My Story

How I went from a struggling Christian to doing the works He did, and greater works  

The only way to read this and be truly blessed by it is to be honest to yourself. How do I mean? Don’t read through the eyes of belief, culture, tradition or what religion may have said to you. Just read and see yourself as if in a mirror.  I said this because regardless of how close you are to a bright light it won’t do you any good if you close your eyes at it.

As unbelievable as it may sound, but the truth is that I heard the gospel after 19 years of being in the traditional church. I heard about God, Jesus, and salvation but it was presented to me as a religion. Please note carefully that Jesus did not come to start another religion, there were many before He came. He only came to give us life so that we may live the divine life more abundantly. It is that life I discovered after being in the traditional church for 19 years.

I heard the message that said I was bad and that in order to be born again and be accepted by God, I needed to renounce my old ways. Confess my sins and beg God for forgiveness and then promise Him that I will never offend Him again. I did all that and though I was very zealous, it was the promise never to offend Him again that I couldn’t keep no-matter how hard I tried. There was always some areas I kept rising and falling. I thought being more committed in church will solve the problem, but it didn’t. And because I could not keep that promise, many times I felt disappointed. I failed myself and I have failed God. Then I was filled with sense of shame, guilt, and continuous condemnation. I had moments where though I was in church and also a teacher and minister, I had resentment in my heart towards God because I saw Him as one whom I could never please, no-matter how hard I tried.

So after the long struggle, I settled in to nominal Christianity – that style where you go to church regularly, speak the church language, but your life on daily existence does not reflect.  After 19 years, I felt I had seen it all, heard it all, being there done there. I tried to follow many preachers, but no-matter what I did, I came back to the same spot. Meanwhile, I remember telling those closest to me that there was something more, something missing about this whole church thing --something, but I just did not know what it was. But I felt it.

 The gospel in a box

I got back home one day and in the middle of our bedroom was a carton full of CD’s and a book. Typically, my wife will not place a box at such a place but for some reason that’s where I found it. When I inquired, she said a friend sent it to her in response to couple of CD’s she sent to her. Now, since it was free, I asked if I could take any, and she obliged, but requested I keep some for her. I divided and left a half for her. Notice that I was in such a stage that if you offered me those CD’s for 1 dollar, I will probably not buy them. But God so perfectly arranged it in a way that it cost me nothing and positioned at a place I could not have missed it. If she placed it according to her normal arrangements, I could not have seen them, at least at the moment I did.

Few days after I returned to Nigeria I remembered those CD’s and since I was less busy I decided to while away some time with them. I slotted in the CD and almost immediately it appeared as if there was a presence because my attention was caught up. It appeared I was listening directly from my heart. For the first time I heard answers to the questions I have asked for 19 years. Sincerely speaking, I don’t really have words to explain what happened but all I know is that for the first time my heart met what had been missing. I encountered salvation and finally found peace with God. And what was the result? Without making any efforts, I was delivered from habits I had fought so much to overcome. I was set free and my life totally and completely changed.  Those CD’s contained the message of God’s grace. That is the gospel.

As I began to share the same message with friends and family, I mean people who had been born again for long periods of time, the same things were happening. I saw broken marriages restored. Christianity became real and tangible for many. But the greatest testimony for me is that my ministry was restored. I began to preach and wanted to go into the ministry shortly after I got born again in 1995. I felt I had the calling and it was just my thing – but my conscience could not allow me to stand and teach people something I was battling with. My life was in conflict with the message so I could not do it. For 21 years, my heart was beating for it, I dreamed of doing it, I rehearsed long hours of doing it, but I just could not. About 2 years after my life aligned with the message, I embraced my calling. That is how the Gracelife Family Church Abuja was founded.

Today I receive calls from church workers and even church leaders who are in the same position I was. And I gladly tell them that the answer to their problem is not what they have not done but what they don’t know. If my story resonated with you or probably you saw a little bit of yourself in it, then this is your call to embrace the freedom and the life Christ brought to us. Or you need to find out how to really be a Christian, please read my message  WHAT DOES IT REALLY MEAN TO BE BORN AGAIN?  You can also drop a comment, forward this message or get in-touch, if need be.