The Drain

He kept wondering why he wasn't growing
He did everything as required by those ahead of him
He fasted unfailingly twice a week
He did forty days fasting and prayer at least once a year
He tried as much as he could to live a Holy life
He read the Bible unfailingly every day
Apart from the daily devotionals (He used three daily),
he followed a one year plan and a six months plan of
studying the Bible
He was consistently in midweek and Sunday services
According to human judgement
He was growing quite well
His leaders in church noticed this
They committed more assignments to his hands
He was a Sunday School teacher 
They elected him the Youth Pastor
Then they made him an altar minister
He got to preach once in a while
He was even elected to be a member of the parish council!
He wondered then why he felt he wasn't growing
There was that gnawing feeling that it was just religion
Like he was just doing his best to be a good Pharisee
It was just "mental", "Uninspiring", "mundane"
He couldn't feel anything
He couldn't see anything
He couldn't hear anything
He was just himself telling himself he was serving God!
He had read books about great men of God
A.W. Tozer, C. S. Lewis, Shambach, Ravi Zacharias, 
Wigglesworth, John G. Lake, Kathryn Khulman, 
B. B. Bosworth, Kenneth Hagin, Benny Hinn, 
Dag Haward-Mills, David Oyedepo, E. A. Adeboye,
Pope John Paul, St. Francis of Asisi, A. B. Simpson,
Cardinal Okogie, S. Ola Fadeji
He wanted what they have
He wanted a walk with the Holy Spirit
He wanted to walk in the realms of power
He wanted to experience all the dimensions of grace
He wanted God to be real in his life!
It wasn't thirsting for power to show off or magical abilities
He knew there was more
Unless Moses, Jesus and the Apostles were lying
Unless the books he read were authored by liars
Unless there was a grand conspiracy by many to claim 
something existed that really didn't
Why would he settle for "mental" Christianity
When the Christianity C. S, Lewis called "Mere"
was available?
Why would he find zero satisfaction in his spirit
even after keeping the law as much as he believed 
he could!
He prayed in tongues but it was meaningless!
It didn't change anything!
It made him bitter and frustrated
It made him feel forsaken
It made him feel alone and abandoned!
He didn't understand what else he was supposed to do
in order to attract the divine into his affairs
But he kept his head down and did his church duties
He wore his suit as he ought to
He got excellent marks as a church hand
But his spirit seemed to be on a permanent lockdown
He felt weary, he felt burdened, he felt yoked
He wasn't convinced God could see what he was doing
He preached with the whole of his heart
His sermon stirred emotional responses
Many saw him as a phenomenal young preacher
And yet, when he was alone in his closet
His heart was full of questions
Was this the "Fabled" utmost height
Was this the "Higher ground" he sang about with
tears in his eyes
Where was his "Surprised by joy" moment as
experienced and described by C. S. Lewis
Where was the encounter? The "Road to Damascus"
experience!
One of his friends gave him a call
He was coming to town and would like to spend 
a few days with him
The friend was one of his spiritual children during
his days in the University fellowship
The friend arrived late one Sunday evening
He went off to work early in the morning
When he returned later in the evening
He found his friend kneeling against a chair
Singing some soft melody
Eyes closed, arms raised, tears streaming down his face
The atmosphere was electric!
It made him fall to his knees
Not out of duty or out of trying to teach whoever may 
be watching him some humility or copying the General Overseer
He was sucked right into the worship
He revelled and basked in it
It was the closest he came to touching heaven
He was hungry as he walked home, but hunger disappeared
They spent hours there
Suspended in the spirit until way past midnight!
The next morning, he approached his friend
"There is something about the Holy Spirit you know,
please teach me, I really want to have the Holy Spirit in
this active way you do! Everything seemed forced and duty
like for me! I feel forced, compelled and required to do
the things I do now and I know it ought not to be so!
But with you, it came with joy and freedom and light!
How do I get that?"
His friend smiled and said "I came here just for that"
His friend told him how many believers are pegged
in their growth because of the mixed messages preached
by many churches!
How can he teach you when you don't trust him?
It is either you cede your control totally to him or you
keep it you lose him
He will not share the steering wheel with anybody!
They held hands, his friend began to pray in the spirit,
he began to pray in the spirit, suddenly he started to 
shake and EUREKA!
He found himself in the realms of glory!
After hours of praying, he asked his friend how he could
keep the  anointing flowing
His friend said "The Holy Spirit is attracted to love, joy,
peace, happiness, confidence and righteousness! In short,
where ever the gospel is preached and lived out practically
the Holy Spirit is right there. The gospel is the river of life
while those who preach and live in it are the trees of life,
those preaching anything other than the gospel in the name
of Jesus are not producing fruits after righteousness but
after self"
He got it.
He changed immediately!
The leadership of his church were alarmed!
What has entered into you? why are you whistling? Why are you
humming all the time? 
Why are you suddenly so hyperactive?
Why are you suddenly overlooking the faults of those under your
charge, why aren't you frowning and condemning?
 Why are younot rebuking sin on the altar? 
Why are you not making people feel
bad for their sins? 
"It is said that when two people who
 cared for each other end a conversation with joy, 
they have deceived each other" 
Why are your congregants so jubilant, joyful and
 sometimes overexcited?
Why aren't people being proper and sober anymore?
The mark of true repentance is mourning! People must 
mourn for their sins and cry until they are purged!
The more they complained, the more he got great
results!
His membership doubled!
Miracles, signs and wonders fell like the rain
The Holy Spirit "owned" His church
He surged into dimensions of glory and grace
Eventually, the church leadership kicked him out
They claimed he has introduced foreign elements
into their doctrine and can only stay if he would reverse
the liberal nonsense he had introduced to their church!
But he had found the truth and could no longer be
bound!
He left!

PS: He started his own church
He just did as the Holy Spirit instructed
The results spoke for themselves
A happy church, well-fed flocks and kingdom relevant 
believers
The wind took him all over the world
He became a blessing to many nations
The denomination he left eventually decided 
to embrace the Holy Spirit
Not because they really wanted to but because they
were losing members and didn't want to go into
irrelevance 
Serving Jesus on one hand and observing the law on the
other is a big problem for the body of Christ
Christ is life and the Law is death!
How do you suppose you can combine both and 
live the full life we have in Christ?