The Front

He had a family history nobody was proud of
His father was one of the first publicly executed
armed robbers in his country
His mother, one of several concubines of his
father ran away from their town the moment
it became public knowledge that her man was
the notorious terrorists the police had been
hunting for ages
His grandfather was also a strong man
A "land grabber" and a notorious cheat
with a reputation that stinks to the high
heavens 
His mother didn't let him bear his father's
family name
He was just two years old when the whole
scandal broke
His mother made him bear her maiden
name
His mother never took her home, not even
once
As far as his mother was concerned
He had no father!
His father's relatives didn't bother to
look for him too
Their head was forever bowed in shame
as a result of the scandal regarding their
son
Some of the family members even changed
their surnames and distanced themselves 
from the family as much as possible
Things were pretty fine until he clocked 18
He studied hard and helped his mother
at her beer and pepper soup joint every night
He was well behaved and very calm for
his age and stature
Then he gained admission into the university
His roommates were into bodybuilding
He fell in love with the habit immediately
He joined them
One night when he was about to turn nineteen
He was asleep in his room during the day
A man came to him in the dream
The man looked like him but he was a bit
older
He knew the man was his father
The man gave him a tiny palm nut and told him
to swallow it
He did so
The man told him to open his mouth and
breathe out for as long as he could
He did so
Suddenly he felt heat rushing out of
his mouth
The man gave him another palm kernel nut
He told him to swallow it but this time he must
be sure it doesn't touch his teeth
He obeyed
Then he was told to exhale again, with his
mouth wide open
He did it!
This time fire gushed out of his mouth
Then the man gave him a third palm kernel nut
He swallowed it
His whole body turned fiery red
He started screaming with discomfort
The man disappeared
He was still screaming when he woke up
he called his mother immediately and told 
her what happened to him
His mother told her she would make inquiries
about it
his mother pleaded with him to face his studies
Everything changed after that encounter
He suddenly lost his gentle ways
Even though he was still very quiet on the outside
Everything had changed
He suddenly became a quick-tempered
He took offense easily and forgot how to
forgive a slight
He developed a strange appetite for blood
His roommate mistakenly swept some dust
into his bath water a few days after the
experience
He almost choked his roommate to death
it took many people to rescue his roommate
from him
Yet, he felt no remorse
It was the "right" thing to do
He saw no reason to be sorry
The case got to the school authority
He was invited to face the school's disciplinary
committee
He called his mother
His mother told him to come to the village
He was taken to a shrine
The old man gave him something strange
to eat
As soon as he swallowed the thing, he went
numb
He was locked in a strange room without
windows or light
He spent seven days there
When he recovered, the old man poured
a liquid all over his body and told him
he was free to return home
His mother was waiting for him when he
got home
He returned to school
Nobody told him what happened or how
The School Disciplinary Committee case
just died
Somehow his popularity soared on campus
Many people assumed he was a cultist
others believed him to be strongly connected
He was recruited into political thuggery
and eventually, he started joining gangs to
rob on highways
Somehow he graduated without another
case
Then he met his wife
A beautiful young lady in a yellow mini skirt
She was going to one of those "fancy"
grace preaching churches
The skirt was a "follow me home" something!
He couldn't take his eyes away from her
He wanted to wait closeby until they close
from the service so that he could speak to her
but he thought better of it
He went into the church
He saw her in the choir stand
He waited till the service ended
He approached her
They talked
He started attending the church regularly
All he wanted was a way into her heart
He was somehow convinced she was his
wife
The church activity didn't change anything
He was still a highway robber
He led a gang of six
They all live in different states and were
all engaged in other businesses
They have sources of information and 
only operate twice or thrice a year
Nobody knew this
He had a building materials supply
company which was thriving
The church took him in
He got baptized and became a teacher
The lady eventually finished praying
and said "Yes" to him
They got married
He went to bible college and graduated 
top of his class
He was an asset to the church
A consistent tithe giver, a teacher, a faithful
husband of one wife
His wife delivered a baby boy two years
after their wedding
The church made him a pastor that same year
His church members found him to be
kind and generous
His wife had a gentle, god-fearing and loving
man
they all fell for the image he carefully cultivated
They were all taken in by the "front"
In reality, he led a lot of daredevil attacks on
traders and travelers
Almost every quarter or sometimes "twice" a 
year he would embark on a "business trip"
The trip was usually for two weeks
Everybody found this to be normal
Nobody suspected a thing
in 2018, his church organized a minister's
retreat
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt was
invited to minister
It was a strange meeting
Nothing went as planned 
It was supposed to be a meeting in
which pastors will be trained on modern
ways of effective evangelism through the
use of emerging media
The participants were all believers and 
many of them were pastors
But despite all the hours of preparation
and printing of the conference materials
and the spiritual level of the participants
The brother in jeans and T-shirt found
himself addressing the particpants
on the topic "Duality"
He didn't prepare for it
He just told his own story and explained
how he hid in the church for many seasons
pretending to be what he really wasn't
He told the participants he felt that was
how Christianity was meant to be
A "front" where everybody pretends to be
good while hiding their true self
He told them the Christian examples he had
in the denomination, he grew up in reinforced
this conviction in him
As he grew older he perfected his hypocrisy by learning

