(REVISED EDITION) A Forum held with Youths in the Bride’s Ministry on 17th September 2006, At THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD, ONITSHA ANAMBRA STATE. By APOSTLE PETER ODOEMENA THE SON OF MAN “THE SUPREME INTELLIGENCE” “Truth has no substitute”
1
INTRODUCTION
The entrance of the Word of God in the heart of man gives life. When you reject the Word of God, you separate yourself from Him because God is nothing but His Word. The same way a man is nothing but his word.
Life without the Word of God or fear of God is vanity.
2. Note, the importance of the youth in the development of the society cannot be overemphasized. The role of the youth in nation building is so paramount that the Federal and State Governments carved out a Ministry for Youth Development and Empowerment.
3. The youth of course are regarded as the future leaders. It is against this backdrop that I plead with the youth to take note of this message.
4. If you are a father or mother, you undoubtedly passed through the youthful stage of life. The most delicate stage of life is the youthful stage. It is the most destructive stage of life. It is the stage where too many things attract the attention of the youth and most of the things they delight themselves in are things that would destroy them ignorantly. It is at this stage that a good number of them desire violence and experiment every kind of rough life. Some of them think that evil is pleasurable while some just indulge in these notorious lifestyles just for the fun of it.
5. If you watch the society today, a good number of our youths like to enlist in the force not to serve the nation but to terrorise and intimidate their fellow human beings. Some desire task forces such as we witnessed in Onitsha, Anambra State under the guise of Road Decongestion or Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) before they were disbanded.
6. I mean that the youth desire the use of force more than peaceful approach to issues and that is why they are always the brains behind all violent and destructive activities in the society especially in their misguided estate. They love violence more than peace because they are ready to die anywhere at any given time. It is a very dangerous stage of life where they ignorantly experiment with death daily.
7. Nothing disturbs the peace of the society more than unguided youths. Watch all that are misfits in their families, interview them very well, you will notice that they were victims of misguided folly.
8. If parents refuse to guide their youths in the fear of God, they are bound to forfeit them to the winds of time. No matter how godly or religious parents may be, if they do not strictly monitor the development of their youths very well, scrutinize their conducts, and investigate the type of friends or company they keep, they are liable to forfeit them to the fowls of the air. Noble ambitions of some youths in the society today have been thrown to the fowls of the air as a result of wrong influence.
9. The youth are easily influenced wrongly by their friends, this is so because you cannot be a friend to a leper and avoid his handshake. It has therefore become very imperative for us to counsel our youths very well so as to preserve their lives and protect their future.
10. I liken the youth to yam plumule. Any way the farmer twists it to the stake is the way it is going to climb the stake either to the right or to the left. All of us passed through the youthful stage of life. As a result, we know all that we suffered in our youths.
11. Any youth that escapes imprisonment or premature death; anybody that escapes imprisonment or premature death in his or her youth, should sacrifice a cow to God! About ninety percentage of our youths in the society commit heinous crimes every day, but the eyes of the law enforcement agents catch only but a few.
12. For that reason, the fortunate ones among them think that they are innocent but their consciences testify against them privately.
13. The person in the prison yard is not worse than the one that is moving freely about the streets. He is moving about freely because he has not been caught while the one in the prison is there because of his own misfortune. However, whether you are in the prison yard or outside, it is all but one if you are not properly instructed.
14. Gone are the days when prison yards were reformatory homes. The aim of imprisoning somebody is not to kill him but to get his character reformed and to serve as a deterrent to others. This service is no longer obtainable in the prison yards of today. People go to prison today and become worse, because there, they meet hardened ad unrepentant criminals who lecture them on scientific criminal acts that even beat the law enforcement agents hollow.
15. It is there that they acquire the knowledge of trado-medical bullet proof. This is why from time to time, we hear stories of people that survived years of imprisonment due to criminal acts, instead of praising God by changing their minds, they will commit even worse crimes and be re-arrested by the law enforcement agents again.
16. A sure sign that they never learnt anything good from the previous imprisonment. Some are sometimes, given very long jail terms so as to weaken them through old age so as to restrain them from evil anytime they are freed.
17. Any youth that suffers this setback due to his unguided behaviour has shattered his future with his hands. Do not forget the fact that some prison inmates die in the prison due to ill-health and horrible conditions of life they may be subjected to while some are imprisoned for life, all as a result of unguided behaviours.
18. It is at this youthful stage of life that many die mysteriously because they are over-ambitious to make money by all means. Some of them enlist themselves in secret societies that involve even human rituals or even their own lives in order to make money at tender ages due to improper counselling and bad influence. They capitalise on the weakness of the society that believes that the end justifies the means.
19. This ideology or philosophy is from the Devil and not from God. It increases the criminal propensities of the youth without measure and must be curbed by the parents.
20. Some silly parents are also guilty of mounting undue pressure on their youths comparing their financial standings with that of their compatriots irrespective of how they made the money. A wise youth should not succumb to that type of devilish pressure or competition for wealth. Wealth is good only if it is acquired honestly in the fear of God.
21. These over ambitious youths will like to catch the wind by becoming millionaires sometimes without any visible and viable means, as a proof to their parents and colleagues that they have arrived. Such youths can indulge in unimaginable and abominable profligacy to the hurt of their fellow human being to achieve their dastardly objectives.
22. To these categories of youth, they prefer money to life and nothing obstructs their ways without being crushed in their bid to make the money. These people do not know the value of money. The only thing they know is to boast of building estates, ridding the best aeroplane, the best jeep, sleeping with every kind of lady or woman in exotic hotels and to take chieftaincy titles at young age. Is this a sign of development?
23. A nation can grow without developing in the same manner a man can grow without developing. A human being can grow in stature but is mentally retarded. These youths who die for money are mentally retarded.
24. At the youthful stage of life, the ladies parade the streets half naked with their handbags, flickering their eyes side-ways and twisting their waists so as to catch the attention of such stupid persons like them.
25. They have unbridled desire for men for the sake of money; hence they collect the money and HIV/AIDS in return.
26. Watch the rate at which they are dying in the hospitals and trado-medical homes. Visit any Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) Unit in any approved hospital and you will be amazed at the calibre of youths that have been ravaged by the dreaded HIV/AIDS scourge due to promiscuity, prostitution and other unguided behaviours. Many die while committing abortion secretly.
