical and pastoral findings.  This extent of scientific precision on the part of Ifa oracle made me marvel and it confirms the Bible's postulations about their existence.

The Jehovah Witnesses

          I have read quite a number of The Jehovah Witness' literature (the Awake in particular) and discovered that they always begin very beautifully well on any article they set out to write.  However, half-way through, they degenerate into ordinary intellectual write-ups based on human reasoning to the end.

Christ Apostolic Church

          Perhaps because of the educational background of some of our preachers then, some of the Christ Apostolic Church sermons were far below the level of God's standard for me intellectually.  Or what does one make of my Pastor (then) who saw me reading Chinua Achebe's  “Things Fall Apart” in preparation for my GCE examination and he exclaimed,  “Brother John, what are you doing with a worldly book instead of reading the Bible alone?” Honestly that statement ran me cold.  How did he expect me to read only the Bible for my non-religious exams?  It was obvious that my spiritual father missed the point and I could not abide with such company and religious misleading! (Many young fellows had fallen victims of such teachings in the past and many unwary students will still follow suit!).

          At the CAC, we exerted too much energy praying without planning and we left what needed to be done undone!    We were inundated with so much sermons about the 'enemies', the spiritual forces, to the point of confusion  for a young mind like mine.  At a stage, I wondered whether we should not concentrate more on praying and working for positive things rather than making enemies of every human being that came our way.  It was in  the CAC that I felt so holy within myself that I regarded every other person as a sinner.  Even at a particular stage, I became a reject because I had nobody to relate with anymore!  As we were intolerant of people, so we were with the other religions, especially Islam.  On every Muslim holiday, declared by the Government, our Church would deliberately fix church programmes that would keep us away from the Muslim community.

       I had said my wife comes from a muslim background. I met her after it became obvious that I could find no compatible suitor within the church. As at then, the girls in my church had mostly been too young and stark illiterates!  When I approached my Pastor about my predicament regarding the girls, he unrepentantly switched off from discussing my marital issues even though my would-be wife had become a born-again Christian.

          I wondered what would have become my lot today if I did not know God enough to stand by my choice of partner. What confronted me then was a choice between pleasing my Pastor and   myself who would live with the woman of my choice.  Later in my Christian race, I was privileged to read the exceptional story of Ruth in the Bible who hailed from a paganic background, yet taught everyone who cared to know, very instructive lessons about the meaning of marriage which got recorded in the bible and through whose lineage our Saviour Jesus Christ came. I predicated my own case too on Ruth as an exceptional case, in order to overcome the legalities of my church and proceed with what I must do.  It was a tough decision to take, knowing and appreciating the angle my Pastor was coming from, but at the same time, without losing sight of God's (may be, exceptional) plan for me.

This was a tough decision indeed to take.  The other hurdles I overcame include the thorough research and investigations I carried out over my would-be partner's past life.  It is even tougher having come to the realization that if I failed to work out my decision, I would be 100% responsible for the repercursions of my actions or inactions!    My readers have already read of the abundance of my marriage and   relationship with my wife.  If I had lost her, I would have lost a treasure for ever! I would have been truly religious!

The Deeper Life Ministry. 

When the Deeper Life Ministry started sometime in the 1970s, members of our CAC Church got so excited about it that we all virtually trooped to her Gbagada Study Centre.  It was then a purely inter-denominational Bible Study Centre, not a Church in the real sense as it is today. 

          The youths, especially students, went in head-long because they were offered 'carrots' in forms of free holiday teachings including coachings in core subjects such as English, Mathematics and so on. Before Deeper Life actually metamorphorsed into a full-fledged Church, my (CAC) church, became so flustered with our continuous migration that she gave us an ultimatum to choose between the two congregations as a permanent place of worship as she could no longer tolerate what she saw as dual allegiance or fellowships.  Some of us moved over to Deeper Life in response but I remained in the CAC.

          When Deeper Life became a full church, I began to see various manifestations of radical attitude on the part of her membership.  The development disturbed me.  I was appalled at the way they regarded the technology of TV, which they wanted done away with. Even though I did agree (even now) that any addiction to it (technoholism) could damage or derail people's lives, on the other hand, doing away with the TV served no ultimate purpose in the emerging world.  Rather I thought that the advent of the Television or suchlike information technology simply placed upon parents additional opportunity to be very vigilant and control the flow of what constituted useful knowledge to their offspring in accordance with the tenets of the Holy Bible.

