The Sail

The elderly man called him aside the first time
"My brother," he said
"You know that all the young people in the church
look up to you! You are a leader of men and your conduct
affects their conducts subconsciously! Please,
don't stand outside when the sermon is going on,
don't go and sit in another office and divide
the service into two!
Don't frown or show your disapproval at what whoever is
ministering is doing!
Just sit in front, wave your hands, smile and play along!
On the day it is your turn to minister, trust
the Holy Spirit to give you utterance
That is the on,y way you can change mindsets, such as this!
The counsel came at the right time!
He had grown increasingly frustrated by the conduct
of some of the leaders of the church!
He had an issue with their belief system!
They just wanted to do the needful and go home
The services were ordinary, mundane and tasteless
Yes! They pray in tongues and claim to be full of the spirit
But they were the ones leading the spirit
They were the ones in charge of the services!
The testimonies prove it!
This one will say "I had an accident and 
came out without a scratch"
That one will say "My house caught fire, 
thank God it wasn't a total loss"
The other will say "I thank God for the gift of 
sleeping and waking up"
Week in, week out!
The ship of the parish was anchored to the shore
It wasn't moving at all and its crew were stagnant
Why couldn't they see it?
And they were working very hard but it was 
like running without movement
There was nothing supernatural in a church 
birthed in the supernatural
Every time he had the opportunity to speak
He would probe them on the miraculous
"The General Overseer of this church is someone we watch often
He is walking in the supernatural
He would do the most unthinkable things 
and get the most unusual results
We all celebrate and benefit from his 
walk with the Holy Spirit
We will go all the way to the headquarters to 
get the anointing oil he blessed
We will go all the way to the headquarters to 
get handkerchiefs he blessed!
Why can't we walk with the Holy Spirit as he did
Why can't we be led by the spirit instead 
of leading the spirit
Why can't we aspire to walk in miracles, 
signs and wonders
Why can't we do the supernatural?
They heard him but they really didn't hear him
He made sure to speak simply and respectfully
He knew they heard his words clearly
But from the look on their faces, he knew they didn't 
get what he was saying
He didn't see any sudden spark or glow of illumination
He was hitting a brick wall!
At a point, he gave up!
Whenever he came to church he would observe whatever 
had to be observed and then move outside the church 
to join the security men
Sometimes he did it because he knew the preacher's sermon
wouldn't do him any good
He wasn't the type of believer you can sell "If your Amen is loud"
sermons to
He summoned courage one day and told the authorities
I want us to do a vigil
A night of power
A night of signs and wonders
The pastor told him No!
"We do only the word here! That is my belief! 
I don't encourage church members to go searching
for miracles, signs and wonders!
If they are taught the word properly, we have done our duties!
He got it!
The pastor had a point
Many people have turned to miracle seekers
They want to pray their way into becoming billionaires
The foolishness is rampant and truly ought to be discouraged
"But if we cannot trust God for the supernatural
why are we believers?
Why were we birthed into the supernatural and told by Jesus
and all the apostles to live by the spirit?" He lamented
The pastor said, carnality had eaten deep into the church,
he wouldn't encourage the rot!
He would rather feed the people sense than encourage them to
see enemies in everything and pray without being guided
Some churches have ensnared their members with prophecies
visions and all sorts of jargons in the name of being spiritual
They scatter marriages, turn people's lives upside down,
and turn family members against one another
in the name of a spiritual leading! 
This was why they have restricted the order of service in the 
church to the word alone!
But even the word...
It wasn't as if the sermons are fresh
The bread had become stale because logic was reigning
Somebody started preaching one day by
Talking about the number of people he
knew who died that year!
The person did this to stir people's heart to thank God
for keeping them alive but he didn't get it!
How do you stir people with the negative so that
they can appreciate the positive!
Throughout the scriptures, the apostles never did that!
It was done in the old testament but never in the new!
The sons and daughters of resurrection happened
Wherever they went, their manifestations was what 
brought the miracles signs and wonders and God was
glorified in their realities for this reason!
After the wise counsel, he started sitting in the church 
during the sermon, sometimes with gritted teeth and 
teary eyes!
He would get home and cry!
"Holy Spirit, please move in this church in a new way,
give your children a taste of the supernatural! I am
restless and tired of this "brick and mortar" sermons,
let your gospel reign Lord!"
The Holy Spirit heard!
The following Saturday, there was a wedding ceremony
in a church close to his house
He was invited!
When he got there he saw some people who were not
part of the wedding crowd
He got curious
What were they doing?
They were in a class, with an instructor!
He asked! "What was going on there?"
They told him it was a school!
The Holy Spirit said "I have reserved a space for you in there"
He walked in and sat down in the class
After the lectures, the lecturer asked him who he was
He explained what the Holy Spirit said
The lecturer said "Okay"
That was how he joined the Bible school!
A fellow student paid his school fees the following Saturday
The Bible school helped him cope with the services
A year flew by! He graduated
A month later, he was processed for ordination!
He became a deacon!
He went to the church and was given the altar to preach
The Holy Spirit tore the logic of many years to pieces
He revealed the thirst and desires of the people to the authorities
They had to concede that the people needed more 
than stale bread!
They gave him one night in a month to host a vigil
Miracles started happening!
The testimonies changed!
"After seven years on one spot, I got a job"
"I was able to get a car"
"Fibroid dissolved"
"I got my promotion"
"I started my business"
"I am getting married"
The atmosphere changed totally by His Spirit!
The sermons also changed as well as the 
disposition of the preachers
"Works" mongers started flowing with living waters!
WOW!
Love took over and so did light
The mundane didn't go away completely
But the anchored ship of the parish had sailed
The Holy Spirit's wind was carrying it on the river of life
Nothing was ever the same again!