27. At this youthful stage, some ladies become victims of ritual murder with their private parts chopped off from their bodies. Why? They love to take free car lifts with people they know not and also love to sleep with men whose motives they know not for money-making sake or for the fun of it. At this Stage, they pay every kind of visit to their friends, attend night parties and keep the worst type of company without the knowledge of their parents.
28. This can be destructive if left unchecked. Some die in motor accidents during such travels to places unknown to their parents. Some claim to know their relations more than their parents hence every man is an uncle or brother or cousin while the counterpart is a sister or aunty. The youth, be careful. All that glitters is not gold. Preserve your youth and achieve your dreams.
29. At this youthful stage of life, they indulge in smoking Indian hemp, have their fill of all kinds of alcoholic drinks, and take illegal or forbidden hard drugs that often make them run mad. These things they do without any good reasons only that they want to be dreaded by all as “bad guys”.
30. It is at this stage that they become political thugs. Who is a thug? A thug is one that is paid to commit suicide! Some like to be touts even in motor parks while some indulge in other nefarious activities without restraint. Violent stealing is very much prevalent among this age bracket because they want quick money, which they will lavish on women and drinks.
31. I am trying to highlight some of the problems the youth pose to the society or families if they are not properly guided and empowered so that all and sundry will appreciate the necessity for proper upbringing of our youths to enable them achieve their dreams.
32. The development of any society or family is determined by the quality of the youth that make up that family or society. Due to lack of proper counselling, these youths often drop out from schools and colleges and even the universities thereby constituting a great nuisance to the society. Some run away from all forms of apprenticeships and become hooligans in the streets.
33. There is no age that has produced more mad youths that parade the streets and markets than our age. This is so because our youths find it very difficult to listen to and obey good advice even from their parents.
34. If you are a youth, note that your destiny to a Large extent lies in your hands because life is nothing but what you want to make it. Your heaven or hell starts here on Earth before the imaginary one that follows in the world beyond.
35. As a result of wrong habits the youth inculcate during their youthful days, they can hardly make good husbands and wives, hence they run broken homes with mischievous children that cause them sorrow and pain during old age. Remember that ignorance is a deliberate misfortune. Recognise all these facts and protect your dreams.
36. The quality and not the quantity of the youth in the society or family will determine the extent the society or family will develop. There can be youth without quality. This is a hard saying but it is true. Knowledge is power if it is after a Godly sort. Academic knowledge without this wisdom from God is useless. This is why we have too many educated fools in the society and even in the citadel of learning, I mean the university.
37. A university don that collects money from students or gives the female ones sexual conditions for passing his paper is an educated fool and there are too many of such people in our universities. Do not succumb to their advances especially the female youth. They are spoilers that must be avoided.
38. Please, report such obnoxious requests to the University Senate for appropriate actions. Mostly, be serious with your studies. If you are not serious with your studies, you are not sure of your success and you create room for such an unholy advances.
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PRESERVE YOUR YOUTH
AND ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS
A lot of our youths have good dreams about what they would like to be in life. Unfortunately, these dreams are never transformed into realities due to poor counselling and unguided behaviours.
2. Due to youthful exuberances some of them indulged in dangerous and harmful life unchecked, which culminated into shattering their ambitions and the expectations of their parents.
3. It is in recognition of this ugly development, that I have decided to draw the attention of our youths ahead of time to the notorious evils that can destroy their future glory and to proffer the possible remedies without any threat of Hellfire.
4. I have therefore decided to document this brief counsel in writing to help the youth check against the numerous temptations awaiting them as they struggle to attain greatness in life.
PROMISCUITY
5. This is a hateful act of having sexual affair indiscriminately with many people at a very early stage of life or at any age at all; it is the worst form of sexual abuse. It is an indiscriminate sexual act just for the fun of it and not for any other social or biological consideration.
6. Social psychologists refer to promiscuity as an unwarranted exposure of oneself to sexual relationships at tender stages of life. This is a social malaise, very much prevalent among our youths due to poor family upstart, ignorance, lack of moral discipline, lack of vision of the future, evil association and lack of fear of God.
7. That the dreaded HIV/AIDS pandemic is very much prevalent among the productive and reproductive ages of sixteen to forty-nine years is as a result of promiscuity within this age bracket. The same is applicable to other sexually transmitted diseases.
8. Most cases of infertility, impotence and sterility arise from damages done to the reproductive organs of the body system as a result of contraceptives and other pregnancy preventive devices, whether scientifically, trado-medically or otherwise during the youthful age.
9. It is always the evil or havoc wrecked by the hen during the dry season, that eradicates its chicks during the raining season. One that has never tasted an apple does not know whether it is sweet or bitter.
10. No sensible and sincere person ever desires to experiment an act that will undoubtedly jeopardize his or her future ambitions. At same time, no wise and intelligent fellow ever associates himself or herself with a spoiler, no matter what the person promises or holds out in pretext.
11. It is a humiliating and dehumanising act for one to indulge in promiscuity or promiscuous acts. It is self-debasement arising out of lack of self-confidence and self-contentment.
12. When you preserve your youth, you protect your life, your integrity, your future, your family’s reputation, and fulfil your dreams. If you act contra-wise, you shatter your future and disgrace both yourself and your parents.
13. The issue of threat of hellfire should not arise here at all. This is because your hellfire starts here on Earth; equally, your Heaven starts here on Earth.
14. Whomever that obeys my messages out of fear of Hellfire or indictment has not obeyed at all but merely suppressing his or her feelings. Nobody’s obedience to the messages is fulfilled until it is practiced as a result of personal conviction that my messages are wholesome truths.
15. There is always the propensity in the youth to experiment evil but this act has grievous and disastrous consequences and should be avoided by all if we must transform our good dreams into realities.
16. Consider what I have said and let the Almighty God give you perfect understanding. Evil is pleasurable to those that are destitute of truth and void of wisdom. Preserve your youth and achieve your dreams.
PROSTITUTION
17. This is another cankerworm that has eaten very deep into the fabric of the society. It is the act of having sexual relationship for the sake of making money or for other materials gains. This devilish act has assumed a higher dimension in the society.
18. The time when people regarded prostitutes as only women that use their bodies to make money in the brothels is over. A lot of men and women now indulge in this notorious act without living in the brothels. A man can be a prostitute as well as a woman. This is hard to believe.