          To know the roots of the church, I got hold of the book titled “Deeper Life” written by Alan Isaacson, and foreworded by the founder W.F. Kumuyi, himself. It was published by Hodder and Stoughton, variously in London, Sydney Auckland and  Toronto  (1990 Edition).

          My discoveries in the book were quite many and very exciting.  For instance, Deeper Life as a Church, emerged as a result of the zeal to serve God in an IMPROVED way under the cornerstone of evangelism.  Pastor Kumuyi disagreed with his Church, the Apostolic Faith , on some fundamental issues and I quote below excerpts from pp124-127, which I found really useful for me:

          “I just had a concern to teach young people because I had been involved with the Scripture union and young people's groups.  We were teaching these young people to be born again , and to live consistent Christian lives.  We also emphasized evangelism in those days.  Now the church I was going to at that time did not accept the way we carried out personal evangelism. They felt that young Christians who evangelise might fall into false doctrine. They encouraged you to invite people to the church services, and believe that they would be saved.  I didn't agree with that, and so I was the target of the preaching there a lot of the time.  They would allude to 'the young man who is going astray'.  But I kept on going to the church, and a lot of people who were coming to Bible study went to different churches-some to that church, some to Pentecostal churches., Evangelical churches, and some remained in the 'orthodox churches like Anglican, Methodist and Presbyterian. 

          “Then we had retreats.  After the retreats, Deeper Life members would go back to their own churches and evangelise those people who they felt were not born again.  That approach may have been wrong, it may have been right; but that's what they did.  They felt the people in the churches were not receiving clear teaching on the new birth; and that their lives did not show clear evidence of the new birth, although that was a subjective judgment.  But that was their reason for evangelizing them.  They also taught them about what they believed was consistent Christian living: holiness, and other practical issues like 'do not smoke, do not drink'.  Now as young people, they had zeal, and it was good.  But sometimes they were wrong in their emphasis, so I would correct them at the Bible study  but the churches did not know about the correction, because they were not at the Bible study!  Eventually some of them were driven out of the churches.  For example one denomination gave a general type of statement at their headquarters: 'Anybody who attends any other Bible study outside of the church's, especially Deeper Life Bible study, will be driven out of the church'.  The brethren who attended the Bible study therefore left that church and went to another church. But the story repeated itself; other churches also drove them out.  Eventually my own church sent me out too.  I didn't want to tell you all this earlier on, because I didn't want to sound negative about the local churches.  The local churches were doing good work; it's just that there are differences in our convictions.  I think, to be consistent, I would rather say that the way they felt was the only option they had.   My Overseer called me and told me that he didn't enjoy what I was doing.  He said I was not practising what the church taught me, and that that might have some consequences. I explained my perception and admitted that if what I was doing would hinder the growth of the church and the Kingdom of God, I would patiently bear whatever they would do.  And yet I couldn't give up my convictions on evangelism.  Finally, the church took the decision to ex-communicate me…

          “Now, when they excommunicated me, I didn't join any other church.  The church I had been going to preached on holiness, and restitution.  I felt that if this church (which stands on the Bible) could drive me out, then any other church not standing on the totality of the Bible could do worse. I was driven out in 1977, and we just continued the Bible study.  The people coming to the Bible study and who had also been attending that church with me, kept going.  I made sure that they were not negative about it.  I excused the church, saying that they were not committing sin; that they did the best they knew.  OUR DIFFERENCE WAS IN OUR CONVICTION.

          “It was primarily pressure from existing churches which led Pastor Kumuyi to start   Sunday worship for Deeper Life members thus forming a new Church, rather than remaining as an interdenominational ministry”

          That is the unvarnished (or plain) history of Deeper Life.  Many   people who were ex-communicated from their various Churches and needed more 'comfortable' place to worship - a place that would go deeper into the doctrines of the Holy Bible - gathered together to form Deeper Life Bible Ministry into a Church. One cardinal initial doctrine of the Church was for members to give their 'all' to God. 

