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In misguided faith, man tries to fly to Jerusalem in improvised wings

By Abdu Rafiu
20 July 2017   |   4:04 am
As the pastor climbed atop the tree nervous parishioners, who thought he was on a suicide mission, alerted the village chief who in turn called the police and ambulances for emergency rescue.

Pastor Nwanga Gwranja, has been rescued after he unsuccessfully attempted to fly to Jerusalem using artificial wings. The controversial pastor fell off a tree and broke his legs in the process.

A senior pastor of the Labourers Assembly broke his legs when, “burning with faith,” he climbed a tree and from there took a plunge in an attempt to fly to Jerusalem using artificial wings.

Kenya newspaper, Standard News, reported the pastor during the week as saying that he was following an invitation from the Most High Himself which he had received in a dream. Following is a report quoting the newspaper publication:

“A senior pastor of the Labourers Assembly in Singorwet ward, Bomet County, Kenya, Pastor Nwanga Gwranja, has been rescued after he unsuccessfully attempted to fly to Jerusalem using artificial wings. The controversial pastor fell off a tree and broke his legs in the process.

“Gwranja, known for predicting the second coming of Jesus on several occasions, is said to have gone round the village announcing his departure to Jerusalem.”

According to Standard News, the pastor said he was following an invitation from God Himself in a dream. “Residents said the pastor who had tied improvised wings made of polythene bags and rags to his shoulders, had also spoken during his sermon early Sunday of his imminent trip to Jerusalem.

“A member of the church told the newspaper, ‘We thought he was joking until he appeared dressed in his flying gear, bidding people farewell.’ “He had asked curious members of his church, who had gathered to see him off, to escort him to a tall Eucalyptus tree, which he claimed was a suitable takeoff point, as revealed to him by God.

“As the pastor climbed atop the tree nervous parishioners, who thought he was on a suicide mission, alerted the village chief who in turn called the police and ambulances for emergency rescue.

“Word had gone round and within a short while, the scene was jammed with thousands of locals, eager to see the man of God flying to Jerusalem. “Meanwhile, Authorities were frantically trying to get him to climb down. Attempts by the choir master, a very close friend of his, to convince him to abandon his flight to Jerusalem fell on deaf ears. He stood his ground, insisting, ‘I must fly to Jerusalem.’

“You cannot stop an idea whose time has come more so when it has the blessings of the Most High! Just let me go,’ he insisted atop the tall tree.’

“Elders were soon summoned to come and convince the adamant pastor against attempting to take off without their blessing. But the elders were met with utter shock when he rebuked them, saying God was showing him the elders burning in hell for trying to stop him. You can command humans to stop going against worldly cultures but commanding against God’s commandment is impossible. You should rather repent because these are the last days, Jesus is coming back.

“Cries and wailing of women and children who feared for the pastor’s life would not deter him. When he discovered that a young man had climbed the tree to get him down and was close to catching up with him, he spread his wings and took the plunge. He came tumbling down with a thud, and immediately began wailing and asking for help. Gwranja’s legs were broken, his nose was bleeding and he soon passed out. He was rushed to a local hospital.”

What manner of a person is Mr. Gwranja, it may be asked? Is he well? Did he receive a message directly from God, that is if he received any at all? Are dreams a channel for spiritual guidance and messages? These are legitimate questions. There are two aspects to the episode. Is it possible for a man to fly in his heavy earthly body? Did Pastor Gwranja hear anything or receive any message from his dream?

The first thing to say is that our world, nay, the whole of Creation is governed by Laws. It has been stated in this column before that it is inconceivable that the Most High with all His perfection could not have created the universe, put us there and there would be no laws to guide our lives. We puny human beings recognise the need for orderliness and harmony in our communities. To engender piece and orderliness we set up elaborate and expensive legislative houses to draw up rules and regulations to guide us and our relationship with our fellow men. These regulations that are referred to as Acts are expression of the wish of the legislators on how we can have orderliness and harmony for our development. Ours are just rough and imperfect illustrations of the precipitation we sense and draw from that which is immeasurably higher and unimaginably perfect, the Will of the Almighty Creator. That Will is expressed through the Divine Laws. I say imperfect illustrations because lawyers do not ever agree on the interpretation of what this law or that law says. Right now there is disagreement on whether or not the law requires that Ibrahim Magu should face the not-too disinterested and subjective screening and confirmation of the Senate as chairman of EFCC.

The body of a human being is not constituted to be able to fly. It is in conflict with the consistency of the air and wind. We can climb a tree which has the same basic elements of solidity as our body. Our bodies are formed from the plants, vegetables, fruits and legumes our mothers eat which provide radiation threads for the formation of our bodies. This is why it is the same plants either by way of leaves or herbs we use in healing our ailing bodies. To, therefore, attempt to fly with our earthly body piercing through the air is in gross violation of the Law of Spiritual Gravitation that stipulates that that which is light soars and that which is dense and heavy sinks. The heaviness of the body pulled him down and did not stop until he had hit the solid ground hard. Only the solid ground could hold him and from the impact, he had to break his legs and lose consciousness.

