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I am on earth on second Chance
- Ibrahim Alfa
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Pastor Ibrahim Alfa, the General Overseer of New Creation Assembly with headquarters in Lagos and branches scattered across the country and in Ghana, is everybody's delight whenever he mounts the pulpit. For those who love the truth, he gives it hot and raw. The resultant effect would be soul-searching to know if trutly we are still in faith.
A seasoned minister of God who has spent over 30 years preaching the gospel, he startled the audience with his astounding testimony of an encounter with the Lord that has since transformed his life and ministry. In this interview culled from Pentecostal Voice, he speaks on this encounter and more issue on Christianity in Nigeria.
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Passing Through the Refining Fire of God.
David Wilkerson of the biggest church in New York illustrated 'brokenness' with furniture, which he said, has got to be 'sandpapered' in order to make a beautiful chair from a raw wood. But if it were a human being that should pass through that process, he would naturally complain about the discomfort, the pain and anguish of the soul.
You cannot be beautiful for God until you have passed through His refining and purifying fire –sandpaper. I had spent 24 years behind pulpit before the Lord used sandpaper on me, and since then (1996), am no longer the same.
Before 1996, if you hear my sermon, it is not what am preaching now. No-no. , I was a popular 'one-kind' sermon preacher. I don't know how to describe it. If I am coming you will hear Rev. Dr. Ibrahim Isaac Alfa is coming.
Many of us Pastors are so much in a hurry. I was in Tulsa , USA sometime ago, where I met a minister. He started his ministry in 1933 but finished his cathedral in 1996. An African man would not do that. Our own is iyogo yagaf , born again this year, next year you are sanctified and made a Pastor. Following year, you are a Reverend, then Rev. DR. and third year you are a Bishop. And you must do everything possible to get a limousine.
So many of us Pastors need sandpaper and whether you believe me or not, if you are truly a child of God, sandpaper is coming. I did not even know there is anything like that. I thought I was a big man, I thought I was doing well, that everything was fine, until 1996 after having preached for 24 years.
In October 1995, I was sleeping one night when I suddenly saw a big stone from somewhere, which hit the bird. The bird flew a bit and fell and died and I woke up. I turned and said “Lord, what is this?” The Lord said, you are the big bird. You are big but you are flying too low. If you don't fly high you will soon die. I said, my God, fly big and how do I fly high? I fast every week and do not notice any known sin in my life.
What do You mean by flying high? I asked. Some of us think that when you are fasting every week, and with no noticeable sin, that is when you are on top of the world. But I have experienced all those things. Oh my God ... I did not even give myself 'Pastor'. And when we started establishing many church branches across the country, and I have many Pastors under me, so instead of me to be called Pastor, they started to call me 'Reverend'. And you know Lord, few years ago, I got PhD (Doctorate Degree) in Theology also, that is why I added 'Dr'. The Lord said, Never you bear that title again.
That was the first Sandpaper and I said I am very sorry sir, I won't bear it again. I will cut it very short because the testimony is in 6 cassettes of 3 hours each. That is if I want to share all with you, it will take 3-4 days, but let me give you little aspect of it and then I will go to my teaching: How I was brushed up.
And he said No. 2, you are not going back to the world again and you have lost the whole of your works (rewards) but you are saved. I said 0 Lord you know I have preached for 24 years and what about. .. ?
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On Tithe Payment
He said no, two months ago you committed two offences, so I will punish you for that. I said what have I done? He said “two months ago, you were deceived not too pay your tithe again” And it is true. Two months before my encounter, I was told by my leaders (elders) that since, I am the Overseer, I should not pay tithe. But I said I have been paying all these while, but they said, I should not bother myself paying any more, and I listened to them. Two months only.
“Then No. 3, there was a man who used to oppose our church. He was a high-ranking police officer living close to us. And yet, he was also criminal, so one day he was arrested and chained by the same police force, and I Pastor Ibrahim Isaac Alfa wasn't in the church when it happened. And when I came back, they said that man who used to trouble our church is handcuffed, and I said 0, God has arrested him now. I am in trouble.”
God said, "I told you, you do not punish your enemy, leave that to me, why were you happy when the man was chained? For that reason, you have lost your woks.” I said 'Lord but I beg
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you, give me a second chance. I want to go back to the world again and do your work the right way. He said 'but you are a foolish man. You talk too much; you should learn to enjoy yourself now."
Satan, accuser of the Brethren
Anything you are doing here on earth, I always preach that people should be holy, and when I am serious about holiness, I am talking out of experience. If you are not holy, when you leave this world, the first person who will accuse you is Satan.
Immediately I left this world, devil met me and said “Lord, this man is not Your child at all and I said, so, what happened. Jesus Christ left me and Satan to argue by ourselves and He was watching us. I am sharing an experience with you. I am an old young preacher first of all, the devil said, he ate the whole of his church money. I said Lord, he has failed, Lord you can check my record, and I know myself. We were building my mother's house and the devil said 'Look at his mother's house he is building, and I said, you see now has he not misfired? That house is built by my younger brother, I am only supervising it.
How Jesus Visited My House
Then the Lord said, "let us go to your house in Nigeria ." I was surprised. Jesus Christ followed me from heaven to my flat. When we got to my house in Lagos , as I came to my compound, I thought they were seeing me. People in the estate were laughing up and down when I entered and thought they will greet me, but I didn't know I was in the spiritual realm. Christ was following me and we entered my flat.