          Again, according to Alan (p. 105) on some Deeper Life's initial doctrines

 '…Conversion to Christ does affect the whole of our lives, and members of Deeper Life are committed to placing themselves unreservedly under the demands of the Gospel.  For example, in the early days of Deeper Life it was unacceptable for women to wear trousers, jewellery, or make-up in church or at prayer. Men were to wear simple clothes; unflared trousers (despite the fashion of the time) and plain shoes (acceptable heel heights were specified).  Born-again Christians would not watch television or drink minerals such as cola or lemonade, but only fruit juice.  Marriage was not really acceptable for the truest disciple of Christ  although this teaching was modified after Kumuyi's marriage to sister Biodun in 1980! All this has led to charges of legalism, which are still made.  These accusations regarding the past are no doubt true, but certainly in Lagos, and in most of the other places I visited, I did not hear such strict lifestyle regulations being preached any more.”

Daddy Kumuyi has this to say himself:

“I think that most of us are creatures of our background and early environment.  When I became born again, the church, of which I was a member, emphasized all these things as part of one's Christian life.  Then too, I read much of John Wesley in my early years of Christian life.  I always knew that you are saved by grace through faith.  But then that we are 'created unto good works' (Ephesians 2.10),  That means as an evidence that I 'm born again, I should show it by the lifestyle that I lead.  If my life does not conform with the Bible standard, and I am 'living in sin' (Romans 6.2), it is an evidence that I do not have what I profess. I am saved by the grace of God but the good life is an evidence that my testimony is real.”

          Modifications began to come, like the Leader, feeling the need to marry and actualising it.  Some members felt affronted by this departure, and they broke away.  Gradually, the Deeper Life began to carry out reforms consistently until, today, they have become a Church to reckon with by every segment of the Nigerian society. 

          These conflicting signals however kept me in the CAC before I finally found myselfin the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). The Gospel Faith Mission. The approach was similar to that of CAC, then highly laden with emotion and I did not waste my time there at all.

Eckankar, Grail Message and Hare Krishna

           I also read a bit of the literature on Eckankar, the Grail Message and the rest of them. The more I knew of them and compared them with Christianity, the clearer it became to me that their religions depart from the Bible.  They haven't the originality and depth of Christianity.  They are based on ordinary human aspirations and  emotions.  For instance, a Hare Krishna literature quotes Exod. 20:13 which says, 'Thou Shall Not Kill” (MKJV) to mean  “thou shall not kill” even animals for food to justify that all beings should be vegetarians!

Hare Krishna faith also quarels with the warnings in Exodus 22:18-19 which says

“… If anyone adds to these things, God will add on him the plagues that have been written in this Book.  And if anyone takes away from the words of the Book of this prophecy, God will take away his part out of the Book of Life and out of the holy city,…”  

          To justify the authenticity of their own doctrinal teachings and books of faith, Hare Krishna argued that God is not fixed, nor is He rigid. Therefore His speaking cannot be restricted to the contents of the Bible alone.  If HE liked, HE could cause other books, like the Bible, to be written.  

          Logical as their assertions may appear, it is clear  that what the Bible says is that it is complete as it is and is not subject to a re-write or any form of alteration  whether by way of an addition or a subtraction!  Human beings can write other books as the Lord inspire them, and as we see them doing  all over the place.  But those books can never be equated with the Bible to be the basis of everything as the Bible rightly is.  My firm belief is rooted in the fact that the Bible is the only complete 'manual of life' handed over to man by his Creator.

          We draw inspirations from it, revelationarily interpret its provisions, but its SOVEREIGNTY over all other religious works shall not be open to debate for it has no comparison for its completeness and unambiguity and the living pregnancy of its every word.! 

          Reviewing the Hare Krishna assertion, there is nothing wrong with being vegetarians but its practice has no religious justification.

Being vegetarians from youth or particularly from the age of say 40 years upwards is healthy as the  'flesh' in the form of meat which we consume regularly add less value to our health than eating much of assorted vegetables.  It is common knowledge that vegetarians hardly suffer from common illnesses as indigestion or constipation  because   their digestive systems  function better.  Practitioners could also avoid such animal diseases as the 'mad cow' disease that rocked Britain a few years ago. It is a sure way for  shaping for the better, the health aspect of our lives tomorrow.   But, even then, if vegetarianism were a complete way for longevity, most human beings would since have adopted it as the most acceptable way of feeding!

