Salvation – Modern day – Year: 2009 The events of the previous night got all four of them wondering how they could ever esca...
Salvation – Modern day – Year: 2009
The events of the previous night
got all four of them wondering how they could ever escape the power of darkness
which hung over their lives. Determined to find a solution, they began to talk
to people they could trust. Their efforts landed them in a church; for the
first time in their lives they walked into a Christian church. They had not
thought of it, while growing up church worship was never a part of their lives.
They could not remember their father or mother ever going to church. Whatever
took hold of their family made sure they never turned to God. Like aliens
walking on earth for the first time, they cautiously walked into the church and
found some seats to sit down. About ten minutes after they went into the
church, the atmosphere in the church became negatively charged. The lady
singing wonderfully before they came in began to stutter, the members of the
church became disinterested. Children who were peacefully listening to their
teachers in the children ministry began to cry uncontrollably. Some of the
children ran out of their classes and bolted into the main church auditorium
pulling and yelling at their parents to come out. In just ten minutes, the sort
of disarray seen at the market place took over the church service. Martha leaned
over to her brother Obinna and asked, “I hope this has nothing to do with us?” “Maybe
not,” replied Obinna. “It certainly does. Weren’t they doing fine before we
came in?” Ada asked. “Perhaps God is angry we came into his house. I think we
should leave now,” Joel suggested, looking as though he was expecting God to
crash in a thunder bolt into the church and fry the four of them. “No! We are
not going anywhere. If God is as strong as preachers make him out, then he
should be able to deal with whatever followed us into this place.” And so they
sat still.
As if the netherworld had grown
angrier with their choice, four stage lights on the church altar exploded
simultaneously and the speakers which were hung on the roof came crashing down.
Some church members jumped to their feet and made for the exit door. Ushers had
to restrain them from fleeing from the church. Those who didn’t try to run from
the church auditorium looked askance, as if to spot the Jonah who just boarded
their ship. The pastor of the church and his visiting evangelist friend ran to
the altar to calm the church members. “Brothers and sisters, I perceive that
the devil has made today an evil day. However we are not going to close our
church and run from him, or sit idly and watch him spoil our worship. We are
going to do just what the bible says we should do. We are going to take up the
whole armor of God that we may be able to withstand in this evil day, and
having done all, to stand. We will stand and have our worship like the devil
never came today!” the pastor of the church said. His evangelist friend began
to shout, “Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!” The pastor of the church
joined him. However the members of the church sat still staring at them. The
pastor of the church paused and shouted at the church members, “Won’t you take
up the name above every other name and chase the devil away from your church?!”
A few members of the church stood to their feet and lethargically began to
mouth the name of Jesus. Their pastor and his evangelist friend chose to ignore
them and continued with shouting the name of Jesus. Obinna must have felt pity
for the pastor over the attitude of the weary church members who followed him; surprising
his siblings he stood up and began to shout the name of Jesus. His deep bass
voice resonated in the church and all heard him.
The pastor and his friend felt
encouraged by the attitude of the newcomer to their church. Obinna had hardly
shouted that name ten times when a charged spiritual wave went through the
church and all the members of the church stood to their feet and began to shout
the name of Jesus in frenzy. By this time the pastor of the church and his
evangelist friend were already berserk. Obinna held unto that name on his
tongue as though if he stopped he would die. Already a warm sensation was beginning
to pass through his body. His siblings stared at each other, stood to their
feet, held their hands and raised their voices to shout the name of Jesus.
Martha, Ada and Joel did not remember much after that. A strong light had
overshadowed them and they went down to the floor. When they woke up, the
church had installed makeshift light, the speakers were working again though on
the floor and the once lethargic church members had fire in their eyes and a skip
in their stride. It looked as though they were in a different church. The pastor
was on the stage preaching up a storm. No church member sat down, they all
stood on their feet and shouted as their pastor preached. Martha looked around
for Obinna and saw him on the floor vibrating as if he had been plugged in to
an electric socket.
The pastor who was preaching an
unrehearsed message was giving bible verses. Martha, her sister and brothers
wanted desperately to read the verses, they had not held a bible in their hands
before nor read from one. Ada could not bear just hearing the verses so she literally
ran out of her seat, stuck herself to an elderly woman and tried to read along
with her. The elderly woman was very impressed and so gave Ada her bible. Ada
grabbed the bible from her and held it with two hands is if she was afraid the
bible would try to run from her. Martha and Joel having seen Ada’s success ran
from their seats and looked for who could give them bibles to read. The church
looked at them in disbelief and wondered if they were really from earth. They
didn’t give a hoot, the power of God in the worship had reached their souls in
ways nothing had touched them. As they read, tears flowed from their eyes; at
this point the pastor knew he was preaching just for them. And so he turned
their way and preached like that was his last sermon.
Preacher: “You must understand that when the devil takes away your
pains and sorrows, he does so, only to multiply them tenfold. That is the
reason the word of God says, ‘the thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to
kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life and that they might
have it more abundantly’. God is the only one who gives you blessings without
evil strings attached to them. He says in his word, ‘the blessing of the Lord,
it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it’. I don’t know who you are
sitting under the sound of my voice; I feel strongly that you are under the
yoke of bondage. If you would humble yourself and seek the Lord, he shall
deliver you. Do not let pride or shame deny you his mercy! Seek the Lord while
he is near! Seek him while he may be found!”