19. Some men, especially our youths, in the urban centres collect huge sums of money from their sugar mummies, who are old enough to be their mothers, just as a condition to satisfy their sexual desires.
20. These aged women, some of them have crossed their menopause, volunteer to take care of the school fees of these victims and also pay their rents provided they remain faithful to them.
21. The women also entangle themselves with men that are old enough to be their fathers, just for the sake of money and other pleasantries. This is a very destructive act that should be treated with contempt by all and sundry who fear and honour the Lord God Almighty.
22. A good number of our youths in the higher institutions of learning have become prostitute due to lack of fear of God and improper and misguided family upbringing. Another reason is the desire for sophistication and exotic lifestyle due to bad influence.
23. Often times, some stupendous ignoramuses who pose as parents, conspire to spoil and over-expose their children to all forms of vices by laying destructive examples before them in their homes. Imagine a situation where parents encourage their children to put on immoral and amorous dresses, some of which expose their nudities so that men can go after them.
24. Some married women are also guilty of this crime. All these dresses and hairstyles they refer to as “dress to kill” are awful crimes against God and humanity and must be condemned by every child of God who professes godliness with contentment. Any woman or man that dresses to attract attention with intent to seduce, entice, mislead, deceive an innocent fellow is no less than a prostitute.
25. It is ubiquitous today for people to stay in their marital homes, some in the families under the care of their parents, and still practice prostitution.
26. Anybody that is not mindful of how and where his daughters or wife or sons get the money they lavish in purchasing one item or other is encouraging prostitution, which is a crime against God and mankind.
27. Parents that do not have money to train their children either in the schools, universities or in gainful pursuits should not lure them into prostitution.
28. A prostitute is an irresponsible fellow. It is one that has no personality or integrity to protect. It is one that lacks shamefacedness and a laughing stock in the society. A prostitute does not live long on Earth. A woman that practices prostitution debases herself, her husband, her children, and even her own parents.
29. Everything can last long but the gains of prostitution do not last long. Homes are built by virtuous men and women but prostitution is a curse. For that reason, youths, say no to prostitution and preserve your future. Curb your immoral desires and prolong your days on Earth.
LESBIANISM
30. This is the act of females having sexual relationship with their fellow females. This act contrary to nature and very much pronounced among our youths due to Western influence through the use of television, seductive periodicals and destructive conversations with ungodly victims of the deadly act.
31. Some schools of thought hold the opinion that those that indulge in it do it to avoid unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. This not true at all. This is a socio-psychological problem that deserves a psychotherapeutic approach.
32. I mean that it is a psychological defect, a pathological problem that should be given serious attention among the youths. Consider a situation where a female romances her fellow female, touching all the sensitive organs in the body, sometimes kissing and caressing her just to satisfy her sexual urge.
33. This is madness in its peak! It is a distasteful act in the sight of God and man’s inhumanity to fellow man.
34. Lesbians are very much found in the secondary schools that are all-females; in the same manner Sodomist are found in exclusively boys’ schools and colleges. Sodomy is the act of males having sexual relationships with fellow males.
35. Homosexuals are those that have sexual relationships with same sex. This is a condemnable action that should be deemphasised among our youths if they must realize their ambitions in life.
THE EVIL SIDE OF LESBIANISM
36. A lesbian finds it difficult to marry because she does not have any desire for a man.
37. (ii) Where she gets married at all, which is normally at an old age, she is never satisfied with one man. This is because, the constant touch on her genital organ especially, keeps her clitoris erect at all times. This is why most of them end it in prostitution or promiscuity.
38. (iii) In her constant attempt to satisfy her sexual urge with her fingers, she is prone to infections like fungi and even bacteria. The most prominent of them being the itching, and discharging effect of candidaisis.
39. (iv) It promotes the development of fibroid, which impairs conception
40. The remedy lies in self-recognition and the dangers likely to be posed by the act. Nobody comes out publicly to declare that she is a lesbian. It is against the customs and traditions of Africa and so it is not popular but notorious.
41. Notorious in the sense that a good number of our female youth indulge in the act secretly with their partners and still come out looking angelic and unsuspicious. Lesbians do not make good mothers because they do not respect any man for whom he is since men do not appeal to them. This is a social imbalance that has to be addressed in the fear of God by any female or male youth that thinks the best of himself or herself.
42. Our youths should develop themselves to the point where the horror of the sight alone should send shivers into their spines.
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MARITAL ENGAGEMENT
It is not out of place to hear some of our youths from time to time, saying that they are engaged in marriage to one another even when they are still in school.
2. This is a rampant evil that leaves its victims with sorrow, pain, heartbreak and sometimes death.
3. How can somebody who is sensible take his or her fellow student seriously in any marital engagement? It is like embarking one’s hope on the wind whether male or female.
4. Any student that promises a fellow student marriage while in school is looking for a sexual partner. If at all the engagement fulfils at last, the couples have succeeded in laying the foundation of their marriage on hardship.
5. This must be so because the female counterpart must mount undue pressure on the man to fulfil his word or promise either before he completes his studies or immediately after his studies without any proper preparation for marriage.
6. The worst will happen if they mistakenly begin to have children while in the school or immediately after passing out from the schools. The level of hardship that will befall them will be better imagined than observed.
7. A woman can conveniently get married to a man while still pursuing her career without any setback but it is not so with a man. It is a man’s honest attempt to lay a good background for his family that leads to breaking of engagements.
8. Every sensible young man must acknowledge that his prime objective in life is not marriage. His family must be put in order before marriage is considered which was the essence of the parents’ sacrifice on him. A man is trained to better his family while a woman is trained to better the lot of her husband.
9. Whatever a married man does to his in-laws is in appreciation of what his wife is to him—her positive contributions to the well being of the man and his family—and not a payment for her education at all.
10. Any woman that gives her body to a man as a means of satisfying his sexual desires in the name of engagement is a fool. The more you associate with such a person, the cheaper you make yourself and the more he will useless you.
11. At the end, he will pick a virtuous woman from the rural area or from among his people and leave you with heartbreak.
12. The young man should also take note that many youths have been bathed with concentrated acid as a result of breaking marriage engagements.
13. The female youth should also remember that some ladies have lost their precious lives in the hand of cruel men due to breaking of marital engagements.