how to preach and persuade people 
to give their lives to Jesus
He never knew the real Christ until September 17, 2007
After sharing his testimony, he made an altar
call
Here he was a 38-year-old "brother", 
from another
denomination (who was invited to teach 
older Pastors on "effective social and 
emerging media evangelism strategies")
Making an altar call!
Inviting "Outsiders" into fellowship with the
Holy Spirit by giving their lives to Jesus
The Overall head of the ministry was 
already grieved by the audacity of the 
"young man" who came to waste their time
Everybody was politely waiting for the clock
to run out so that someone else can take
over the microphone
Then the first pastor came forward in tears
he was followed by another 
Within five minutes, the Holy Spirit charged
through his church
Drawing men into fellowship and changing
the course of many destinies
The brother in jeans and t-shirt joined
hands with those who came forward
They prayed together and hugged
It was an outpouring of love and grace
When he eventually left the altar, the
gathering fell silent
Nobody took over the microphone
The atmosphere was different
The Brother in jeans and T-shirt was
taken to the Overall Head's office
The overall head was in tears, the Holy
Spirit has convicted him of following
his own agenda rather than waiting on
Him and doing His bidding
The Brother in jeans and T-shirt was in
tears
The Holy Spirit had done something so
different, his hands were still shaking 
nervously
While they were talking
There was a knock on the door
This pastor came in and fell on his knees
He cried and cried
He couldn't even explain what had happened
They just watched him
After a while, he told his story
He couldn't walk to the front for the altar
call because something had "arrested"
him on his seat
He was crying like a baby and his legs
were wobbly and weak
He told his story
He wanted to know what else he was
supposed to do
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt hugged 
him
They prayed together in tears
The Holy Spirit took over
Pastor fell backward and landed awkwardly
Being a tall huge man, the brother in jeans
and T-shirt was unprepared for the
impact of the Holy Spirit
The pastor started foaming in the mouth
Everyone panicked
The Pastor started retching and coughing
Suddenly, the palm kernel nuts started 
coming forth from within him
All seven of them!
He vomitted them out of his mouth
one by one!
His body shook violently while all this
was going on
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt and
the Overall head of the church prayed
in the spirit
When the pastor was done
He jumped on his feet and roared like a lion
His roar was so loud, everyone within
the premises of the programme heard it
Then he sat in a chair nearby and slept 
off instantly
He was there for close to three hours
When he woke up, he was a totally
new man
The Holy Spirit has translated him from
the realm of darkness into the realm
of light

PS: This event happened somewhere
in Nigeria
He stopped being a Pastor
He opted to join the Pneuma School of the
Supernatural and Bible College to become
intimate with the Holy Spirit
One year later, he shared his vision of
becoming an evangelist and telling his
story to the world
His ministry and family are thriving
To God be the glory

GSW's notes: The Holy Spirit is so dynamic!
The fact that he is keeping quiet over a
matter does not mean He doesn't see it
or know it was there
The day he decides to address an issue,
there will be no hiding place
If you are a believer and you find yourself
indulging in carnality as a norm
There is something wrong with the 
quality of your spirit
You might have been saved in words
But if the Spirit that raised Jesus Christ
from the dead is missing in you
You will only stumble and struggle
You need to be continually filled with
the Holy Spirit