When we entered, he asked, "This is your flat?" And I said, yes'. He said 0 this flat is too small for you. When you come down pack from here'. And I said thank you sir. He said 'Devil this man die not eat any church money, if he did, how did he live like this? We then went to heaven again. My wife was here, nobody saw me.
Jesus said you talk too much, now I want you to rest a bit, to pipe down a bit. Your preaching is junks. That is not what I send you to do, I am using His very language. It was in the presence of Jesus. I heard so many grammars. Junks, dungeon, dol drums. Those languages I never read them from any book on earth, I heard them in the air. When He was rebuking me con cerning my church, He said look at them, none of them is praying for me, they are all doldrums.
When Jesus Rebuked Me
Then I told the Lord, well you asked me, I will stop that kind of sermons you said, but you said I shouldn't preach much again, that I should talk less. But you know the way I preach for 2-3 hours, that is why my Church is growing. He said, "you said what?" Your wetin? He said Ok lets go.
Second time again we came back to my church. He entered my office, and saw my office chair, it was very big. He said also this is our chair, na waah, eeh too big o. I said I am sorry sir. But nobody saw us. He was just going. Then He entered my altar.
The middle chair where I used to sit down. He said, "This is my Church" and He sat down. Immediately, Jesus Christ said this is my Church - the word 'my church' and what is known as pride just disappeared from my spirit, so that was how he cancelled pride from me. So you hardly hear my ministry, my church from me. He said it is not your church. It is my church.
We went to heaven again. He said I prayed for second chance, I said 'yes sir. He said you are going now, but I will not send you down until you look for somebody to pray you down. And if they do not pray you down before 9 p.m. you won't go again
That is why I want to urge all pastors: the greatest thing you can teach your members is to pray for you. Write it down. If they are not praying for you, if anything happens to you, you are gone/dead. I am only on earth on second chance.
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How a Young Sister's Prayer Brought Me Back To Earth
Now the Lord said 'go and look for somebody: He allowed me to come back to my body a bit. I came to the hospital, nobody was there. The telephone there I picked it, but didn't know who to phone, and nobody was praying for me. And I watched my time, 4.30 p.m. 0 God. Now He gave me 9 p.m., if nobody prayed for me I'm gone. But around 5 p.m. a young sister prayed for me. very small sister. She prayed for me, and the Lord said 'O.K. you can· go down now.
When I came back to my body on earth, for 2 weeks you can't see me because the whole world looked strange and everybody was unholy to me. And anywhere I go, I share this testimony briefly, but I warn Pastors never to pray for an encounter, but you can pray for brokenness. God knows how to break you. Don't pray 'Lord give me an encounter. You may have it and |
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never to return. One Overseer experienced it in Lagos , he couldn't return till now, he left.
Let me tell the church today, Christianity is not as little, as carnal, as worldly, as fleshly as some of us take it. It is a serious game/race. And since 1996 when I see men of God playing with the Gospel, when I see people joking, when I see people playing with sin, I say they don't know anything yet. Brethren, there is life after death, and take it from me. God respect nobody. When you leave this body, you will know that you are nothing. If I had not come back, what I would have been living on there is one room whereas I had been thinking of mansion.
In a time that the church is becoming worldly, in a time that the church is becoming an earthly affair. I preach to you now because there are some people even if the ground opens and somebody comes to earth to preach to them, they will still do what they want to do. But I know that there are some of you here who are looking for the truth. The fact remains that the Bible is the word of God. When you get to heaven there is no illiteracy there and God is going to judge everybody by the word of God.
How Christians Would Be Judged
When I entered heaven, the Bible that was with me in the hospital, the one I used in the church was the one that appeared on my hand in heaven, and God always use it to judge you. When you are being judged, a Bible will appear in your hand, and it will just open by itself and your finger will just point at the very verse of the Scripture. You don't read, and your case is settled/ended.
That is why today I want to share with you that there are so many devilish, deadly technical sin now in the church and we Pentecostals are the worst culprits. That in Christendom now we are no longer called Pentecostals, but pente-rascals, because it is in our midst you see stubbornness, heady, high mindedness, pride and rebellion. Catholic members respect their Priests, but Pentecostal members don't respect their pastors. It is we who break up every week. How many people break up from Catholic, Methodist and Anglican churches ... ? And we claim we are busy preparing for heaven. Heaven is not like that. Anything you are doing without proper foundation, you are busy but wasting you time, busy doing nothing.
Thank God for the grace to share this testimony. I have preached in Abuja many times before now, but I never shared it until today, I don't know, I am sure somebody here will get up. A lot of ministers today are preaching but are not alive. I reside in Lagos . I have been preaching since 1977, so I used to call myself old growing preacher. I am an old preacher, but a young man. Almost 30 years in the ministry.
God told me in the air during my encounter that Nigeria has only 4 holy ministers standing with Him, good, whether I am among them He has not told me till now. I was surprised when HE SAID 'FOUR' I NAMED ONE. He said get out. I mentioned another one, He said that one is a criminal. He said only four sincere Nigerian preachers. Since then I have been praying that God should increase them. This is how far I can share my testimony for now. |
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