14. Why should a female indulge in marital engagement at all? It will take one that does not know her worth to do that!
15. A virtuous and dependable woman does not go about looking for men or solicit marriage to any man. Men who know her worth stake their fortune to convince her why she should consider them fit and proper to accept their hand in marriage.
16. Marital engagement is for those with questionable characters only or societal misfits and not for well-organized and reputable persons.
17. Refrain from marital engagements and fulfil your life’s ambitious with joy. Remember, if you misbehave yourself, you will land yourself where you least esteemed. Amen.
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ABORTION AND ITS AWFUL EFFECTS
Abortion in the context of this brief message means a deliberate termination of unwanted pregnancy by anybody by means of oral drugs, trado-medical ways, or by a specialised medical doctor in various forms.
2. This obnoxious practice has become a way of life among the youth of today without any recourse to its awful effects to their health and their future.
3. To begin with, why is the pregnancy regarded as an unwanted one? The answer is obvious. The person never knew that his or her affair with the sexual partner would result to pregnancy. Since you do not want to be pregnant why do you desire sexual affair with any man or woman?
4. Do you not know that the resultant effect of sexual intercourse is nothing but pregnancy? This is why the youth are advised to steer clear from pre-marital sex.
5. If you are a woman that preserves your virginity you will earn respect from your husband and you will not experience any difficulty in conception anytime you get married to a man because your whole system is untouched and natural.
6. This is also applicable to a young man. Show me couples that have difficulties in conception after marriage, and I will show you that either the wife or the husband or both abused their youth by being way-ward.
Awful Effects of Abortion
7. (i) It can result to premature death especially when it is handled by medical quacks or chemists or even native doctors.
8. (ii) It destroys the womb or all the reproductive organs thereby rendering the woman barren.
9. (iii) It can result to cancer of the cervix (Human Paphomia Virus), which is deadly.
10. (iv) It can lead to very serious infections, which may even block the fallopian tubes.
11. (v) It promotes the growth of uterine fibroid, which hinders conception.
12. (vi) It can result to internal bleeding (Haemorrhage)
13. A good number of our youths today have brought untold hardship to themselves in the process of procuring abortion. Some have been arrested and jailed by the law enforcement agents because it is against the law of the land.
14. Many families are living in sorrow without any hope of getting a child because of abortions they did in their youth before marriage. . Abortion can only be permitted if it is done to save the life of the mother.
15. Whoever that procures abortion has become a murderer, believe it if you can! Refrain from pre-marital sex and achieve your dreams.
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DRUG ABUSE
This is the administration of certain drugs that are in the prohibited lists to the general public or to an individual by medical quacks or by self-medication.
2. For anybody to be qualified to practice self-medication, he must know the chemical constituents of the drugs and its possible reactions or side effects.
3. In well-organised countries, nobody is allowed to dispense any drug to any patient or buyer without the doctor’s prescription note, while some placed the sale of drugs in the hands of approved and licensed pharmacists only.
4. But in Nigeria, open market sale of drugs is the practice; hence many quacks and illiterates dominate the business to make brisk business.
5. This is the worst form of drug abuses and has resulted to the death of many people in the society.
6. The most important aspect of drug abuse among our youths is the pushing of hard and illegal drugs at home and beyond the shores of the country to make money.
7. Examples of such hard drugs are cocaine, heroin, morphine, petedine, Indian hemp, Chinese capsule etc. Some of these drugs are in powdered form while some are in liquid form.
8. Little quantities of these drugs attract huge sum of money and for that reason, our youths now rush into the business in spite of the stiff penalty that awaits any offender.
9. Some people plant these drugs into their body tissues in cellophane packs or capsules, which often times result to death of the carrier, should any of the packs open up in the body.
10. Many students have ran amok as a result of intake of hard drugs thereby shattering their dreams and the expectations of their parents.
11. To become an addict starts with a single experiment with a dose or a wrap. Many who indulge in hard drugs do not have good reason for that at all.
12. Some take hard drugs so that they will feel high and dreadful. Some take it for the fun of it just like a foolish young man that indulges in premarital sexual act just for the fun of it. Can a sensible fellow who has the fear of God experiment death?
13. A good number of the youth that roam the streets, especially in the urban centres, are as a result of drug abuse.
14. There is no gain in the smoking of cigarette or Indian hemp. Only beasts from broken homes who have no focus In life indulge in such unwholesome habit. Be wise. Evil association spoils good character.
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SPOILERS AND THE GSM
The GSM phones are introduced to bridge communication gap among the people and to facilitate quick transfer of information within the service area.
2. This is a welcome development in this scientific age we are living in today. This instrument, we were told by God at its inception, should not be found in the hands of fools.
3. Today, fools have invaded the industry with every Tom, Dick and Harry, carrying GSM handset about. People with perverted minds have perverted its usage as they have done in other spheres of life.
4. Some now use it to swindle money from their fellow men, while others specialise in using it to tell lies. Others use it for numerous criminal activities to the hurt of their fellow men.
5. A good number of our youths use it to establish boyfriend and girlfriend relationships hence many have died in their bid to get a promised handset for their girlfriends.
6. There is no kind of text message, that does not pass through the GSM handset screen. Fools now specialise in coining different text messages that can turn the hearts of their receivers to them to the neglect of their noble pursuits in life.
7. The most effective instrument in the hand of a spoiler is the GSM handset. With it, the spoiler can send any amount of money to his target by means of recharge cards.
8. This is why every intelligent and focussed youth should be mindful of those texts and recharge cards that flash across their GSM handset screens.
9. The most pleasant message in the handset by way of text message has always come from a spoiler.
10. A wise and intelligent person will use the tone of the text or call to detect the aim of the caller. Reckless exchange of GSM phone numbers is a naked sign of stupidity. It is a deliberate invitation to the devil or the spoiler.
11. The next spoiler is gifts of any kind. Behind every gift, there is a motive. Some gifts are given with honest intentions while majority are given to bribe one’s conscience against himself or herself.
12. Some are holistic destruction! I mean that some are aimed at destroying the recipient diabolically. One’s enemies may hide under their relations or friends who are envious of your advancement, and destroy you and your career prospects.
13. To the youth I say, a gift is not a gift until it passes the confirmation of your parents. Whoever that is afraid of routing any gift to you through your parents while you are still under their custody, has a sinister motive!