There is also the Law of Reciprocal Action which is the same as the Law of sowing and Reaping that the Lord Christ emphasised. It is revealed in higher knowledge spreading on earth today that after the seed sown has completed all necessary maturation processes, in the outworking of the immutable, incorruptible and self-acting law, the fruits are returned unfailingly to the sower and many times over. Thus we cannot sow hate and expect to harvest love. The other Law is the Law of Attraction of homogeneous Species, which may be called the Law of Similarities with people of the same kind and tendencies gravitating towards one another and feeling at home among their own kind. This is the law that has been violated in nearly all nations of the world by putting people of different classes of development together at gunpoint, thus igniting disharmony, instability and insecurity—in some cases wars! We claim to know better than the Creator Who desires that we live and develop and make progress with regard to our inner development in peace and at each people’s pace, values and world view.

Is it possible to receive messages from Above? From Above meaning the Throne of Grace, very rarely. There are seers and there are those gifted with clairaudience. It is also possible to receive messages in one’s sleep. Spiritual books are replete with accounts of gifted people who are known to have received messages. We have accounts of few prophets. In all cases they are not without preconditions of the inner maturity and radiance of those so blessed. In the present time and because of the deplorable state of our world most such messages are false.

Let us consider it this way: Pastor Gwranja and practically every so-called seer claims to have personally encountered the Creator! Pastor Gwranja said he received his invitation from the Almighty Creator directly. Consequently, at the beginning of every year there are predictions. From two or so predictions in recent past, Professor Wole Soyinka ought to have died twice by now. He is still with us hale and hearty. He was 83 last week. It ought to have occurred to the hearers of seers and modern-day Joseph that were their claim of personal contact with the Creator correct, there should be no conflicts in the various messages from the Creator on the same affairs. For how can the Creator, undeceitful, but true, doublespeak when He tells one that the value of the Naira would bounce back and thus defeat recession, and tells the other that recession will still be with us for a little longer and we should go and pray.

No one can personally see the Creator or hear His Voice. Such a human being would perish in the enormity of His power. How many people can survive in the epicenter of an earthquake? How many can stand a bomb blast that is man-made? Who can even survive contact with live natural grid overhead electricity cable? We take cover at the flash of lightning and roar of thunder on a stormy rainy day. Yet we puny human beings claim we can withstand the Countenance of that which manifestly stands above all else, the sparks of whose radiation gave rise to all the worlds! Were the Lord Christ to have come in all His power and glory, the entire universe would have melted under His feet. Because no one can install Egbin or Kainji Dam in his house to provide him power we have transformers all over the place to step down energy we have been able to tap from radiations of power precipitation streaming down from incomprehensible distances to overwhelm the universe!

The grounds for seeing or receiving messages exist nevertheless. But each seer cannot rise beyond the world homogenous with his inner maturity. Thus, some seers see just beyond their noses, others even the depths. But not many the sublime. Even those who are able to divine just beyond their immediate earthly environment, their works stand grossly in danger of ethereal interference and mangling. In a majority of cases they are approached by degenerate entities in the beyond who find their blood radiations amenable for earthly manifestations. It should be stated that such degenerate disincarnate entities in the beyond are at their best doing what they enjoyed most even while on earth….bringing pain to those who cross their path. A man is no better simply because he has transited to the other world. Even there he must work on himself. And so, we are told development and progress are faster on this earth plane. Such degenerate entities read the form of the seer’s thoughts and validate them giving the seer a wrong impression about his abilities. The unsuspecting seer thus passes such information on genuinely believing same to be correct. There may be other situations in which a light soul wishing to pass useful information on approaches a seer or medium and begins to relay a message. Mid-way, however, he withdraws if a dark soul approaches and takes over the process. The seer or medium unaware of this may still believe that he is still in communication with the original helper.

Some people may say, but an aircraft which is heavier than man flies. Space will not permit me to go into aerodynamic capabilities of an aircraft, as experts are wont to call it. The first thing to notice, however, is the shape of a plane modeled after that of a bird. Can a man assume the shape of a bird in order to fly? There is the heat that engenders flaming temperature, which exerts pressure and in turn force of velocity that provides the thrust for the takeoff through the expulsion of gas. The normal human temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 37 degrees Celsius. An excessive temperature in man to get faintly to the heat of an aircraft is suicidal; it will lead to combustion. Therefore, it is not given to man to fly. Mr. Gwranja could not have received any invitation from the Creator to violate His immutable Law of Gravitation and embark on his suicide mission. It was simply a case of misguided faith thus opening the supposed ways of the Most High to ridicule through his own ignorance.

Next week: What restructuring of Nigeria means.

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