Pottage Mentality

Those days were terrible 
He had a disagreement with his pastor 
over the issue of marriage 
He found a lady he wanted to marry 
His pastor said he didn’t pray well enough 
because she was seeing something else
 He didn’t get the message clearly 
How could he and his pastor be seeing two
separate things regarding his own marriage? 
He asked her what she saw 
She took him for a drive 
She told him, she saw a vision of him 
marrying her daughter! 
She said she was sure the Holy Spirit 
told her so and if he refused to align 
it means he was disobeying the Holy Spirit
And she cannot work with anybody 
who would blatantly disobey the Holy Spirit!
 It was outright manipulation 
She was the founder of the church 
He was her assistant (Youth Pastor) 
She was just trying to tie him down 
for her daughter who was then studying 
and living abroad! 
He said No! 
Things went sour! 
She turned on the heat 
He left the church! 
Another pastor heard about the issue 
The pastor told him there was a parish 
Located somewhere rural 
The pastor asked him if he wouldn’t mind 
pastoring that parish! 
Wow! 
He needed some time to clear his head 
He took the position!
It was a small church 
The area was prone to flooding and pastors 
find the place very uncomfortable 
Even those living there do so because 
they had no option 
The membership of the parish was less
 than twenty 
It was as if he was planting the parish afresh 
He took it on, it was for the gospel 
of Jesus Christ! 
They didn’t have any equipment! 
No microphone, no amplifier, 
no generator, no lighting, no nothing! 
His voice and his bible were all he had! 
The church didn’t have a bank account 
too! 
The pastor told him the church had a 
trustworthy treasurer who kept
whatever the church contributed! 
The contribution would be put 
together after some time to buy 
instruments and meet other needs 
of the church! 
He embraced the challenge 
Through the rain and sunshine 
Following members up 
Naming babies 
Healing the sick, 
Converting souls 
Counselling singles
Nurturing marriages
He even brought a television crew
to the area to cover the plight of the
people
He worked hard!
But not for money, but for the love of
Christ
Sometimes he would be the only one
in the weekly services
His tithe, the tithe of his fiancee
and the tithe of his younger brother
were the heaviest paid to the church
purse!
The community was a very poor one
He joined the church in February 
The Holy Spirit worked wonders 
New members joined 
Members got new jobs 
The oldest member, a 62-year-old man 
even got a wonderful job with a cargo 
airline! 
The news spread abroad of the wonders 
of the works of the Holy Spirit! 
The church grew
A year sped by! 
It was time to buy the microphone and so on 
The church treasurer said she would come 
to the church with the money for the 
instruments the following week! 
The following week came 
She had disappeared! 
Neighbours said she and her family
 had travelled to the village
For the Christmas holidays! 
Wow! 
He called th pastor that recommended 
the woman 
The pastor told him to be patient 
He continued his work 
The woman’s husband does not attend 
the church 
He was a drunk for whom the church is 
believing God for a miracle of salvation 
He made excuses for her in his head! 
February came! 
He had clocked a year 
Somebody told him the lady was back 
from the village 
The lady didn’t come to church 
He waited patiently 
In the first week of March, he waited in 
the church until 3 pm 
He had been informed that 
the lady usually left home very early on 
Sunday to return late in the afternoon 
So as to avoid meeting church members! 
He went to her house with four members 
of the church 
They met her! 
She was shocked to see them 
She immediately became aggressive! 
"What is it? 
Must you come to my husband’s
House to disgrace us! 
I have spent the money 
Have I not tried? 
I leave the house at 5 am to return 
at noon on Sundays 
Just to avoid the shame 
Do you think it is convenient for me 
And yet you came here 
You came to shame me and drag me 
through the mud 
And you call yourself a pastor!
Was it your money?
Are you God?
Are you God's tax collector?
He hadn't even said a word! 
All he wanted was to know how much 
the total money with her was! 
And the financial record book! 
She said she had thrown the book away 
and she didn’t know how much it was! 
She acted as if they were hounding her 
for the money! 
She made a lot of noise!
It was very embarrassing 
He knew how much was with her 
They both kept a record book each and 
reconciled the figures after every service! 
When he got to the church that day he 
decided enough was enough 
He had worked hard for over a year and 
had hoped that year would be easier 
with all the equipment they planned to buy
He just couldn’t cope with the stress and 
the shattered hope! 
That same week, his former senior pastor 
retired and the church approached him 
to take over that church 
He resigned! 
He forgot the chapter! 
Ten years later, the treasuer’s son,
(he was 14 years old when the drama
Happened) strolled into his office! 
The treasurer’s son had just gained 
admission into the university and needed 
help with his school fees! 
The treasurer’s son said “I am so and so, 
my mum used to be your Treasurer when 
you were in (such an such) parish! 
Please help me, sir! Please!
He went on to recount his missed chances 
and lost opportunities and how much he 
needed a break! 
The treasurer’s son was really in a dire 
straight! 
He told the treasurer’s son he didn’t have 
any money to give him at that moment! 
This was the truth! 
The young man left! 
The next day he came back with his 
mother, the Treasuer! 
The mother felt it was because of her action 
of the past, that help was denied her son! 
She said she was sorry and her misbehavior 
should not be visited on her son and his future! 
But a thousand sorries cannot a Naira make! 
Thus, the story ended!

PS: Some of us invite struggle and hardship
into our own lives by our actions
Sometimes we do so blatantly
like Esau, we trade our birthright for
a plate of pottage and we wonder why
we go through life as a believer without
anything of note to show for it