Founder of Peace House, Gboko Bro Gbile Akanni has recalled how some pastors used to come to his father who was an occult man to collect power.
He gave the account in a message shared on the YouTube channel of Ben Gyuka monitored by Church Times.
Akanni who painted a graphic picture of how rituals were carried out in their family compound said the experience of seeing pastors consult his father for power made it difficult for him to accept Jesus easily.
Nobody went to Church in our family
He said, “When I wanted to become a Christian it was very tough because in the whole of our family, nobody went to church. Not only that, nobody went to Church, pastors used to come to our house to collect power. Whether they were prophets or senior prophets. They came in the evening to collect powers to rule their churches.”
He recalled that he was part of those who prepared the concoction for the consulting pastors. He added, “So it was not interesting for anybody to tell me to give my life to Christ. I would say, which Christ, Christ that does not have power, Christ that cannot keep his people. Christ, that it is my father that is sustaining his preachers. How can I leave what is real to follow a useless thing like that? That was my argument.”
Akanni said when God confronted him on the need for him to surrender his life to Christ the first question, he put to God was: “Who are you, sir? Do you have the power to keep me? Because I knew I needed power to survive in this world. I knew that if you don’t have power the world will mess you up.”
Uncles messed up
The Bible teacher said he grew up to see several manifestations of how some of his uncles were dealt with by occult powers.
He recalled, “I saw my uncles messed up. I saw my uncle who came home to marry. After we had done the dancing, and the woman was carried to the house. My uncle was preparing to have his first night with his wife when he heard a voice call his name. He thought it was my father, who was his elder brother that called him. Immediately he answered, he went out after the voice and we never saw him again.”
That ended the marriage. “All ceremonies finished. We looked everywhere for him nowhere to be found. We went everywhere for days and did not find him. My father went to the police and the police said they could not help. They told him he should go and consult his oracles. My father came back home and began to make all kinds of sacrifices before my very eyes. He did all kinds of things. After nine days those demons were talking to my father because he was their agent and he was following them.
Read also: Gbile Akanni: Question that God asked me that changed my ministry: https://churchtimesnigeria.net/gbile-akanni-question-god-asked-me-that-changed-my-ministry/
Occult power
“The demons directed him to a tree where his brother was tied. His fingernails had come out like that of an hyena. He had lost his voice. How did he eat? He was using his hand to squeeze mud to draw some water into his mouth. By the time they were bringing him out, he had lost consciousness.”
To restore him, all kinds of animals were slaughtered. Eventually, Akanni said his uncle became normal.
The experience of his uncle according to him made him believe there was so much power in the occult world and made it difficult for him to accept Jesus.
“I had to be sure Jesus had the power to keep me. So, when Jesus asked me to give my life to him, I asked, do you have the power to keep me? If you have power, why are your preachers coming to get power from my father? It was then I knew many came to church but had not met Christ. Many great singers in the church had not touched the reality of the man of Calvary.” He said.
Akanni said the day he was going to hand over his life to Christ, he told the Lord he was doing it because Jesus had promised to keep me and that If anything went wrong with him, it would be God’s fault.
Hen ends up in the pot
Expectedly when his father learned he had given his life to Christ he was taken aback and wondered why he was following those who knew nothing. But Akani said he told him, “I was not following people, but I was following Christ.”
His father had told him his salvation experience would not last for more than two years citing examples of those who had come to Christ and gone back to their old ways.
“He gave me a proverb, he said, every hen wherever it goes, it will end in the pot. He said wherever I go, I would come back. The more he said that I went into a covenant with God, I said, Father if it remains tomorrow for me to go back, take me home. I have not left that covenant. But God said, I have all it takes to make you what I said I would make”