14. At the same time, any child or youth that conceals a gift from his or her parents has made up his mind or her mind to stop his journey or her journey mid-way. Gift is good only if it is given after a godly sort. Beware!
15. Another spoiler is the television, which gives some ungodly youths the opportunity to watch pornographic films and many other devilish films produced by people with reprobate minds, with the intent to make money.
16. Any youth that wants to make the best of himself or herself in this life, must avoid watching such films that corrupt the mind and increase criminal propensities in them with all malice.
17. Nothing influences the youth more than what they see and what they hear or read from the newspapers or periodicals.
18. You should regard anything or anybody that will not help you to achieve your ambition in life as an obstruction or a brazen enemy.
19. Give it antagonistic approach. Remember the accompanying disgrace if you should fail to succeed in life.
7
FRIENDSHIP AND DEATH
A friend is the person that corrects one when he or she goes wrong. Any other definition than this is unacceptable in the sight of God.
2. People mistake friendship to mean exchange of pleasantries. This notion is erroneous.
3. This is why to such people that holds this erroneous beliefs, anybody that reprimands them of any evil act is regarded as an enemy.
4. For two to become friends, they must be like-minded. I said two, because it takes two to tango. The two cannot walk together except they agree.
5. Do you have the same ideology, or principle with the person you call your friend? What is the basis of your friendship? Is the relationship or friendship symbiotic? If yes, why? And if no, why?
6. Do you have the same vision with that your friend? The answer you supply to these questions will determine where the friendship will take you. Your enemy will not destroy you but your friend.
7. All evil suggestions that have grave consequences have been traceable to friends and not enemies. Nobody exposes a friend to rough life more than a friend. Friends have even lured their fellow friends to their death grounds unsuspectingly. The easiest person that can poison you is your friend.
8. Love him or her and do good to your friend but do not blink your eyes whenever he or she is around. If it is possible, maintain no friends, no enemy. The best friend you have in this life that is trustworthy is yourself.
9. Enjoying a free lift in a car on the basis of friendship can be disastrous. You may be carried dumb to an unknown destination and that may mark the end of your journey on Earth.
10. Your friend with whom you pass the night may use you for ritual sacrifice. Avoid friendship the same way you avoid cultism and robbery. Cases abound where robbers made confessional statements to the Police that their friends lured them into violent robbery and rape.
11. Your friend who is envious of your success can even plan for your rape and execute it with ease even in his or her house.
12. Since friendship is often associated with death, every intelligent youth should avoid it like wild fire. When you preserve your youth, you secure your future and transform your dreams into realities.
8
ATTENDANCE TO PARTIES
AND DRUNKENNESS
| N |
othing exposes the youth to destructive influences more than attendance of ceremonial parties where they exhibit their youthful lusts.
2. These parties range from wake-keep, bachelor’s eve, wedding ceremonies, school shows and picnics, to nightclubs.
3. These offer the youth opportunities to free drinks, free exchange of cigarettes and free food. It is also a favourable ground for both sexes to mis-mate themselves without restraint.
4. Youths that indulge in this destructive behaviour only boast of how many cartons of beer or bottles of hot drinks and plates of salad they could finish at a time and the number of ladies or young men they could deceive during such parties.
Awful Effects of These Habits
5. (i) It influences innocent souls into wrong and destructive lifestyles that destroy their future and shatter their ambitions.
6. (ii) It produces drunkards and reckless youths who constitute a nuisance to the society.
7. (iii) It increases evil tendencies in the youth hence it makes them restless.
8. (iv) Keeping late at night has landed many into many troubles in the hands of enforcement agents, armed robbers and other suspicious places thereby damaging their reputations and that of their families.
9. (v) Party or ceremonial grounds are fertile grounds where enemies lie in wait to poison or destroy their foes ignorantly.
10. Therefore, it is worthwhile for any sensible and focussed youth to refrain from this delicate habit. It is not a MUST that you honour all invitations.
11. If you are wise, and recognise that you are accountable to your parents, you should not attend to any invitation without the approval of your parents. If you maintain this stance, you MUST escape from your enemies and fulfil your ambitions. Thank you and Remain blessed in Him eternally. Amen.
SECTION 2
EXCERPTS FROM THE MESSAGE:
”DO NOT FORGETYOUR CAREER TRANSPORTER.”
PREACHED ON
22ND SEPTEMBRE 2013
BY
APOSTLE PETER ODOEMENA
THE SON OF MAN
@
THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD, ONITSHA
1
IF YOU HAVE NO COMMITMENT, FORGET ABOUT SUCCESS
1. Pg 29:1-8 Many people have lofty ambition but poor character hindered them from achieving their lofty ambition.”
2. Your career transporter that is the topic. For your career has a transporter—a carrier. What will see you through? That is what we are considering now as number two topic.
3. “…I have given you motivational messages, you have some of them. Strive to be a star. When I mention the message you know the contents, all of you. You were not kids when I gave you the booklet. Always strive to be a star. Another message I want you to put under your bed is ‘Commitment.’”
4. Commitment! We have forgotten that message. Another message God wants all of us to put under our pillows is the message titled “Commitment.”
5. “…IF YOU HAVE NO COMMITMENT, FORGET ABOUT SUCCESS…”
6. If you have no commitment, forget about success. You do not realize much fish in the pot of soup by wishful thinking. Commitment, don’t ever shift it to your students alone. Parents, you need commitment if you must succeed.
7. “…There are too many messages I have given you on greatness. Go through all of them. Success is not a gift; success is a reward for hard work.”
8. Page 33 : 18-23 “…Now, THE CHOICE YOU MAKE WILL DETERMINE WHERE YOU WILL LAND.”
9. Now, the choice you make will determine where you will land at last.
10. “…NO MATTER HOW YOU DESIRE A PROFESSION IN LIFE, IF YOU REFUSE TO DO WHAT YOU OUGHT TO DO; YOU WILL NEVER ATTAIN IT.”
11. Have you seen it? No matter the profession you desire to pursue, the moment you refuse to do what you ought to do, you will never attain it even till eternity.
12. “…REFUSE WHAT YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO DO, YOU WILL LAND WHERE YOU NEVER EXPECTED…”
Refuse what you are supposed to do, and you will land yourself where you least expected, male and female, even adults.