As tears flowed down Martha’s
cheek she whispered to herself, “Yes I am indeed under a yoke of bondage, and
so is my family.” By this time Obinna had woken up with a glow in his eyes.
Joel could have sworn that his brother must have seen God while he lay on the
floor. He desperately longed for whatever it was his brother found. They hadn’t
been to a church before and did not know what to follow next; all they wanted was
salvation, help and deliverance. They desperately wanted the pastor to quit
preaching and release the power of God. All four of them thought that the
pastor had a container of it on the altar. As if the pastor read their minds,
he said, “If you need salvation come forward!” All the four children of Iniye
ran out of their seats as if they were competing in a race. They were
completely oblivious of the church members. They had their eyes on the pastor
and the words he spoke. As they ran to the altar, so many people in the church
began to cry. They could not but wonder the sort of bondage those young people
must have been on. When they stood before the pastor, they stared at him with
hungry eyes. The pastor’s heart melted and he began to pray for them. He had
hardly spoken twenty words of prayer when he felt a gush of power hit the four
young people and sent them to the floor. In all his years of ministry, the
pastor had not seen the release of such power. Obinna, Martha, Joel and Ada did
not wake up until the end of the service. When the pastor heard they had woken
up, he invited them into his office and asked to hear what their story really
was. Every hair on the pastor’s head
stood up when Martha let him in on their life story. “Do you all now believe
that Jesus is lord?” asked the pastor. All of them as if on cue echoed, “Yes we
believe!” “Then you are saved! For whosoever shall believe that Jesus is the
son of God shall be saved!” Grudgingly the pastor sent them home and promised
to visit them the next day.
On their way home, they cried and
hugged each other. They knew beyond every iota of doubt that they were saved and
delivered. But there was a little snag; they had no bibles, from that point
they began to look for where to buy bibles on that late Sunday morning. No one
had told them that the church they just left had a bookstore stocked with
bibles. In their excitement they persevered until they were able to find a Christian
bookstore by 5:30 pm in the evening. With
the bibles, they felt complete and ready to take on the serpent kingdom. When
they got home, before they could find anything to eat, Ada suggested that they
fast and wait in prayer till early hours of the next day. She reasoned, “Since
the serpent comes by night to take possession of our bodies to do its evil designs,
let’s wait in prayer and see how it can achieve that against us.” The
suggestion seemed good to all of them and they greed. They retired to their
room and began to devour the bibles they bought. About 7:00 pm, their first
test came. Their uncle, Mr. Silvanus, began to call all four of them at the
same time using the same number. To the living room they gathered and wondered
who should pick the call, Ada braved up and picked it, “Uncle what is it?!” she
shouted. “Where did you people go to earlier today? Tell me where did you go to?!!”
“Since when did you become our father to ask such questions? You Mr. Silvanus,
where do you think we went to?! Where do you think we went to?!!” Ada retorted sarcastically.
“So you have foolishly spoiled all I achieved for you? I warned you not to turn
against the serpent or the kingdom of serpent and you wouldn’t listen. Now you
will know the wrath of the serpent!” “Uncle we have been waiting for long, be
quick about it!” Ada said and dropped the call.
On the other end of the telephone
conversation, Mr. Silvanus wondered if the children of Iniye were drunk or
stupid to dare the serpent. He laughed maniacally and said to himself, “They
are only children, they don’t know the serpent or its power, but sadly tonight,
they shall find out for themselves. I shall honourably fulfill my role as their
uncle and bring home their remains to bury.” About midnight all the children of
Iniye gathered in their living room and began to sing the few songs they could
remember which were sung in the church earlier that day. When they exhausted
their few songs they began to call on the name of Jesus. Praying with many
words was still alien to them. That night was their first night to pray as a
family. After they had called on the name for a while, Joel stopped them and
asked to put the desires of their hearts to words in prayer to God. His
siblings obliged him and so he began to pray, “Dear God, I don’t know how to
pray, but I certainly do know what I want you to do for us. Destroy the
serpent, keep us from the serpent. Do only what you alone can do. That mighty power
of yours, display it against the serpent and his servants! This I ask you in
Jesus name!” His siblings echoed, “Amen!” Then they went back to shouting the
name of Jesus and dancing around in their living room. About an hour later,
dark fumes began to fill their living room. They were terrified, but
nonetheless they continued to shout the name of Jesus till 5:00 am. At the
first gleam of day, they ran outside in joy that they had lived through the
night without dying. Outside, their celebration was cut short when they met a
serpent as huge as a GP water tank, with its head beaten to pulp. The Lord, whom
they called, came to their defense and crushed the beast. They ran into their
street and called their neighbours to come and see what lay in their compound.
People could not believe that such a snake existed, but there it lay dead for
them to see. A few hours later they got frantic calls from Asarama that their
uncle, Mr. Silvanus was found dead that morning, divided from head down to his
abdomen. Not one of the children of Iniye turned to the dark or died when they
began to call on God.
THE END
This story was written by:
UZOMA UJOR
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