Mysticism

For a very short while, I went outside religion. I read some literature on the Roscicrucian Order and I had the distinct feeling that ultimately, Roscicrucian is antithetical to Christianity and that they are mutually exclusive.

          Like others I have reviewed earlier, the AMORC is not a religion, a fact they themselves acknowledge but a parody of Christian beliefs anchored on human intellectualism.  They are more concerned with developing leadership traits rather than the salvation of souls.  Therefore they discuss Christ, as well as Mohammed only as great leaders (which no doubt they were) with certain admirable qualities but they do not truly analyse the salvation aspects of their leadership.  Christianity is a sufficient way of life but AMORC has no enduring spiritual platform to uplift the human spirit for ever more as Christianity does.  Having seen these signals, I left AMORC and its literature alone.

          Still not satisfied, I saw an advertisement placed in one of the newspapers for the membership of a body called the “MYSPOTEM”.  I did not waste time in joining their Neophyte Membership category.  Their first two literature offerings did not contradict the Bible in any way.  But from the 3rd to the 7th, they contained practices, which sharply contradict biblical doctrines of the New Testament.  We used candles, lavenders and white hankerchief to perform what was called ablutions during our quiet times usually in the quiet period of the nights, which  contradict the Pentecostal approach to Christianity.  The more I advanced in their teachings the more the irreconcilable contradictions. 

          Personally, I would not, simply because I disagree with their practices, daub AMORC or MYSPOTEM as a secret society judging from their practices I knew through their literatures,   although my assertion will generate a heated debate especially among fellow Christians.  It is sufficient for my readers to realise that the conclusions I drew are my personal opinions!  I may be right, I may equally be outrightly wrong!  But I consider all the benefits in their practices as something like “bodily exercise” which Apostle Paul rightly opined in the Holy Bible  “profiteth little”.  Christianity offers us the completeness we are looking for  both to have a good success in this planet and to enter into the Kingdom of God we all seek after.

          Again, my candid opinion is that it is not possible practically for one to belong to those societies and still remain a true disciple of Christ.  Surely, there are fundamental conflicts in teachings that cannot be reconciled without rationalizing one's faith.

          No doubt the net-working, the inspirational books, the observation of quiet times at regular intervals can help their members to excel in creative thinking and develop their competence.  The fact that many of their members are already financially successful people can lead to direct assistance to their members, yet I found the Bible offering a fuller and complete package compared to their goodies which they offer their adherents.  So I left them alone.

          The main purpose of revealing this much information on my religious conviction is to enable readers to realize that their experiences and situations are not unique or novel, because I have been a co-traveller in the bewildering experiences of human existence.  It will let them realize that even as a Minister of God, I have, like them, gone through and am still going through, some, if not all of what are agitating their minds today.  By seeing how I resolve such life's conflicts, it will aid them also to shape their lives for the better, especially spiritually.

          I also want to enable them appreciate the realities of the dilemma of man in spiritual issues as I similarly questioned everything about life before I chose to be what I have become.  I have played out the inquisitiveness of man's nature!

          Finally, I have heard people complain about what they might have been but for their parent's influence upon them.  I pity such people because their attitude shows that they are not mature in handling the affairs of their lives.  I listened to and respected my parents' views but my ultimate actions are my decisions, unmindful of contrary reactions.  Therefore, that I practise or adhere to Pentecostal Christianity and belong to the Redeemed Christian Church of God is my personal choice and in line with how much truth God and research work had revealed to me.

 My Wife's Roles in My Days of Adventure into Spiritualism

          It was simple.  She never supported nor joined me in my adventures.  She felt and consistently maintained that she did not see the need for such soul-searching.  So, where I left her - Christianity - when I went on my voyage of discovery was the spot I met her when I returned!  She remained stoutly unmoved!

That is the nature of a woman:  whatever they support they support.  That is the nature of man - ever adventuring,  reasonable or not!  That is the nature of human beings, ever looking for solutions to their problems from all directions!