13. Page 37:30-34 “…The greatest of disappointment is self disappointment. So, don’t disappoint yourself. How do you disappoint yourself? By constituting your own self obstacles…”
14. By constituting your own self obstacles. You disappoint yourself. When you cut down the tree and block your path with it, you have blocked your progress. Will such a person attribute his failure to anybody? No. He killed himself! You want to punish your parents to show them you are a tough guy and in that bid, you disappoint yourself.
15. You want to prove tough and plot against your parents? There you kill yourself. You do not know your parents have succeeded in life and are only trying to help you become useful in life to avoid both suffering and headache in future.
16. You think you are working against your parents, become tough and harden your heart, before you know it—you are advancing in age—the next thing is to find a wife for you. That means you have killed yourself. A child trying to enjoy elders jokes, such is endangering his life. Yes!
17. You are advised to wait, that there is time for everything and you say no. you want to know in infancy what your fathers know as adults? You will kill yourself doing that.
Page 41:43-50
18. If you see it as the means to achieving the end, tomorrow maybe brighter. Yes sir!
19. “…WHEN YOU ARE DOING EVERYTHING, REMEMBER YOUR CAREER TRANSPORTER.”
20. When you are doing whatever you are doing, don’t forget your career transporter.
21. “…IF YOU ARE ACADEMICALLY BRILLIANT AND MORALLY BANKRUPT, YOU ARE A POTENTIAL BRILLIANT CRIMINAL…”
22. If you are academically brilliant but morally bankrupt, you are a potential brilliant criminal. Why not put your hands together if you believe it! In other words, parents should not lay emphasis on academic brilliance only.
23. When we are talking about academic brilliance, it must be coupled with moral excellence. Academic brilliance plus moral excellence makes you great.
24. ACADEMIC BRILLIANCE PLUS MORAL EXCELLENCE; COMBINE THE TWO. WE WILL SEE THE PRODUCT, A GREAT FIGURE WILL EMERGE. A RESPECTED FIGURE, A LEADER! Glory be to God in the highest! Amen. Thus, pursue the two.
Can one-legged man support himself and withstand falling? Academic brilliance is right leg; moral excellence is left leg. With both, you are balanced and well rooted.
25. Page 43:52-59 “…I REPEAT IT, IF YOU ARE ACADEMICALLY BRILLIANT BUT MORALLY BANKRUPT I WANT TO NAIL IT DOWN. THE PRODUCT IS, YOU MUST BE A BRILLIANT CRIMINAL. Too many of them abound in our society…”
26. Too many of them are found in our society. Brilliant criminals! And these people are the people that inundate (flood) our political terrain. Go and check it, National Assembly, the two houses, State Assemblies, Governorship, Commissioners and so on. All political appointees, check, brilliant criminals. They know how to circumvent (outsmart) all government rules and regulations.
27. “…Some of them come from noble families but because of wrong influence…”
28. Some of them were brought up in noble families. BUT BECAUSE OF BAD INFLUENCE, THEY ABANDONED THEIR STUDIES AND ENLISTED INTO DIFFERENT GROUPS OR CULTS NEGLECTING THE ADVICE GIVEN TO THEM BY THEIR PARENTS. EVIL COMMUNICATION SPOILS GOOD CHARACTER.
29. For you cannot befriend a leper without shaking his hands. It is a must for you to shake hands with one that is your friend. It is a must for you to shake his hands.
30. “…Hear Me very well, the situation you find yourself can never make you what you are but will reveal who you are…”
31. The University environment can never make you what you are but will expose who you are. THE ENVIRONMENT YOU SEE YOURSELF—I DON’T CARE HOW DANGEROUS THAT MIGHT BE, OR MAIN MARKET OR OSE OKWODU, OCHANJA, HEAD BRIDGE WHERE YOU CAN SEE A LOT OF HOOLIGANS— WILL NOT MAKE YOU WHO YOU ARE RATHER, IT WILL MAKE THE WORLD KNOW WHO YOU ARE. THIS IS A WEIGHTY STATEMENT.
“…The situation you find yourself can never make you what you are but will reveal who you are.
Page 46:64-68
32. IF YOU HATE PARENTAL REGULATION, YOU WILL END IT A USELESS FELLOW. THE REASON WHY GOD GAVE US HIS WORD, AND HE IS STILL GIVING US, IS TO REGULATE OUR CHARACTERS, OUR BEHAVIOURS. IF YOUR PARENTS ARE TRYING TO REGULATE YOU AND YOU ARE ANGRY AT THEM, ALWAYS DEMONSTRATING, YOUR FACE VERY THICK, YOU WANT TO FRIGHTEN THEM, YOU WANT TO INTIMIDATE THEM SO THAT THEY WON’T TALK TO YOU ANYMORE, IT GOES TO SHOW THAT YOU ARE FOOLISH.
33. BECAUSE IF YOU ARE NOT BEING CONTROLLED, YOU WILL END IT BEING A USELESS FELLOW. FOR THE SCRIPTURES SAID AND OUR MESSAGE CONFIRMS IT, “ANY HUMAN BEING THAT DOES NOT HAVE ANYBODY WHOSE VOICE HE RESPECTS, HONOURS, FEARS, THAT PERSON MUST END IT IN DISASTER, DESPAIR AND DISAPPOINTMENT.”
34. DISASTER, DESPAIR AND DISAPPOINTMENT. THE THREE “D’s”, THE THREE “Ds” DISASTER, DESPAIR AND DISAPPOINTMENT. IF YOU WANT TO AVOID THEM, THERE SHOULD BE SOMEBODYWHOSE VOICE YOU RESPECT.
35. THE PERSON CAN BE YOUR UNCLE, SHE CAN BE YOUR AUNT, HE CAN BE YOUR NEPHEW, HE CAN BE YOUR TOWNSMAN, HE CAN BE YOUR LECTURER, HEOR SHE CAN BE YOUR FRIEND, HE OR SHE CAN BE ANYBODY WHOSE VOICE YOU MUST RESPECT; WHOSE PRESENCE YOU MUST ALWAYS FEAR.
36. IF YOU DON’T HAVE SUCH A PERSON WHO WILL BE A CHECK TO YOU, SURELY, YOU ARE ENDING IT IN THREE “Ds”. YOU ARE ENDING IT IN DISAPPOINTMENT, DESPAIR, AND DISASTER. THREE “Ds” AND THE LAST OF IT ALL IS NUMBER FOUR, WHICH IS DEATH. THAT IS THE FINAL PRODUCT BECAUSE, ONCE FRUSTRATION SETS IN, THE NEXT THING IS DEATH. YOU CAN ADD THE FOUR “Ds”. FOUR “Ds”. Amen.
2
DEVELOPE A PRINCIPLE THAT WILL BE CALLED YOUR OWN PRINCIPLE
1. Page 52:14-16“…I said it and I still affirm it: Destiny is not a matter of chance but a matter of choice. If you choose to be a hooligan, no human being can stop you and it becomes your destiny.”
2. Even your parents can never stop you for you know how to avoid their advice, avoid their presence. No human being can stop you if you have chosen to be a hooligan, a tyrant, that is a criminal. No matter the instruction you receive from your parents, you must set all of them at naught.
3. You know how to circumvent it because nobody is as clever as a criminal. Nobody is as smart as a criminal. He knows how to outsmart everybody, outsmart parents; give them the impression that he is with them when he is one million miles away from them. He will only realize his foolishness when it has become too late.
Page 56:26-27
4. A USEFUL CHILD IS ONE THAT ACQUIRED WISDOM FROM CHILDHOOD. SHOW ME A USEFUL PERSON AND I WILL SHOW YOU ONE THAT ACQUIRED WISDOM FROM CHILDHOOD. THIS IS BECAUSE WISDOM PROTECTS A CHILD AND HE OR SHE GETS THE WISDOM OF THE ANCIENT AND THEN TRAINS HIMSELF.
5. Many successful people we cite as examples today were not trained by their parents. Many did not grow up with their parents. Many grew up as slaves. There is what we called “obelle.” Do you know “obelle?” Calabash! Obelle prepares a place for itself. No farmer or anybody planting it, prepares a place for it. No. it prepares a place for itself and then fixes itself there comfortably.
6. Page 71:71-74 “…So He does not expect us to begin to worry Him over minor things. As a creative human being, you are to fashion your own life style. You are to fashion your own life style…”
7. AS A CREATIVE HUMAN BEING, YOU ARE TO DESIGN YOUR OWN LIFE. FASHION IT! YOU ARE THE ONE THAT WILL ENJOY IT; YOU ARE THE ONE THAT WILL ENDURE IT. IT DEPENDS ON THE WAY YOU FASHION YOUR OWN.
8. “…Develop a principle that will be called your own principle and don’t negotiate it with anybody. It is personal.”
9. “…Personalize your character.” Do what? Personalize your character! Do what? Personalize your character! Give yourself a name.
Personalize your character, protect it with Godly jealousy.
10. Page 79:1-6 There is no height a bird can fly without one on the ground seeing the abdomen. A fast moving leg is caught by a fast moving eye. You know snail behaves foolishly?
11. When a snail is thrown into the fire, instead of storing its energy, it will be killing itself thinking that it is extinguishing the fire, thinking that it is doing great harm to the owner of the fire.
12. Do not extinguish your fire because every negative action has a negative effect on you…”
13. Every negative action has a negative effect on you. So, don’t extinguish your fire thinking you are hurting your parents. Do not extinguish your fire thinking you are hurting your parents. Any negative action you manifest, you will reap the negative effect.
14. “…But you must be watchful. Watch with your faith, watch with your spirit. Once the spirit in you says no, stop there…”
15. Watch with your faith, watch with your spirit. Don’t follow any man anyhow; test the spirit to know whether it is of God, to know whether it is according to your faith. Watch with your faith, watch with the spirit.
16. Page 91 vs. 41 when we protect our mindset today, we shall be useful tomorrow. Any left-over today will be useful tomorrow morning. Whatever is left over food in the night, do not throw it away. Remember daybreak will soon unfold. The leftover food can be warmed in the morning and be eaten. It will serve many people because whatever remains till day break will be shared among all that are present.
17. Page :106 vs 108-113You know I believe in making noise. Wherever I go, I hold My head high because I don’t believe in failure. I don’t even think failure. I decree it out of My dictionary.”
18. Decree failure out of your dictionary of life. Shake the net!
19. “…So don’t listen to what weak students are saying. Because to a weak student every course is very difficult…”
20. Do not listen to what weak students are saying. To a very lazy student, every course is very difficult.
21. “…Because to a weak student every course is very difficult, every lecturer is wicked.” That is true! Very lazy students!
22. “…Don’t listen to them, listen to yourselves. Listen to yourselves. I can see these young men; before I will come back again you will have your testimonies. I have noted your names. If I don’t have anything to do, I will lift you up in prayers. You are young men, you need prayers.
23. Page: 117 vs. 5-6
Are you a soldier of Christ or a spectator, “So, if the Holy Ghost is in you, on that glorious morning, what will happen? Pia, pia, pia! The Supernatural cloud will draw all those that are made up of light and they will become one great beam.”
24. The Supernatural Cloud will do what? Will draw all those that are made up of light and they will become one great beam.
25. Page: 119 vs 11-12 If you are a member of this family and you have no one hour or two hours that you will sit down in your room and think about what is happening in this ministry, you are not one of us…”
26. Who said these things? God, using Apostle Silas who made a shipwreck. A MINISTER CAN MAKE SHIPWRECK BUT THE MESSAGE CAN NEVER MAKE SHIPWRECK. SO, AS A MAN OF GOD, A MINISTER, YOU CAN SHIPWRECK BUT THE WORD OF GOD CAN NEVER SHIPWRECK.
27. Page:120 vs 14 What is your trouble? Your unbelief, your hard heartedness. I believe this one, but I don’t believe this.
Page:138 vs 65-66
28. This is the year of peace to all that believe in the Son of Man as their God, but to those who do not believe, this year is their year of trouble and doom”. This message fulfilled here last year. I wrote down the names that left this faith last year and watch, this voice has gone forth again this year.
29. My prayer is that I will not ask like the twelve Apostles asked in the olden days, “Master, am I the one?” My prayer is, God, let it not be me. That should be your prayer point this year, so that this prophecy will not fulfill on your head, because once it is you, I will laugh at you. If it is me, anywhere you see me, laugh at me.”
30. There is life in publication! A man can prophesy his doom. Thank God many of you are still alive.
31. “…Let me tell you something; Son of Man, you are here and you are our God, instead of me to be alive and leave this faith, it is better that I die now, than to leave this faith.” Have you heard it? Where is he now? In the grave!
32. “…I don’t want to leave this faith. Please, that is my greatest prayer. Let me die in this faith, before I leave the faith than for me to be here since five years, the sixth year, I will leave this faith. I will be the most miserable person on earth.”
33. Personal pronoun, I! “…What is the essence of being here with us? It is better that you are not here with us…”
34. You see why you don’t mount the pulpit to open your mouth anyhow for God takes record of everything that goes out from your mouth as a man of God. God watches over His Word to perform it according to the book of Jeremiah chapter 1 verse 12.
35. “…“You search and investigate and tour over the scriptures diligently, because you suppose and trust that you have eternal life through them. And these very scriptures testify about me, and still you are not willing, but you refuse to come to me so that you might have life”. AMP.
36. “…Since you can read and write, I don’t need to interpret it. Any way you see it, take it that way. Then the question arises, does the Bible contain eternal life? Why do people study the Bible diligently?
37. They think that they will get eternal life through it. But the same Bible said that it does not contain eternal life. Then, what is the essence of the Bible that does not contain eternal life?
38. If I am looking for eternal life, I think I can get it in the Bible, and the Bible tells me that what I am looking for is not found there, will I continue to search for eternal life there? If you are searching for anything in the Bible, please, take away eternal life, for it is not found there. Eternal life is vested in a man.” Page: 141 vs 77-93
SECTION 3
EXCERPTS FROM THE MESSAGE:
YOUTH FORUM
(CHAPTER 1, PAGE 8 VS 3-4 & PAGE 11 VS 8 )
&
(CHAPTER 2 PAGE 27 VS 20-26)
&
(CHAPTER 3, PAGE 36 VS 12-13 & PAGE 37 VS 15-16, PAGE43 VS 31).
Preached on
SATURDAY, 7TH JANUARY 2012
At
THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD ONITSHA
By
APOSTLE PETER ODOEMENA
THE SON OF MAN
(THE RESURRECTED BODY)
1
YOUTHFUL STAGE
1. You know, the youth stage is the most wicked stage, and it is full of too many imperative and these imperatives have come. Besides, too many things are found in the behaviours of the youths, especially in high places such as this generation where everybody is over ambitious. You will notice that nobody is patient with anything, not even patient with their fellow human beings neither are they patient with the affairs of this world. Everybody is trying to catch the wind, when the wind can never be caught.
2. I am very grateful to Almighty God. The most destructive period in life is the youthful stage: very unpredictable and fearful. I thank God that you are not among those youths that are embarrassing the society, rather you are peacemakers. I thank God for that. The youths that are disturbing the peace of the nation, you are not numbered among such youths.
3. Note, the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. The Bible encourages us to worship God in our youths, knowing that a day is coming when we shall become very old, our legs will be shaking, there will not be enough strength for our legs to carry your weight. That time we will desire to worship God at the approved place but our legs will no longer carry us to that place. Our bones will be shaking, making a hell of noise because by that time, we will be nearing our graves.
4. In other words, at old age, we are being sustained or will be sustained by what we gathered in our youth. Thus, whatever you have gathered in your youth is what will sustain you during your old age. If during your youth, you abandoned God and everything pertaining to God, only to wait for the old age to come so that you begin to plan how to worship God, no! You cannot have the desire to begin to worship God because it is very painful.
5. Remember, it is only in returning and waiting shall we be saved. If peradventure you have wandered away, return. You can wander away in the spirit, and you can also wander away in the flesh. To abandon God is very easy.
6. Check the lady called Dinah, the daughter of Jacob who wondered away. It was in the flesh and she yoked herself with a heathen and the anger of the Lord was kindled. The sons of Jacob in the expression of their anger, their grievances, went to that place and slaughtered all the males there. For it is a great abomination for a heathen to seduce a daughter of Jacob (that is a daughter of God) away, a great abomination.
7. When she later came back home she told her story that she nearly died. As God earlier warned that we should be very careful of stepping our feet into Jericho in the Message titled “From Jerusalem to Jericho.”
8. You can never stroll into Jericho from Jerusalem and come back with a good testimony, never, never. It will always be “I nearly died.” moreover, by going to Jericho is just one or two steps backwards. That is, knowing the truth and then stepping out of the truth a little, you will see yourself in Jericho an accursed city.
9. An accursed city, God even placed a warning that whosoever that shall rebuild the wall and the gate will pay a big price. Use the first son to do what? To erect the gate. Use the last son to do what? To erect the wall or foundation. Thus, it is a strict thing.
10. Peradventure you have wandered away from home; this is the time for you to come home again. For God earlier told us even in the Message titled “The State of The Nation” volume two that when you see all these things coming to pass in your own day, especially as it affect our own country Nigeria, know that your flight is near, even at your door step.
11. In other words, it is not a time you can begin to give silly excuses. It is not a time for silly excuses that your lantern was dry, that you went out to get extra oil. Or that you noticed that so, so and so happened and you decided to do this. You decided it, not God.
12. Youths, please severe yourselves completely from all of them for you are the cream of the Bridal Faith. The youths are the cream of the Bridal Faith. I am saying that you are the pillars of the Bridal Faith.
13. The way you will conduct yourselves will make people to believe that you have God in your midst. For you will see too many of them who will take pleasure in killing and then arson. By arson I mean, looting and burning down. Some will even capitalise on the trouble to vandalise if it is property or properties that are not in the Northern states. Looting shops that are not in the Northern states. You know that is how it has always been! Thus, be very, very careful.
14. Youths, you are the people that are within the age bracket, where you can be tempted to join your foes in chanting war songs: “Enyimba, enyi! If it is death let us die! What do you need? War!!!”
15. I say off your eyes, off your minds from that and shut up your mouth for it does not concern you. Now, knowing that the God Whom you are serving is the One stirring up this trouble, your duty is to pray that God will continue until it has engulfed the whole part on Earth, so that they will know that you are serving only the one and true God; because when they shall look for you they shall not see you again.
16. Do not ever pay attention to anything that contradicts the truth which you know, which you have believed, where your faith has anchored. Anything that contradicts it, say no to it knowing the source of the information. For there can never be information without a source, what we are holding is a vindicated Faith. Not the Faith that is about to be confirmed, no. It is confirmed already before our eyes. Amen.